In our webinar From Fryer to Filter: Protecting Oil and Profit in Food Processing, participants asked more questions than we had time to answer. Here are our answers, grouped by topic. Watch the full webinar
Oil Quality and Oil Life
It depends on the product, coating, fryer, oil type, production conditions and oil turnover rate, so there is no fixed figure. ClearOil slows down oil degradation, but it cannot restore oil that is already damaged. Oil quality should still be monitored regularly, for example through TPM measurements, and the oil replaced once it reaches the applicable quality limit.
ClearOil supports more stable FFA and PV levels by continuously removing crumbs and suspended particles before they burn and add to oil degradation. The exact effect depends on the frying process and should be evaluated through your regular oil quality measurements.
Oil turnover should be high enough for fresh oil to replace the oil absorbed by the product or removed from the process, before degradation reaches your quality limit. The right balance depends on the product, oil uptake, frying temperature, production volume and operating conditions, so both turnover and oil quality need to be monitored for each frying process.
TPM is commonly used to monitor the overall condition of frying oil and decide when to replace it. Filtration does not remove all degradation compounds, so oil quality should still be checked regularly after filtration. Whether you also measure FFA depends on your quality control procedures and applicable requirements.
Oil Loss
In normal operation with ClearOil, typically less than 5% of the oil removed from the fryer leaves with the filter cake. A compressed-air blowdown phase recovers as much oil as possible from the cake before it is discharged. Without this recovery step, discarded crumbs can hold considerably more oil. The exact figure depends on the product, crumb characteristics, filter settings and operating conditions.
Operation and Maintenance
We generally recommend using the same detergent as in your fryer. Different detergents can be used depending on the application and the detergent supplier’s recommendations. For fryer and snack food applications, we recommend 5% detergent in water, which means 50 liters of detergent per 1,000 liters of water in the rinsing or fryer tank.
Key tasks are regular cleaning, inspection of the filter cloth and moving parts, and checking that oil flow and discharge work correctly. How often depends on the products, production conditions and operating hours. Following the recommended cleaning and service procedures keeps filtration performance stable and reduces unplanned downtime.
Maintenance involves costs for cleaning, filter cloth, spare parts and service time. Preventive maintenance also helps avoid unplanned stops, reduced filtration performance and more extensive repairs. The overall effect depends on production hours, the products processed and how often the system needs cleaning and service.
More About ClearOil
Questions about models, capacity or pricing? See ClearOil or watch the webinar.