Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Essential Oil Distillation

wrongway - 7-2-2008 at 14:18

Lets say SWIM is a first time chemist that wishes to open a self supplying aromatherapy store.

Swim has basic knowledge of organic chemistry and wishes to setup his own Oil Distillation rig.

At which temperature would he extract his oils and what amount of time would it take for the distillation take place? Assuming he had a minimum investment in equipment and raw materials.

Magpie - 7-2-2008 at 15:09

Assuming swim is going to use steam distillation, temperature would be approx 100C.

chemrox - 7-2-2008 at 23:26

Last time I looked essential oils were a legit enterprise. I have two methods I like, critical fluid using butane and steam distillation. I sometimes use solvent extraction with ethanol ...I don't much care for "swim" on this forum..

not_important - 8-2-2008 at 00:16

Hopefully SWIY has a good deal of land on which to grow the plants; rather unique land considering the range of climates needed.

As chemrox mentioned, there are some newer methods of extracting the oils using butane, propane, or supercritical CO2. But much of the technology hasn't changed for a long time, this older books which were at least at one time available online might prove useful references

The Art of Perfumery, and the Methods of Obtaining the Odours of Plants. 1857 and 1879
The Chemistry of Essential Oils and Artificial Perfumes. 1908
A Practical Guide for the Perfumer. 1868
Manual for the Essence Industry. 1916
Odorographia: A Natural History of Raw Materials and Drugs Used in the Perfume Industry. 1894
Perfumery it's Manufacture and Use. 1853
The Book of Perfumes. 1867
The Perfumer'S Legacy, Or, Companion To The Toilet. 1850

Ramiel - 8-2-2008 at 00:16

Corroborating chemrox, this isn't a very 'swim' oriented board. Short of saying UTFSE, there are some excellent reviews around.

No offense, but it sounds like you're just beginning. Were I in your position, I'd be checking that other (cheaper) methods weren't a better compromise. For example, I often find simply packing my material in a tube and running some butane down it is sufficient. If you want a more specific description of this setup, please reply.

chemrox - 8-2-2008 at 17:56

@not_important:

Nice collection of basic refs! Thanks my friend.

Ramiel - 9-2-2008 at 02:32

Just so you know, I've not had any real experience with steam distillation outside of a lab setup, which is really no practical use as far as economic concerns go.

I suggested a butane extraction because I've found it to be sufficient for small scale extractions.

Pursuant to some interest via U2U, here's what I did. It's really simple, but simple == cheap == fewer things to go wrong.

The great thing about copper tube is that you can mix and match metric/imperial and get end-caps that will fit inside the tube, end-cap <b>1</b> is drilled to make a sieve, it mates nicely with a butane can adapter. The material is packed in <b>2</b>, there is another end-cap below which keeps the material in place, it is also drilled to make a sieve type arrangement (in practice I bollocked it up and had to put some fly-screen over the holes). End-cap <b>3</b> is really the only important thing, it is a very small, single hole. It allows the butane to bleed slowly out of the tube with the oils, this means that the butane in the tube is at a sufficient pressure to be mostly liquid (boiling). The whole tube is heated gently with resistance wire (just hooked up to a 9V battery is fine, no need to go mains). <b>4</b> is a simple matter of cutting the tube at an angle so it drips neatly.

Off topic eh, bite me.



[Edited on 9-2-2008 by Ramiel]

wrongway - 9-2-2008 at 11:59

I'd prefer steam distillation, how do you know when your distillation is completed? is there a specific cook time?

I have a list of herbs id like to extract if that has any relevance.

also, would there be anything that id have to add to the water in the heated beaker?

[Edited on 9-2-2008 by wrongway]

bio2 - 9-2-2008 at 15:09

When the oil mixed with water seen at the inlet to the condenser ceases.

Sauron - 9-2-2008 at 16:11

I used to steam distill an ethanol-water steep ofthe following herbs:

Anise
fennel
star anise
wormwood

The principal component being anethole along with a complex mixture of minor oils.

The distillate is water white, and high degree, and after a tricky treatment with a few finishing herbs, is a beautiful peridot green from chlorophyll, which unfortunately is vulnerable to light and air. Stored in dark brown Bordeaux bottles and corked with a cork that is designed for high proof spirits, and sealed with lead, this elixir, adjusted to 68 or 72 degree ethanol, which must be of grape origin, is known as absinthe.

My former partner Ted Breaux markets this under the Jade labels from his distillery in Pontarlier, France, more than 110 years old, with original copper absinthe alembics.

Unfortunately I no longer drink due to diabetes, so I can no longer enjoy this fine example of essential oil steam distillation.

smuv - 9-2-2008 at 16:51

Off the topic of steam distillation, on topic of essential oil extraction:

Sauron your previous post reminds me of great times when I made (bad) gin:D. I packed juniper berries and other herbs into a stove top espresso pot; I filled the bottom chamber with some ~70% ethanol and then proceeded just as I would to make espresso coffee. I then took the concentrate and added small portions of it to my vodka. It was the best bad gin ever!

Trying to relate this to the topic: This method is not all that efficient, but to someone with interest in perfumery or other related topics it could be a rewarding step into the field.

pantone159 - 9-2-2008 at 19:34

Quote:
Originally posted by Ramiel
end-cap <b>1</b> is drilled to make a sieve, it mates nicely with a butane can adapter.


Why a sieve, not just one hole?

wrongway - 10-2-2008 at 02:09

So i collect the oil off the inside of the condenser?

that makes sense now i was thinking it was collected in the beaker.

Ramiel - 10-2-2008 at 04:28

In my case, the endcap fits nicely with the butane adapter. Also I anticipated that the material may spray up, don't know about that.

[edit]Oh, I just understood your question. I wanted the pressure bottleneck to be past the material, so that the butane was still liquid.[/edit]
Quote:
Originally posted by pantone159
Quote:
Originally posted by Ramiel
end-cap <b>1</b> is drilled to make a sieve, it mates nicely with a butane can adapter.


Why a sieve, not just one hole?


[Edited on 11-2-2008 by Ramiel]

not_important - 10-2-2008 at 06:48

@wrongway

targeted at developing countries nd swimmers:
http://practicalactionpublishing.org/docs/technical_informat...
http://practicalaction.org/docs/agroprocessing/food_chain_24...


The Art of Perfumery, and the Methods of Obtaining the Odours of Plants.
http://www.archive.org/details/theartofperfumer16378gut
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=hG8DAAAAQAAJ&...

Manual For The Essence Industry
http://www.archive.org/details/manualfortheesse029927mbp

http://www.essentialoils.co.za/manufacture-essential-oils.ht...

Besides that, in many communities there are odd buildings sometimes know as libraries. Within these buildings, if you live in a well off part of the world, you will find movies and computer games you may borrow, and large numbers of youngsters, using computers provided by their schools, working on the MySpace pages and playing WoW.

However, if you are fortunate enough to live in a developing country, you will discover that these odd buildings contain books, information encoded on sheets of paper. These books address many subjects, some are fiction for entertainment, others contain factual data possibly including the very subject you are inquiring about.

Using these resources can help one move from being a swimmer to someone who has a #$%^& clue about what they are doing.

wrongway - 11-2-2008 at 03:35

ty, i may have just swim'd off a cliff... haha.

chemrox - 17-2-2008 at 00:31

I just read in one of the sites posted by not_important that Lavender is thermolabile. I didn't know that and find it a little surprising since Southern France is dotted with Lavendar fields that have steam stills in them. Same stills they used a thousand years ago.