Hydrothermal refining process

A method of refining crude vegetable oil to meet edible oil specifications, the method comprising:

• mixing the crude vegetable oil comprising inorganic contaminants with water and at least one reactant to form an oil-water mixture;
• feeding the oil-water mixture under pressure into a hydrothermal reactor, wherein the oil-water mixture is subject to heat within the hydrothermal reactor;
• within the hydrothermal reactor, maintaining the oil-water mixture within a temperature range of 150° C. to 275° C., a pressure range of 100 psig to 1500 psig, and a turbulent flow condition at a Reynolds Number of at least 4,000 for a space time between 10 seconds to 2 minutes to form a hydrothermal reactor effluent;
• within the hydrothermal reactor, providing hydrolysis of phospholipid molecules within the space time and reacting the inorganic contaminants with the at least one reactant to form inorganic salts that partition into an aqueous phase;
• and
• separating the hydrothermal reactor effluent into the inorganic salts in the aqueous phase and a refined vegetable oil that contains a lower concentration of the inorganic contaminants than the crude vegetable oil.

A method of refining crude vegetable oil to meet edible oil specifications, the method comprising:

• mixing the crude vegetable oil comprising inorganic contaminants with water and at least one reactant to form an oil-water mixture;
• feeding the oil-water mixture under pressure into a hydrothermal reactor, wherein the oil-water mixture is subject to heat within the hydrothermal reactor;
• within the hydrothermal reactor, maintaining the oil-water mixture within a predetermined temperature range, a predetermined pressure range, and a turbulent flow condition for a predetermined space time to form a hydrothermal reactor effluent;
• within the hydrothermal reactor, providing rapid hydrolysis of phospholipid molecules within the predetermined space time and reacting the inorganic contaminants with the at least one reactant to form inorganic salts that partition into an aqueous phase;
• and
• separating the hydrothermal reactor effluent into the inorganic salts in the aqueous phase and a refined vegetable oil that contains a lower concentration of the inorganic contaminants than the crude vegetable oil.