TITLE:
Modeling with Simple Graphic Methods of the Extraction of Corymbia citriodora Essential Oil on an Artisanal Scale in Congo-Brazzaville
AUTHORS:
Jean Bruno Bassiloua, Anicet Frédéric Binaki, Feueltgaldah Christian Bopoundza, Harmelle Bazolo Lemba, Thomas Silou
KEYWORDS:
Kinetic Modeling, Corymbia citriodora Extraction, Pilot Scale, Congo-Brazzaville
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.15 No.4,
April
28,
2025
ABSTRACT: The modelling of pilot-scale extraction of Corymbia citriodora essential oil, as a support activity for the development of the national “essential oils” programme, was carried out using steam hydrodistillation on a locally-built distiller. The diffusion and desorption models tested both fitted the experimental data. The diffusional model established that 1) 75% of the essential oil originated from the broken cells and was released during the fast wash step with an extraction rate constant k1 = 0.0233 ± 0.0006 min−1; 2) the slower diffusion step involved the remaining 25% of essential oil with a rate constant of 0.0021 ± 0.0002 min−1; 3) the rate constant of the overall process is : k = 0.0305 min−1, assuming first-order kinetics (t1/2 = 22.62 min.). The Peleg desorption model leads to 1) a second-order rate constant k1 = 13.3 ± 3.6 min%−1; 2) an extraction capacity constant K2 = 0.59%−1 ± 0.20%−1; and finally 3) a first-order rate constant for the overall extraction k = 0.0474 ± 0.002 min−1 and a maximum average extraction yield Y∞ = 1.8% ± 0.5% (db). Simple graphical processing with little computer data is well suited to solve this specific problem: the development of the essential oil sector on a small scale and in rural areas as a means of poverty alleviation.