Bioprocess analysis and phase equilibria for the removal of eicosane from palm oil using sub critical solvent

Abstract

This project is mainly about the extraction or removal process of the eicosane from palm oil by using sub critical solvent. The method of removal process can be divided into two, which are atmospheric pressure extraction and high pressure extraction. In this project, the experimental work has been conducted in atmospheric pressure condition. The methods that have been used are simple distillation and water bath extraction. Both methods are involving the use of subcritical solvent which is hexane. The temperature was manipulated to determine the effect of temperature on the extraction method. The palm oil extracts were analysed using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to determine the compositions of the palm oil that has been extracted. So that, the effectiveness of each method can be compared with previous data in published paper. The analysis method shows that water bath extraction is better extraction method compared to simple distillation method. For the supercritical extraction method, it the effectiveness of the method used can be identified by using the predictions of phase equilibria using the group contribution association with equation of state (GSA-EOS) model.