Write the line as modules — and remember sunflower has one module the other oilseeds don't

Decide first

Four scopes, four boundaries — where does your project stop?

Module list

Common sunflower modules around the press

1. Step 1

   1 · Cleaning: vibrating screen + destoner + magnet

   Removes stones, metal, and stalk debris before hulling. Essential — stones damage disc-huller blades and reduce kernel recovery from this light, irregular seed.

2. Step 2

   2 · Dehulling: disc huller + aspirator + kernel screen

   Cracks hulls (20-30% of seed) and separates them by air. Target ≤8% residual hull for the kernel route; hulls convey to a by-product silo for biomass fuel or fiberboard filler.

3. Step 3

   3 · Press cell: hydraulic press + cake handling

   300/325 hot (30-40 min/barrel) or 355-500 cold (~2 h/barrel), 100 kg/barrel, 60 MPa system pressure, 2.2 kW motor. Includes conditioning or ambient crushing, cake discharge, crude-oil tray, pump, and first settling.

4. Step 4

   4 · Dewaxing: winterization tank + filter press

   The module unique to sunflower: cool crude oil to 5-8°C, hold 24-48 h so 600-1200 ppm wax crystallizes, then filter-press. Must be sized to match daily press output; skip only for bulk crude where haze is accepted.

5. Step 5

   5 · Finishing: refining (optional) + storage + filling

   RBD route adds degum + neutralize + bleach + deodorize; cold-pressed premium uses dewax + polish-filter only. Bottling fills 500 ml-5 L PET or glass; high-oleic premium suits dark glass with nitrogen headspace.

Key parameters

Line numbers shared across the hydraulic range

Avoid rework

Configuration gaps that strand a sunflower line

• Buying a press but no dewaxing section while promising clear bottles: the 600-1200 ppm wax has nowhere to go, and the retail oil clouds on the shelf.
• Sizing the dewaxing tank too small: a 24-48 h hold at 5-8°C means tank volume must cover one to two days of press output, or the line backs up.
• Matching modules to the press but not to each other: dehulling, press, dewaxing, and filtration each have a throughput — the slowest one caps the whole line.
• Leaving cake and hull handling out of the layout: the 20-30% hull stream and 28-32% protein cake need conveyors, silos, and bagging before walls go up.

A sunflower line is only as fast as its slowest module — and the dewaxing tank, with its 24-48 h hold, is the one most often undersized.

Why modules

Why a sunflower line is a system, not a press with accessories

It is tempting to treat the hydraulic press as the project and everything else as accessories, but a sunflower line earns or loses money in the modules around the press. The press itself is remarkably consistent: across the 300, 325, 355, and 500 models the hydraulic system is identical — 60 MPa driven by a 2.2 kW motor, 100 kg per 390 × 800 mm barrel, model 325 using 14 partitions — so the press is rarely the bottleneck once the route is chosen. The bottlenecks live upstream and downstream. Upstream, dehulling sets the residual-hull level that controls oil color and the 600-1200 ppm wax load; if the huller and aspirator cannot hit ≤8% residual hull at the press's feed rate, the kernel route fails before pressing starts. Downstream, the dewaxing section is the module that makes sunflower unlike any other common oilseed: removing wax requires cooling the crude oil to 5-8°C and holding it 24-48 hours so the wax crystallizes before filter-pressing. That long hold time turns the winterization tank into a capacity decision: it must hold one to two days of press output, or it throttles the whole line no matter how big the press is. And the by-products are not waste to ignore: hulls are 20-30% of seed weight and cake runs 28-32% protein, both with market value and both needing conveyors, silos, and bagging designed into the layout. Configure the line as modules with matched throughputs, name the boundary where the project stops, and the press becomes the easy part.

Line modules

A sunflower line is not complete until hulls, wax, and containers are named

• Front end: cleaner, destoner, huller, aspirator, kernel screen, hull outlet, and press-feed buffer.
• Press room: conditioner or low-temperature feed prep, hydraulic press, cake discharge, crude tray, pump, and first tank.
• Back end: settling, filtration, dewaxing, refining handoff, clean tanks, filling, carton, or bulk loading.

Line evidence

Line configuration should show where seed, oil, hulls, and cake move

• Ask for a simple workshop sketch marking seed intake, huller, hull outlet, press bay, oil tanks, filter area, cake pickup, and bottle or bulk dispatch.
• Without this sketch, the quote may fit the press model but fail at dust control, oil transfer, cake handling, or truck access.
• The layout should reserve space differently for whole-seed crude oil, kernel cold press, dewaxed clear oil, and refined retail oil.

Project boundary

What to confirm before scoping Sunflower Pressing Line Configuration

Sunflower Pressing Line Configuration should not be quoted from an equipment name alone. Check feed lots, target oil, post-press handling, and packing rhythm in one scope before deciding which Sunflower Oil Press modules stay. Listed on the factory hot-press page — discuss 300/325 first.

When feed condition, moisture, impurities, batch weight, and product position are unclear, press tonnage and filter area become guesswork. Factory systems share 60 MPa and 2.2 kW motors; hot pure press is 30–40 min/barrel and cold pure press is ~2 h/barrel — cycle time matters more than brochure tonnage.

• Confirm whether feed is whole seed, kernels, pretreated material, or an existing semi-finished stream.
• Confirm whether the target is crude oil, filtered oil, bottled oil, drum ingredient oil, or a refining handoff.
• Hot cycle reference: pure press 30-40 min/barrel, ~1.5 h for 2 barrels with loading; cold pure press ~2 h/barrel, ~4.5 h for 2 barrels.
• Confirm batch rhythm, labor, changeover, retained samples, power (often 380V/50Hz/3ph), and site install conditions.

Factory model check

Match hot / cold models to factory hard data

Pin models to published factory specs before tonnage talk.

Hot 300/325: 300–325 ton, 60 MPa system, standard barrel Ø390×800 mm / max 100 kg, pure press 30–40 min/barrel, ~1.5 h for 2 barrels with loading, 2.2 kW motor. Cold 355/400/426/480/500: 370–630 ton, integrated frame, same 100 kg standard barrel, pure press ~2 h/barrel, ~4.5 h for 2 barrels with loading; optional Ø300 high-pressure barrel max 60 kg. Residual oil target ~≤5% (peanut hot often 6–8% measured).

• Standard barrel Ø390×800 mm, max ~100 kg crushed feed; optional Ø300 high-pressure barrel max ~60 kg.
• Cylinder material 27SiMn; cold frames are integrated molded steel; hot frames are typically H-type channel steel.
• Listed on the factory hot-press page — discuss 300/325 first.

Equipment check

Line scope needs to land in equipment interfaces

Once the route is clear, write the interfaces: how preparation feeds the press, how oil leaves the press, how filtration connects to tanks, and how packing receives finished oil.