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Four key points of CO2 frankincense essential oil extraction process

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Supercritical CO2 extraction equipment

CO2 Extraction Method For Frankincense Oil

Equipment: 5L+1L CO2 Extraction Equipment

Weigh 100g of frankincense powder that has passed through a 40 mesh sieve and load it into an extractor, carry out dynamic extraction under the set extraction conditions, dissolve the supercritical CO2 fluid of frankincense volatile oil, separate from frankincense volatile oil after decompression and cooling, and collect after extraction. Extract, and weigh the volatile oil.

11 Parameters of CO2 Extraction Process of Frankincense Essential Oil

  1. Frankincenses powder: 100g;
  2. Granularity: 40 mesh;
  3. Extraction pressure: 150 bar;
  4. Extraction temperature: 35℃;
  5. Separation pressure: 80 bar;
  6. Separation temperature: 56℃;
  7. Time: 120 minutes
  8. Frankincense oil extraction rate: 11.1%.

Four key points of CO2 frankincense essential oil extraction

Key points 1#: CO2 Extraction Pressure

At lower pressure (5-15MPa), the extraction rate increases rapidly with the increase of CO2 extraction pressure, and the extraction rate is the highest at 15MPa, but when the pressure exceeds 15MPa, the extraction rate shows a downward trend.

This may be because when the pressure is low, as the pressure increases, the density of the CO2 supercritical fluid increases, and its ability to dissolve and penetrate the material also increases, but after the pressure exceeds a certain level, the further increase in the density of the CO2 fluid causes its poor fluidity, the mass transfer rate slows down, which affects the solubility of CO2 fluid, resulting in a decrease in the extraction rate.

Key points 2#: CO2 Extraction Temperature

The effect of temperature on the CO2 extraction rate has two aspects:

The increase in temperature makes the diffusion coefficient of CO2 fluid increase, and the mass transfer rate accelerates, which is beneficial to extraction.
However, the increase in temperature also reduces the density of the CO2 fluid, thereby reducing its dissolving ability, and resulting in a lower extraction rate.
In the beginning, with the increase in temperature, the extraction rate of frankincense volatile oil increased, when the temperature reached 35℃, the extraction rate reached the maximum value, and when it exceeded 35℃, the extraction rate decreased again.

Key points 3#: Supercritical CO2 Fluid Flow

The dynamic CO2 flow rate is large, and the extractant has a large ratio to the extract, which is conducive to the diffusion of the extract from the material to the extractant CO2 fluid and improves the extraction rate. However, if the flow rate of CO2 is too fast, the contact between the CO2 fluid and the material will be insufficient, or the extract will not be separated in the separation kettle in time and then flushed back to the extraction tank, reducing the extraction yield.

Key points 4#: Extraction Time

With the extension of the extraction time, the extraction rate should increase, but it increases to a certain extent and reaches a saturated state, and the extraction rate does not increase anymore. Between 0.5-1.5h, the extraction rate increases rapidly, more than 1.5h, the extraction rate increases slowly, and at 2h, the extraction rate has reached the limit.

Four differences between CO2 extraction VS distillation to extract frankincense oil

  • Generally, steam distillation is used for the extraction of frankincense oil. The advantage of this method is that it is simple and easy, but it takes a long time and the extraction efficiency is low;
  • Supercritical extraction has the advantages of saving time and sufficient extraction;
  • And because the solvent used for supercritical extraction is CO2, it can be completely dissipated under normal temperature and pressure, and there will be no solvent residue, so it can be used to replace steam distillation;
  • The volatile oil of frankincense is extracted from frankincense powder by supercritical CO2 extraction technology, and the obtained components are complete, pure and retain the original activity.