Estudo de processos convencionais de extração de óleos essenciais via revisão bibliográfica: uma base para um projeto industrial

Abstract

Essential oils are products of the secondary metabolism of aromatic plants used as part of defense and plant propagation systems. They are composed mainly of two or three substances, however they can reach up to sixty components, whose concentration and presence depend on the interactions made by the plant with the environment. Essential oils are characterized by their strong odor and antimicrobial properties, which have recently been explored by several fields of biotechnology, increasing consumption and, consequently, the demand for this product. To obtain essential oils, there are several methods, the steam distillation method, hydrodistillation and turbo-hydrodistillation are the most commonly used in laboratories and industries. Thus, the objective was to compare the performance of those three methods to identify the most viable choice for the implementation of an industry. From data obtained in bibliographic research, a mass and energy balance was made for these three extractive methods, comparing their raw materials and energy outlay, the results obtained show a fuel consumption of 4.05x10-5 kg/s for the steam distillation method and 0.0119 kg/s for the hydrodistillation and turbo-hydrodistillation methods, in addition, a cold water’s flow in the condenser of 0.01 kg/s was obtained for the steam distillation method , while for the methods of hydrodistillation and turbo-hydrodistillation, 0.5 kg / s and 1 kg / s were obtained, respectively. The water consumption in the extractor in kg of water/kg of vegetable matrix was 5.85, 8.889 and 4 for the methods of steam distillation, hydrodistillation and turbohydrodistillation, in due order. Thus, it was possible to infer that the methods of steam distillation and turbo-hydrodistillation present a lower consumption of inputs for the operation in an industrial plant, representing important technologies in the implantation of an essential oil extraction industry.