abstract
This work addresses economic and process aspects of the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of Eucalyptus globulus bark at industrial scale. Broken plus intact cells (BIC) model was applied to existing data and new SFE curves were simulated. Then, statistical optimization was performed with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) involving of 5 factors (pressure, temperature, cosolvent content, solvent flow rate and extraction time), and four responses: Total Yield (eta(Total)), Productivity, Cost of Manufacturing (COM) and Process Energy. The design and simulation of the industrial process (Aspen Plus (R) software) was performed including the employment of co-solvent in the system. The best COM scored 28.1 sic kg(extract)(-1), where eta(Total) was 0.84-0.96 wt.%, Productivity reached 311-362 ton(extract)year(-1), and Process Energy scored 1.46-2.10 GJ kg(extract)(-1). These results underline that SFE provides an extended margin for trade-offs, and arguments towards the integration of SFE technology to biorefine the bark of E. globulus in pulp mills.
keywords
RESPONSE-SURFACE METHODOLOGY; FLUID EXTRACTION; TRITERPENIC ACIDS; OPERATING-CONDITIONS; PHENOLIC-COMPOUNDS; ENERGY EVALUATION; RESIDUES; CURVES; LABILL; YIELDS
subject category
Chemistry; Engineering
authors
Rodrigues, VH; de Melo, MMR; Portugal, I; Silva, CM
our authors
Carlos Manuel Silva
Associate Professor
Inês Portugal
Assistant Professor
Marcelo Morais Rodrigues de Melo
Post-Doc Fellowship
Vitor Hugo dos Louros Rodrigues
PhD StudentProjects
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UID/CTM/50011/2013)
InPaCTus - Innovative Products and Technologies from Eucalyptus Project (InPacTus)
acknowledgements
This work was developed in the scope of: (i) project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (Ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when applicable co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement; and (ii) Project Inpactus - innovative products and technologies from eucalyptus, Project No 21,874 funded by Portugal 2020 through European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the frame of COMPETE 2020 no246/AXIS II/2017.