Abstract:

In the Belgian agriculture more young people are starting an herb farm due to the small spaces of farming land left. One of the derivates of an herb farm is the production of essential oils for use in aromatherapy. In most cases steam distillation or hydrodistillation is used to extract the essential oils out of the biomass of the plants.
At the Leuven University College a project with students of the second year of the Bachelor in Chemistry was started to investigate the efficiency of different distillation techniques for the production of essential oils : steam distillation with a biomass flask, hydrodistillation with and without a long hydrodistillation shaft. The same mass of flowers (Lavendula) was distilled during half an hour. The mass and volume of the essential oil was measured and statistical compared. With a GC-MS the composition of the essential oil was determined to identify small changes in composition.
The first results are showing a greater efficiency for the steam distillation with a biomass flask. Hydrodistillation without a long hydrodistillation shaft has the least efficiency. In the first GC-MS we see small differences in the composition of the essential oils.

Keywords:

Chemical engineering, distillation, essential oils, GC-MS, student groupwork.