Alternative bio-based solvents for extraction of fat and oils: solubility prediction, global yield, extraction kinetics, chemical composition and cost of manufacturing.

Florent Joffre,Frédéric Fine,Maryline Vian,Farid Chemat,Anne-Gaëlle Sicaire,Sylvain Tostain,Patrick Carré

doi:10.3390/ijms16048430

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the performance of alternative bio-based solvents, more especially 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, obtained from crop’s byproducts for the substitution of petroleum solvents such as hexane in the extraction of fat and oils for food (edible oil) and non-food (bio fuel) applications. First a solvent selection as well as an evaluation of the performance was made with Hansen Solubility Parameters and the COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvation (COSMO-RS) simulations. Experiments were performed on rapeseed oil extraction at laboratory and pilot plant scale for the determination of lipid yields, extraction kinetics, diffusion modeling, and complete lipid composition in term of fatty acids and micronutrients (sterols, tocopherols and tocotrienols). Finally, economic and energetic evaluations of the process were conducted to estimate the cost of manufacturing using 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) as alternative solvent compared to hexane as petroleum solvent.

Highlights

Solvents are usually volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sourced from non-renewable resources.They are usually harmful to health and the environment
The ability of a solvent to dissolve solutes is evaluated by the relative energy difference (RED) calculated by the software
Considering wax, among these three solvents, only MeTHF theoretically avoids the extraction as RED > 1

Summary

Introduction

Solvents are usually volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sourced from non-renewable resources.They are usually harmful to health and the environment. We tried another solubility study using the COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvation (COSMO-RS) simulation [3,4] with some of the major TAGs, sterols and tocopherols found in rapeseed oil in order to assess their relative solubility within solvents. Both simulations show that 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (MeTHF) [5,6], appears to be a promising alternative to n-hexane for the extraction of vegetable oils. MeTHF, produced from biomass like corncobs, sugar cane bagasse or oat hulls, is one of these “green” and bio-based solvents

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Conclusion