Effect of Activation on Clays and Carbonaceous Materials in Vegetable Oil Bleaching: State of Art Review

The use of clay and its minerals in vegetable oil purification has been tremendous. It has been discovered that surface modification or activation of this distinct adsorbent greatly increases its adsorptive capacity. Similarly, seed hulls also known as carbonaceous materials are being used as the only adsorbent or combined with activated clays for vegetable oil bleaching. Prominent among the modification methods is acid activation. Acid activated clay minerals and carbonaceous materials have been used extensively as adsorbent industrially for vegetable oil bleaching. However, some challenges have been identified with the use of acid activated adsorbent for vegetable oil cleansing. This paper made a review of activation of clay minerals and carbonaceous materials and its effect on micro structure, surface area and bleaching efficiency in vegetable oil refining.