The crude oil is traceable to the p

The crude oil is traceable to the production
period required to fill a tank.
High capacity refining and fractionation plants deliver the
following main products:
* RBD palm oil (Refined, Bleached and Deodorized), mainly
used as semi solid fat and as feedstock for fractionation.
* RBD palm olein, the liquid fraction of palm oil after fractionation,
which is largely used as cooking oil in Asia and Africa.
* RBD palm stearin, the solid fraction of palm oil after fractionation,
used as vegetable fat and for soap making. RBD palm
stearin is now an important component in mixes replacing
partly hydrogenated fats.
The input of the refinery can be traced to the supplying oil
mills that delivered into the feeding tank. Batch and semi-continuous
refining and fractionation processes can be fully traceable
via batch tracking. The output of a continuous process
traces back to the crude oil feeding tank with a correction for
the oil content of the refining equipment.
Palm products are transported from oil mills or fractionation
plants to large shore tanks in the port of departure by sealed
road tankers or barges. The shore tanks for crude palm oil normally
contain deliveries of more mills since the shipped parcel
size is large compared to the oil mill production capacity. Palm
fractions and palm kernel oil can be shipped in smaller volumes.
Three types of ships are used for overseas transport of palm products:
1. Bulk tankers. Capacity 15,000 to 75,000 MT, interconnected
tanks. Used for large volumes of crude palm oil. Loading and
discharge may occur in several ports or port locations. The
full content of the ship will be a mixture of all loaded parcels.
The output of many oil mills is required to fill one ship
2. Parcel tankers. Capacity 15,000 to 50,000 MT, separated tanks
of different size Used for smaller parcels of palm fractions and palm kernel
oil. The pump plan, supervised by the superintendent, guarantees
traceability from shore tanks at loading to ship tanks
and shore tanks at unloading
3. Coasters. Capacity 750 to 6,500 MT. Used for regional transport
after trans-shipment from ocean going vessels. Usually
fully traceable via pump plan to supplying ship or shore tank.
Supply chain after overseas shipping
The schematic overview of the supply chain from overseas shipping
to consumer goods manufacturing is shown in Figure 3.
After overseas shipping, the further processing of oils and fats
intended for human consumption is regulated by law or international
standard contract (FOSFA). The rules for processing after
shipment are:
* RBD and fully refined oils transported in stainless steel or
epoxy coated ship tanks can be used without further processing,
if the 3 previous cargoes in the tank have been foodstuffs.
Further processing may be required to improve the
quality.
* All oils transported in stainless steel or epoxy coated ship
tanks can be used after further processing (at least bleaching
and deodorization), if the direct previous cargo is foodstuff or
from the list of allowed previous cargoes (EU or FOSFA).
Most intercontinental transport of palm oil and palm products
is crude or RBD in bulk or parcel tankers where the direct
previous cargo is from the allowed cargo list. Hence, further processing
after shipping is required. This processing will include
bleaching and deodorization as minimum refining treatment.
The refined palm oil, palm fractions, or palm kernel oil, can be
used as such or after modification of their chemical/physical
properties. A combination of oil modification technologies, fractionation,
full hydrogenation, and interesterification, are used
to create fats with optimized melting curves for use as an ingredient
in spreads, bakery fats, cream, etc. (see [3]). Figure 3 shows,
as example, the manufacturing route of palm stearin interesterified
with palm kernel oil.
The feedstock of the refinery/modification plant can be traced
to the ship or ship tank via the intermediate storage at the port
of arrival. Traceability of the refining process is equal to that
described in section 2. Fractionation, hydrogenation, and chemical
interesterification are in general batch processes and can be
fully traceable by batch tracking. Enzymatic interesterification
is a continuous process; the output can be traced to the oil feed
tank with a correction for the oil content of the enzyme reactors.
Consumer products have a brand name showing the marketing
company and a product code on pack specifying the date
and time of production, production location and sometimes a
unique batch number. This information allows identification of
the tanks or packaging from which the ingredients were delivered.
Intermediate transport, packing or mixing between refinery
and consumer goods manufacturer are also fully traceable
connecting the consumer product to the supplying refinery.