Solar Energy Powered Extraction for Essential Oils
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Abstract
By concentrating on three main goals, the proposed research project aims to meet the increasing demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable methods in the production of essential oils: obtaining essential oils from locally grown plants and food waste, utilizing extraction methods powered by renewable energy, and creating a thorough life cycle assessment framework. This multidisciplinary strategy seeks to close knowledge gaps, encourage creative and ecologically conscious activities, and optimize the project's potential benefits and influence across several industries; personal hygiene and the food industry to name a few. Essential oils, prized for their aromatic and therapeutic properties, have gained increased recognition, particularly post-COVID-19. They are produced through various methods, including traditional techniques like hydro distillation and steam distillation, each accompanied by its set of challenges. These challenges have paved the way for the emergence of modern technologies such as supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) to address them. The drawbacks of traditional methods include reliance on non-renewable energy sources, potential degradation of essential oils due to heat, and limitations in the scope of essential oil applications. The advent of SFE represents a contemporary solution aimed at mitigating these challenges and enhancing the overall efficiency and quality of essential oil extraction. This project aimed to investigate two specific essential oils: limonene extracted from orange peels and Ziziphus spina-christi L extracted from the Sidra tree, chosen for its accessibility and native presence in Qatar. The methods were carried out at the laboratory scale with the assumption of the capability to upscale to an industrial scale within the inherent limitations of the process with the addition of simulating SFE on Aspen Plus V14 in lieu of obtaining experimental data.
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Extraction, Essential Oils, Steam, Hydro, Distillation, ASPEN, SFE, Limonene, ZIC