The rainy season always brings a new set of challenges to the mill. On normal days, the numbers in the daily reports remain under control:
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FFA (Free Fatty Acid) usually ranges between 2.00% – 4.90%1
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DOBI (Deterioration of Bleachability Index) stays comfortable at 2.50 – 3.002
But once fresh fruit bunches (FFB) arrive more than 48 hours after harvesting, the balance collapses. FFA climbs beyond 5.00%3, and DOBI drops closer to 2.314. I even witnessed once where the mill produced oil with FFA reaching 9%. The fruits were leaking oil, smelled sour, and looked more like “fermented paste” than fresh palm. At that stage, palm fruit was no longer a valuable crop—it became a liability.
1. Rotten Fruits – Discard or Process?
If I were the mill owner, I would choose to discard rotten fruits harvested more than 5 days earlier—those already leaking, moldy, and fermenting. Just return them to the plantation as organic fertilizer.
The reason is simple: CPO with high FFA and low DOBI is almost impossible to sell, especially when national CPO stock is high. Good quality oil is already difficult to push into the market; damaged oil will be rejected outright.
2. Reducing Backlog at the Mill
During peak crop season, backlog of FFB is a nightmare. If the backlog grows, tomorrow’s operations will be delayed. My strategy is straightforward: minimize backlog, process as quickly as possible. The longer fruits sit, the higher the FFA will climb.
3. Steriliser Condensate Control
The steriliser is a critical point. Overcooking fruit causes higher losses and increased USB (Unstripped Bunches). It also creates condensate that must be recycled to the Oil Room—a risky move.
My practice has always been to adjust sterilisation time according to USB and losses. If USB is below 2.5%5, I reduce sterilisation time further to minimize condensate losses.
The golden rule: never recycle steriliser condensate when fruit quality is already poor. Recycling only spreads the problem into the oil room.
4. Storage of High FFA, Low DOBI Oil
Once oil is produced, the next battlefield is the Storage Tanks. If the mill has ten tanks, great—we can segregate good oil from bad. But most mills only have 2–4 tanks, which makes segregation a challenge.
Here’s my approach:
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Test FFA hourly to monitor production batches.
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Segregate bad oil into smaller tanks—never mix 50 mt of bad oil with 2000 mt of good oil.
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If tanks are full, sacrifice one tank specifically for high FFA oil.
And most importantly, avoid frequent heating of problematic CPO. I once experienced 200 mt of oil with DOBI 2.4 drop to 1.6 overnight simply because it was overheated for one full day. That loss was entirely avoidable.
5. Despatch – Avoid “Checkmate”
Mills often hit “checkmate” when all tanks are filled with CPO FFA >5% and DOBI <2.31. At this point, the only option left is to sell at a penalty—heavily discounted prices, well below market value.
This is why I always stress to management and plantation teams: keep despatch running smoothly. If the mill produces 1000 mt of CPO this month, then at least that much must be despatched out. Otherwise, tanks overflow, and good oil will inevitably mix with bad oil. Everyone loses.
6. Communication with Plantations
The root of the problem is always the same: fruit quality at intake. Delays in harvesting or transporting fruit lead directly to high FFA and low DOBI. That is why open communication with estate managers is crucial.
If necessary, reject entire consignments of poor-quality fruit. It is better to take a small loss upfront than to contaminate an entire tank of CPO and lose hundreds of tons of value.
Conclusion
My years of experience have taught me one key lesson: when FFA is high and DOBI is low, storage management is the ultimate deciding factor. A wrong move—overheating, mis-mixing, or poor segregation—can damage an entire stock.
Running a palm oil mill is not just about machines; it’s like playing chess. One wrong move, and the whole board collapses. With palm oil, one batch of late fruit can bring a mill straight into “checkmate.”
Footnotes
Would you like me to polish this into a professional blog-style article (more polished tone, for LinkedIn/website readers) or keep it as a field diary style (personal, conversational, like sharing lessons to junior engineers)?
Footnotes
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Industry limit for FFA is <5.00% (standard palm oil mill industry benchmark). ↩
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DOBI acceptable for market is >2.31 (MPOB benchmark). ↩
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FFA rises beyond 5% when FFB is processed >48 hours after harvest. ↩
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DOBI typically falls to 2.3–2.5 when fruits are rotten, oily, and fermented. ↩
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Standard USB (Unstripped Bunches) target is <2.5% for efficient steriliser operation. ↩
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