Tecnologia alternativa para extração de óleo essencial por arraste de vapor d’água diluido em Co2

Abstract

The trees are part of our daily life: in urban areas, as shadow production elements, landscaping, water infiltration, reduced thermal sensation, attenuation of noise, breaking wind, oxygen release / absorption of pollutants and as micro habitats for wildlife; and in rural areas, some cultures such as pine are distinguished primarily as energy sources (wood) in the industrial sector. In all cases the common characteristic is the generation of waste is the pruning process and / or processing / production of wood processing. In most cases these residues are intended to landfills, discarding the potential use as raw material for the production of essential oils. On that basis, the aim of this study was to develop a technology for essential oil extraction using an alternative method based on the incremental innovation. Therefore, the methodology included six stages: 1) characterization of the raw material; 2) Technology prospecting; 3) alternative technology proposition; 4) Prototyping through design, construction and assembly components; 5) Operational tests in real operating condition; and 6) the requirements of novelty evaluation, inventive step, sufficiency descriptive and industrial application for intellectual property protection. The result of the work was a technological product, pilot-scale production of essential oil residues from tree pruning and firewood production endowed simultaneously generating steam and carbon dioxide. The resulting equipment introduced innovative features and was the object of protection with the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) under No. 2015 032186-0 BR 20 with the following attributes: possibility of operation of the modular systems either independently or together, possibility of continuous operation or in batch, using as extracting fluid vapor and / or carbon dioxide and versatility in size and enforcement capacity in various materials that have, in their composition, essential oils. The work also had as a development technology for use in saunas which was also object patent (Patent No. BR 20 2015 032185-1). The project in question is inserted in the area of technological innovation and in its early stages prioritized the development of technology and in the second phase should be complemented with the optimization of the operational part. Thus, it contributes to environmental technology for the recovery of waste from pruning and / or industrial wood processing.