Economic analysis of small-scale technologies for palm oil extraction in Cameroon

The traditional technology of pressing palm fruits is laborious and has a low yield of oil. In some areas, service pressing is available using manual Colin expellers, which are aging and no longer imported. Recently, commercial manufacturing of another small-scale expeller, the manual or motorized Caltech, began in the country. A vertical axis version has also been developed. The economic viability of these presses and two alternative screw-operated batch presses used elsewhere in Africa, the UNATA and SODIZI, are compared. Other screw-operated batch presses, hydraulic presses, and phase separation extractors are also discussed. (Author abstract)