Production

The intake capacity of PrJSC “Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat” (NGK) for oilseeds reaches up to 3,800 tons per day. This ensures stable plant loading and flexibility in cooperation with suppliers.

Quality control starts already at the unloading stage. Seed samples are taken by an automatic sampler on a monorail, COBRA 4012 Standard (France). This guarantees representative sampling and minimizes the human factor.

The certified in-house laboratory tests every batch of sunflower, soybean and rapeseed seeds. The following parameters are monitored:

• foreign matter content

• moisture

• oil content

• other indicators in line with applicable standards

Raw material weighing is carried out on two truck scales with capacities of 80 and 60 tons, allowing fast handling of large transport volumes.

The raw material section includes grain cleaning and grain drying units. The grain dryer is equipped with a heat generator fired by sunflower husk, which reduces energy costs and improves the plant’s environmental performance.

The accepted seeds are dried to target levels (moisture not higher than 8%) and cleaned from foreign impurities (not more than 3%). After that, the seeds are sent to storage and further processing.

Unloading is carried out using a hydraulic truck tipper or dump trucks at five unloading points, ensuring fast and uninterrupted logistics within the plant site.

On the territory of PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK) there is a modern silo-type elevator. It is the core facility for oilseed storage, ensuring stable operation of the processing plant.

The elevator’s total storage capacity is 176,232 m³, which is equivalent to about 77,000 tons of sunflower seeds. This capacity allows NGK to build strategic stocks, cooperate flexibly with suppliers and plan processing volumes in advance.

Silo storage provides controlled humidity and temperature. This preserves seed quality and supports consistent yields of oil and meal.

Sunflower seed preparation

For processing, sunflower seeds are supplied in a continuous flow to the dehulling and air-sifting section of the oil extraction plant, where they are prepared for oil pressing.

First, separators clean the seeds from foreign impurities to the required parameters. Then the seed flow is weighed and fed to dehulling machines, where the hull is separated from the kernel.

The dehulled seeds in a continuous flow are sent to aspiration (seed air-sifting) machines. The hull is separated from the main product stream and transported to the boiler house of PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK), where it is used as fuel for steam generation required in seed processing. The surplus hulls are directed to the pelletizing section.

Production of pressed oil

Cleaned sunflower kernels (as well as rapeseed or soybean kernels) are fed to roller mills in the pressing section for grinding.

The ground kernels are then subjected to wet-heat treatment. After this stage, the first mechanical pressing of the oil takes place.

Wet-heat treatment is carried out in cookers and significantly facilitates and improves oil recovery on the screw presses.

At the outlet of the presses, two main products are obtained:

1. Pressed oil, which is sent to the filtration section for cleaning.

2. Press cake, which is sent to the extraction plant.

Extraction of press cake and production of extraction oil

When leaving the press, the press cake still contains about 16–21% oil. Further oil recovery is carried out in the extraction section by solvent extraction.

The press cake is treated with a hexane-based solvent in the extractor. At this stage two intermediate products are obtained:

• untoasted meal

• miscella (a solution of oil in solvent)

Both products contain solvent that must be removed.

• Miscella is fed to the distillation unit, where the solvent is removed from the oil.

• The meal is sent to the toaster, where solvent is stripped and thermal treatment is carried out.

At this stage NGK obtains:

• extraction oil, which is directed to the hydration section for further purification

• untoasted, non-granulated meal, which is sent to the meal pelletizing section

Oil cleaning and filtration

Pressed oil contains suspended solids and mechanical impurities. These are removed during primary cleaning in the sludge trap and then on vertical filters.

After primary cleaning, the oil is weighed, dried and sent to storage tanks in the finished products section.

Extraction oil passes through hydration and drying in the hydration section, after which it is also pumped to the finished product storage tanks.

During oil hydration an additional commercial product is obtained – phosphatide concentrate (lecithin), which is collected in a dedicated tank in the finished products section.

Granulation of meal

Non-granulated toasted meal is fed to the pelletizing section, where it is pressed into pellets, cooled and stored in the meal storage elevator, which consists of 4 conical silos for granulated meal with a total capacity of 4,800 tons, as well as metal bunkers for operational storage.

The bulk density of granulated meal is about 0.6 t/m³, while non-granulated meal is around 0.4 t/m³. This significantly reduces logistics and storage costs for customers.

Pelletizing also allows NGK to bring the moisture and temperature of the product to standard values, improving its storage stability.

Granulation and storage of hulls – fuel pellets

Surplus sunflower hulls are directed to the pelletizing section, where they are processed into fuel pellets.

Finished pellets are stored in a dedicated hull pellet warehouse and then sold in bulk or in big bags as a renewable biofuel.

Finished products of PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK) are stored in dedicated tanks and silos, which ensures stable quality and uninterrupted shipments. Crude oil is stored in a tank farm with a total capacity of about 8,000 m³.

Granulated meal is stored in silos with a total capacity of about 4,800 tons, while granulated sunflower hulls (fuel pellets) are kept in storage facilities with a capacity of about 760 tons. Phosphatide concentrate (lecithin) is stored in separate tanks in the finished products section.

These storage capacities allow NGK to plan logistics flexibly and quickly arrange shipments by both rail and road transport.

All finished products of PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK) — crude oil, granulated meal and fuel pellets from sunflower hulls — are shipped by rail and road.
Crude oil is loaded into rail tank cars and containers. Meal and pellets are shipped in grain hoppers, containers or by trucks.
Phosphatide concentrate (lecithin) is dispatched by road in dedicated tanks.

The plant has four dead-end railway tracks with a total capacity of up to 55 railcars, allowing shunting and transfer of wagons between the tracks.
A covered automated loading bay enables simultaneous loading of up to 10 rail tank cars with oil and 10 grain hoppers with meal.

The design loading capacity into railcars is up to 1,800 tons of oil and up to 1,500 tons of meal per day.
The total length of the in-plant railway lines is about 1 km, and NGK operates two rail weighbridges for accurate weight control.

The certified laboratory of PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK) is equipped with modern high-precision instruments, including an NMR analyzer. It provides continuous quality control of raw materials, intermediate products and finished goods at all stages of the production process. The laboratory is an integral part of the plant’s main production units and operates in close coordination with all workshops.

Incoming sunflower, soybean and rapeseed seeds are checked for moisture, foreign impurities, oil content and other key parameters. The NMR analyzer allows for fast and accurate determination of oil content in seeds and processed products, enabling real-time adjustment of process settings and stable yields of oil and meal.

The laboratory monitors pressed and extraction oil, granulated meal, phosphatide concentrate (lecithin) and fuel pellets from sunflower hulls. This comprehensive control system ensures consistent quality and safety of NGK products for both Ukrainian and international customers.

PrJSC "Nizhynsky Zhyrcombinat" (NGK) operates a boiler house with two steam boilers E-10.0-2.4R and DKVR 6.5/13 fired by sunflower husk. The total steam capacity is up to 16 t/h, which is sufficient for the main process needs.

Power supply is provided by a 35 kV cable line and two 10 kV backup lines. The site has a 35/10 kV substation rated at 4 MW and three 10/0.4 kV substations. The maximum connected load is up to 3,000 kW, and an automated electricity metering system is in operation. For backup power NGK uses three gas generator sets with a total capacity of 4.9 MW and a 330 kW diesel generator with automatic transfer (ATS).

Water supply is provided by two artesian wells and an internal pipeline network of about 1.5 km. There is a dedicated firewater network of around 1 km with two 650 m³ tanks, as well as a sewer and stormwater network more than 1 km long.