Dme Equipment

[Khun Jean]

I am looking for DME (Direct Micro Expelling) equipment to be able to make virgin cold-pressed coconut oil (VCNO).

I found one manufacturer in Australia, but the price for the rather simple equipment is very steep (10000 AUS$). I am looking for small-scale production. Small scale would use about 3-4 of these, earning back the 40.000 would take 100 years!

A process that is not using petroleum based fuels or a lot of electricity is the most interesting.

Are there local manufacturors of DME equipment?

A second option is to use fermentation to extract the oil, but i have no experience with this.

Anybody out here doing that?

For the ones curious about why extracting the oil is interesting.

De VCNO is a first class ingredient for soaps, lotions, babyfood and one of the best oils for cooking.

It is even helping to loose weight.

If you make a lot it is even good for making biodiesel.

[Rinrada]

Sorry cant help with the equipment but interesting idea.

When I was a bit younger...well a LOT really I was with a shipping company whose main cargos (not mine)were mostly copra that we picked up in the Solomons Islands and bulked carried it back to the UK...

always remember the "bugs"but the smell was intoxicating....30,000 tons at a time..

Now got a little bit of land in Chiang Mai with about 100 coconut trees ...also the neighbours...but was only ever thinking about additives to khun wifes currys.

This sounds like a "nice idea"

Direct Micro Expelling

The System and Equipment

Instead of producing large batches, taking many weeks to ship and process, the DME system concentrates on small, manageable, daily batches.

The DME process is based on a system of Manual extraction of oil from finely grated, fresh, semi-dry coconut, and depends upon simple, easily learned skills, rather than sophisticated equipment.

The equipment required consists of a manual press, motorised grating, and drying equipment that is built on site. If the site has electricity, the total cost of the system should be in the range of US$3,000 to $4,000.

The system is eco friendly, creating little waste and using a minimum of energy to operate.

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Production Quantity

Depending on local conditions and the options chosen, throughput is between 100 and 500 nuts per day, producing 5 to 25 litres of oil.

The oil is of very high quality and is produced within one and a half hours of opening the nut.

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Uses for Oil

The oil is generally sold and used locally as:

Body and hair lotion

For cooking

Lamp fuel

Basis for soap, etc

Diesel substitute

The residue meal is edible and makes excellent animal feed

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Economic aspects

The price of copra fluctuates wildly, but is gradually falling, while the price of imported oil rises to unaffordable levels for poor rural people. Producers of copra today are paid a quarter of what they were at the end of the Second World War.

Locally produced, high quality oil enables smallholders and village communities to generate a steady income, while providing their customers with a valued and much needed commodity.

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Conclusion

The DME system enables smallholders to gain ready access to their own oil in a pure form, raising rural incomes through this abundant, existing, sustainable resource.

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http://piazza.iae.nl/users/normanh/dme.html

[h90]

I am looking for DME (Direct Micro Expelling) equipment to be able to make virgin cold-pressed coconut oil (VCNO).

I found one manufacturer in Australia, but the price for the rather simple equipment is very steep (10000 AUS$). I am looking for small-scale production. Small scale would use about 3-4 of these, earning back the 40.000 would take 100 years!

A process that is not using petroleum based fuels or a lot of electricity is the most interesting.

Are there local manufacturors of DME equipment?

A second option is to use fermentation to extract the oil, but i have no experience with this.

Anybody out here doing that?

For the ones curious about why extracting the oil is interesting.

De VCNO is a first class ingredient for soaps, lotions, babyfood and one of the best oils for cooking.

It is even helping to loose weight.

If you make a lot it is even good for making biodiesel.

Is that a kind of hydraulic press?

Maybe it is possible to copy such a device?

[Gary A]

Another link with a lot of information;

http://turneffecoconut.com/making.html

[Gary A]

This Thai company builds nearly any type of food processing machine you can imagine;

http://www.supatcanning.com/

[sbk]

You might try the Agriculture dept at the Changwat or a Co-Op in a coconut producing area -- they could probably steer you in the right direction.

Prachuab Khiri Khan and Surat Thani are the two main producers of coconuts I believe.

[Khun Jean]

Thanks everyone. That is very helpfull.

The first link of Gary is almost the same process i am looking for. It will be a little different getting the 'meat' out of the coconut. The shown process is like a citrus press but more powerfull and sharper tools. A rather dangerous machine. Also drying has to be done with much lower temperatures. The best grade is cold pressed, and you need to be very carefully with the drying process. The oil properties will slightly change, but it makes all the difference. Compare it with the labels for olive oil. Virgin cold pressed oil will be much more valuable.

The second link is now being studied.

I will be in Prachuab next week, the Co-Op is a good idea. Thanx sbk!.

I am planning to use DME for a part of my family who just sell the coconuts now for a very low price. If they can process the coconuts themselves they will be able to make it into a more valuable product.

And i may be able to offer some help exporting the stuff.

The products that can be made are getting in demand. If you or the family have some land with coconuts it might be an easy way to make some profit of it.

First mission is to get an affordable DME system.