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Frequently asked questions

Q1. How much DME coconut oil can a single DME unit produce in a day?
Q2. What markets are available?
Q3. Are Stainless Steel tops necessary?
Q4. What fuel is required for the drier?
Q5. Can I sell DME oil as a Biofuel?
Q6. What Free fatty acid levels can I expect at production?
Q7. How many litres can a DME mill produce per hour?
Q8. What kind of management skills are required to run the DME unit?
Q9. How many nuts per day would I need or How many nut to make one litre of DME oil?
Q10. How many nuts to make one litre of DME oil?
Q11. What other things can I produce with the press?
Q12. What construction materials are required for setup?
Q13. Is Organic Certification Necessary?
Q14. Where is Kokonut Pacific located?


Q1. How much DME coconut oil can a single DME unit produce in a day? top

A DME unit can produce up to 50 litres per day. This is with skilled staff where an average 4 operators are required working  There are people who have produced more than this with less staff but they are extra good.

For a full detailed answers to this question to suit your own location use our Site Calculator and see how economic a business would be before you start

Average roll off times of as low as 8 minutes are achievable and production rates of 6+litres per hour. We have seen two people produce 50L in 4 days without rushing around too much.

Q2. What markets are available? top

There are many markets available for your coconut oil. DME high quality virgin oil is becoming sought after world wide as as a medicinal health oil, cooking oil, soap oil, baby and massage oil and biofuel.

 However a word of warning is that local stable markets should be the source of your bread and butter income, export markets are volatile and risky with fluctuating exchange rates, rising freight costs and strong competition as other DME operators have found. Export may be a good place for your excess oil but you should establish you local markets first. Also value adding to the primary product can greatly increase your profits particularly on local markets.

Consider these secondary products for

  • The Oil - Soap, selling in small bottles as cooking oil,  Massage oil, Baby Oil
  • The Meal - Cake and biscuit ingredients, Chook Pellets, Animal food, desiccated coconut
  • The water - vinegar, soy sauce, nata de cocoa
  • The husk - rope, doormats, coir
  • The shells - charcoal briquettes and pellets, charcoal shells, activated carbon filters
  • For more uses see our Uses Chart

Q3. Are Stainless Steel tops necessary? top

A stainless steel top can improve the Free Fatty acid levels in production by as much as 10x. Stainless steel qualifies for Organic certification as does mild steel but galvanised tops do not.

Stainless steel tops don't rust when the unit is not being used and they are much easier to keep clean than iron tops. If you are not worried about Organic certification then 2mm galvanised tops are OK.

Q4. What fuel is required for the drier? top

The drier is self sufficient in fuel using only the coconut shells and husks from the coconuts used in the process. There will still about 30-40% of these left over for other uses.

Q5. Can I sell DME oil as a Biofuel? top

The answer to this question is a matter of economics. You need to look at the going price for cooking oil and diesel and kerosene fuel in your area. If cooking oil sells for $4 a litre and diesel can be purchased for $1 a litre then you won't be able to sell you biofuel for more than one $1 per litre. However in areas where the price of diesel is greater than cooking oil then biofuel is a realistic market.  Coconut oil is an excellent diesel fuel substitute and you may need to use it yourself when the roads or transport is cut off in the rainy season but remember diesels require very clean fuel well settled fuels with low free fatty acid levels. See our biofuel page

Q6. What Free fatty acid levels can I expect at production? top

The free fatty acid levels depend on a number of factors to do with cleanliness and using the right coconuts.

  • The oil must be made from mature coconuts between 12-15 months old older nuts have a much higher free fatty acid
  • Grated coconut  must be processed within the hour and not left lying around in the hot sun or FFA levels will rise
  • All buckets and storage containers must be washed out properly and not be reused with old oil in them
  • Stored oil must not be left in direct sunlight

Then using Stainless steel tops you should get FFA levels < .05%

Q7. How many litres can a DME mill produce per hour? top

Beginners in training start with 1-2 litres per hour whereas experts produce 6-7 litres per hour. If you are getting 5-6 you are doing quite good

For a full detailed answers to this question to suit your own location use our Site Calculator and see how economic a business would be before you start

Q8. What kind of management skills are required to run the DME unit? top

Management needs to be divided up into the following areas.

  • Production at the factory floor - you need to be a good people manager, able to overcome people problems, local jealousies etc and maintain good morale
  • Marketing - You need to be able to converse with marketing agents, processing factories and find markets and people who need your products
  • Financial - You need to be able to handle money wisely,
    • always pay your workers on time
    • don't go into too much debt to expand your business
    • always be saving up for unseen maintenance costs and replacement of worn equipment and unexpected bills
    • calculate you costs carefully before going into any new venture NOT after you get there.
    • You can cost out a DME operation before starting, you need to know
      • For a full detailed answers to this question to suit your own location use our Site Calculator and see how economic a business in your area would be before you start
      • the selling price of the oil'
      • the cost of your coconuts
      • the cost of your labour, fuel, electricity
      • how much it costs you to produce 1 litre of oil
      • transport costs

       

Q9. How many nuts per day would I need? top

The number of nuts per day can be calculated from by calculating how many nuts per litre you would get. Nuts per litre can vary from 6 to 25 depending on

  • the size of the nuts
  • the thickness of the meat
  • the maturity of the nuts
  • the efficiency and experience of the workers

In general nuts that are

  • 200mm diameter may yield 6-10 nuts per litre
  • 100mm diameter may yield 11-14 nuts per litre
  • 75-80mm diameter may yield 15-22 nuts per litre

Beginners use 200 - 300  per day where experience workers may use 600 -800 nuts per day, these are  approx for 100mm nuts

For a full detailed answers to this question to suit your own location use our Site Calculator and see how economic a business in your area would be before you start

Q10. How much will it cost me to set up a DME unit? top

There are a number of ways to approach an installation and a number of DME kits that are optional according to your situation. All of these can greatly effect the installation price of the units

  • You may need to build a shed or you might modify and existing one
  • You may choose stainless steel of iron for the top of your drier
  • You may use the recommending training  scheme of Kokonut Pacific or you may choose to train yourself out of the manuals.
  • Freight costs and air fares vary greatly around the world and these will have a big effect on the cost price

For discussion on these issues we suggest you contact us using our  contact page  or   also see our equipment page for kit photos

Q11. What other things can I produce with my equipment? top

  • You can produce coconut cream for weddings etc with you press by just grating the meal and pressing it inside a large sock in the cylinder, leaving out the drying process.

  • You can be a supplied of freshly grated coconut to boarding schools and food outlets.

  • There are some other soft nuts that you can press in the DME press

Q12. What construction materials are required for setup? top

For the shed typical shed building materials such as roofing, timber and cement foundations. There is a specific drier materials that we can supply if you contact us  using our  contact page  or  The drier is often custom made to suit different available materials in different parts of the world and it would be good to discuss this with you.

Q13. Is Organic Certification necessary? top

Organically  certified virgin coconut oil is becoming very popular in the Western Nations for medicinal and heath products and many people specify the need to have it. However there is huge local market on your doorstep that does not require organic certification by supplying your countries needs in cooking oil, soap (no soap oil ever needs to be certified organic), massage oils, skin care oil etc.  This is the best market for your bread and butter income and we reiterate the export business warning above

Q14. Where is Kokonut Pacific located? top

In Canberra, the capital city of Australia. See our contact page for details

See what equipment is supplied with a kit here


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