Influence of energy sources and shade drying period on oil yield and chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from Palmarosa grass (Cymbopogon martinii) through hydro distillation method

Abstract

This research article analyses the efficiency of using renewable energy sources such as solar and biomass energy to extract essential oil from five pre-treated shade-dried Palmarosa grass samples (fresh (S1), 12 h (S2), 24 h (S3), 36 h (S4), and 48 h (S5)). A complete set of distillation unit with a 16 m2 scheffler solar collector was provided for solar distillation system (SDS) and biomass combustion chamber was provided for biomass distillation system (BDS). The maximum oil yield was obtained from S3 sample i.e., 0.63 %. The thermal energy required for a 5 kg, S3 sample with 10 l of water was 10.45 and 10.60 kWh, and extracted oil was 29.2 and 31.5 ml, in SDS and BDS, respectively. The results show that the solar biomass distillation system (SBDS) is statistically significant and economically feasible and can extract essential oils with similar physicochemical properties as those available in the market.