Citrus peel oils have been manufactured in Florida by seven different types of equipment: Pipkin roll, screw press, Fraser-Brace excoriator, FMC rotary juice extractor, FMC citrus juice extractor, AMC scarifier, and Brown peel shaver. In 1975, the Brown Oil Extractor (BOE), a new commercial apparatus for the recovery of citrus essential oils, was installed for the first time in Florida. During the past 4 years, the BOE has replaced some Brown peel shaver, screw press, and FMC citrus juice extractor installations for the production of citrus oils.
The BOE is unique in that the extraction of the oil is accomplished on the whole fruit before the juice is removed. In so doing, the loss of oil during the juice extraction process is avoided and the maximum oil recovery is obtained. Citrus fruits are caused to spin in the bight or trough between adjacent parallel rolls, Each roll is formed of a plurality of axially spaced metal discs, each disc having pointed teeth on its periphery. The pairs of rolls operate within a receptacle in which water covers the rolls so that the fruit are partially submerged during the oil extraction operation. The rolls all turn in the same direction with alternate rolls turning faster. The fruit is moved from one trough to the next by means of a conveyor-driven Geneva movement which advances the fruit intermittently through the equipment, The oil is removed in the form of an emulsion which is separated by standard centrifugation procedures.