Plant essential oils are extracted through distillation; the vapor generated during this process (a mixture of oil and vapor) can have the oil separated from it using a distillation tower, with the vapor being reused after being heated and pressurized
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Our factory extracts plant essential oils through distillation. The current process involves crushing the raw materials and placing them in a distillation tank, after which water vapor is introduced for distillation. The steam generated during this process (a mixture of oil vapor and water) is condensed in a condenser to form an oil-water mixture. Oil and water are separated from each other due to their immiscibility and the lower density of oil, thereby yielding the final product. The distillation process takes about 8 hours, with the steam pressure increasing from atmospheric pressure to 5 kilograms. For every 5 tons of water vapor used, approximately 80 kilograms of product can be obtained after condensation. This process consumes a large amount of energy and cooling water. I would like to ask the experts: is it possible to use a distillation tower to separate the oil from the steam (oil-vapor mixture) obtained through distillation, with the water vapor at the top of the tower being reused after being heated and pressurized? There are over 40 known components in oil; the main components account for 50-60% of its composition, with a boiling point of 260-290 degrees. The remaining components are less significant, and their boiling points are all higher than that of water.
This energy consumption is indeed quite high; it’s very necessary to save energy； As I understand it, essential oil extraction can be considered a form of steam distillation; certain components in the essential oil have their vapor pressure reduced due to the steam, or some components form a minimum-boiling azeotrope with water. Therefore, it is essentially a type of heterogeneous azeotropic distillation. The boiling point of water might be somewhere in between (the minimum azeotrope, water, and the oil with a high boiling point). My idea is to check what the temperature at the top of the distillation tower is right now Could indirect heat exchange be used, with the heat from condensation being utilized to vaporize the water after phase separation, and then a heat pump being employed to increase the pressure, so that the steam can be reused?
An efficient heat pump distillation method is employed, in which the vapor phase at the top of the tower has its temperature and pressure increased using a heat pump compressor. Considering energy consumption, our company specializes in the design and supply of heat pump distillation systems.
The MVR technology can be used as a reference: the distilled mixed gas is fed into a screw steam compressor to be pressurized to 175°C, and then a plate heat exchanger is used to heat the condensed water obtained through subsequent separation, turning this condensed water into steam at 160°C for reuse. This 175°C mixture is condensed in the plate exchanger, and the condensate is sent to your existing stratification unit for separation. The device should not be large.
Depending on the actual requirements, if it is possible to effectively separate steam from the material to obtain clean steam, a steam ejector can also be used to increase pressure; however, this is generally applied in other processes, as using it in this particular process may result in insufficient heat. It can be calculated based on specific parameters; the investment required for this approach is much lower than that for heat pumps or steam compressors. The cost of a heat pump system is around several million yuan, while a compressor costs over 1 million yuan. For an ejector, the cost is only two to three hundred thousand yuan
Steam compressors can be considered; the key issue is to first achieve oil-gas separation using a distillation tower.
Yes, if there is a need for steam heat pumps, feel free to get in touch at any time
Yes, distillation remains at the core of the problem. If needed, I can help us develop a distillation plan. WeChat ID: job_hu2012
It’s possible; a specialized compressor needs to be designed. If the evaporation capacity is low, the modification can be done quickly, but if the evaporation capacity is high, it will take a long time