To determine whether liquid–liquid extraction is a suitable substitute
for deacidification by neutralization or steam distillation,
the equipment performance, hydrodynamic behavior and mass
transfer phenomena must be studied. Pina and Meirelles [21] studied
the dispersed phase holdup performance of a perforated rotating
disc column (PRDC) in the continuous deacidification of corn
oil, oleic acid and aqueous ethanol mixtures and showed that the
free fatty acids can be effectively extracted and the loss of neutral
oil can be minimized. In addition to hydrodynamic and mass transfer
investigations, the quality of oil deacidified by liquid extraction
must be analyzed. Therefore, this paper investigates the mass
transfer in a rotating disc column during rice bran oil deacidification.
The results show that rice bran oil can be completely deacidified
by solvent extraction with only small neutral oil and
nutraceutical compound losses.