Separation and purification of triglyceride from nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum) seed oil as biodiesel feedstock by using continuous countercurrent extraction

Calophyllum inophyllum or commonly called nyamplung in Indonesia has the potential to be used as a biodiesel feedstock due to its high oil content. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of feed flowrate and solvent to oil mass ratio on triglycerides (TAG) and free fatty acid (FFA) contents in non-polar lipid fraction (NPLF) of C. inophyllum seed oil by using continuous counter-current extraction. The contents of TAG and FFA in NPLF of C. inophyllum seed oil each sample points in continuous countercurrent extraction equipment. It was expected that the TAG became purer and suitable for biodiesel purpose. Various factors applied in this study were the effect of solvent to oil mass ratio and the effect of n-hexane + oil to methanol feed flowrate in liter per hour. Crude C. inophyllum seed oil contained 63.91% TAG, 15.76% FFA, 12.25% monoglycerides (MAG), dan 4.66% diglycerides (DAG). Separation and purification of TAG were carried out by using a packed column with the principle of countercurrent flow using n-hexane and methanol technical grade as solvents. The product of extraction analyzed TAG content qualitatively by using TLC and quantitatively using HT-GC, while NPLF from each sample points were analyzed using HT-GC. The optimum results were obtained by using a solvent to oil mass ratio of 6 (w:w) and (n-hexane + oil) to methanol feed flowrate of 6:15 (L/h:L/h) with 92.85% content of TAG, 2.19% content of FFA and 74.79% yield of NPLF.

Mathematical Simulation of Solid-Liquid Diffusion in Continuous Countercurrent Extraction Process, Part I - Modeling Development

This work extends the development of backmixing-diffusion model by further removal of some assumptions from the previous works. The model covers for steady and unsteady state conditions in continuous countercurrent extraction and will be available for simulation purpose for reversing continuous countercurrent extractor (RCCE) in a more realistic ways, especially in beverage juice production. Solution of the modeling was carried out by numerical method, namely, an implicit finite difference. For the unsteady state condition, the Crank-Nicholson method was selected for calculation due to its stability; for the steady state one, the selected numerical method was center-difference formula with second order of magnitude of error, cooperated with Richardson’s extrapolation. Matrix inversions were done by Gauss Jordan method. Considerable verification was made by assuring the accuracy and stability of numerical method for both steady and unsteady state conditions in a practical range. It was found that the solution obtained from the developed model with aforementioned numerical method compared well with the well-established analytical solution whenever they are available. Generally, the numerical solutions gave high accuracy for the steady state condition, while still being acceptable for practical purpose.

Mathematical Simulation of Solid-Liquid Diffusion in Continuous Countercurrrent Extraction Process, Part II - Modeling Verification and Its Application

In this work, a backmixing-diffusion model was developed for continuous countercurrent extraction process. Various parameters/factors influenced the extraction were investigated for juice extraction. Important parameters/factors studied were solid to liquid ratio, solid retention time, extraction temperature, external resistance to mass transfer, size and shape of solid materials and degree of backmixing for solid and liquid phase. For juice extraction from pineapple, apple and pear, it was found that the backmixing-diffusion concept can be used through the whole range of operation time. The model could predict the concentration profile well for both unsteady state period and steady state one. The simulation was successful for juice extraction process.