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Lauric Acid Rich Oil Supercritical Extraction and Methodology to Predict Solubility

2016; Volume: 6; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

2162-9412

Vânia Maria Borges Cunha, Marcilene P. Silva, Raul Nunes de Carvalho, M. Angela, A. Meireles, Nélio Teixeira Machado, Marilena E. Araújo,

Chemical Thermodynamics and Molecular Structure

The seeds of Elaeis guineensis were submitted to extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) in a fixed bed. The extraction experiments were carried out in a supercritical extraction pilot plant at pressures between 15 and 25 MPa and temperatures of 318 and 323 K. The extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography to evaluate the fatty acid composition profile. The extraction results show that the maximum extraction yield was achieved at 25 MPa and 323 K. The Peng-Robinson equation of state was used to predict the solubility of the vegetable oil (extract) in carbon dioxide. The van der Waals mixing rule with two binary interaction parameters was used. The influence of the system initial composition on solubility was studied. For this purpose, the gas-liquid equilibrium was predicted for a multicomponent mixture of fatty acids and carbon dioxide. The oil (extract) was assumed to be formed by the mixture of fatty acids. The gas-liquid equilibrium predicted was compared with the palm kernel/CO2 experimental data. The results shown that the Peng-Robinson equation was able to predict the solubility of vegetable oil in supercritical carbon dioxide from 6 to 35 MPa, when compared to experimental data. It was observed by the predicted results that palm kernel oil showed the solubility isotherms intersect in the vicinity 25 MPa at temperatures of 313 to 353 K; the palm kernel oil initial composition influenced on the calculated solubility.