Traditional mills use stone wheels for crushing
olives, while pressing is done using hydraulic presses. Although less
common today, these systems are still present.
Nowadays, mills using crushing, malaxation, and
extraction are more common.
The olive paste obtained through malaxation is
separated into three components: pomace, vegetation water, and oily
must.
Today, centrifuges are more commonly used to
separate the oil from the solid part.
There are two-phase solid-liquid or three-phase
systems depending on the presence of water. Based on the plant type,
either two-phase or three-phase decanters are used: leveraging
centrifugal acceleration, it separates the olive paste into a liquid
part (water and oil) and a solid part (pomace).
The solid part consists of the residues from the
pressing process such as skins, pulp, and pits.
The open-disk separator completes the mechanical
separation, clarifying the oil (centrifugation) from any remaining
solid part and water.