Simultaneous extraction of sunflower oil and active compounds from olive leaves using pressurized propane.

Sunflower is grown in different parts of the world and oil from the grain has many uses, including cosmetics and food. Olive leaves are rich in active compounds with potential for industrial use. The simultaneous extraction of raw materials is an economical and sustainable way of using the same extraction process to obtain products with high added value. The aim of this work was to promote the incorporation of bioactive compounds from olive leaves in sunflower oil by two extraction techniques: pressurized propane (PRO) and Soxhlet (SOX) and to evaluate the increase in oxidative stability and antioxidant activity of oils. The techniques used were useful in producing sunflower oil incorporating olive leaf extract (SFO + OLE); 4.3% 1-octacosanol and 5.8% 1-triacontanol were incorporated, and ß-sitosterol increased by at least 90%. Also, SFO + OLE showed an increase in the induction time of 2.7 and 3.7 h compared to SFO for the PRO and SOX methods, respectively. The profile of fatty acids was maintained, with the majority in all samples being oleic and linoleic acids. Consequently, with this procedure is possible to produce SFO + OLE with better antioxidant activity and better nutritional characteristics using PRO and SOX. The scaled-up of the simultaneous extraction process via pressurized propane is economically viable according to the process simulation and economic evaluation.

Assessment of black liquor hydrothermal treatment under sub- and supercritical conditions: Products distribution and economic perspectives.

This study reports an alternative method for black liquor treatment with potential for energy and process savings in the paper and pulp industry. Gasification of black liquor was carried out under sub- and supercritical conditions, varying the black liquor feed composition (0.10, 2.55 and 5.00 wb%) and temperature (350, 425 and 500 °C). Liquid products were identified by high resolution mass spectrometry (FT-Orbitrap MS) and compounds belonging to classes O3 and O4 were found to be the most representative in the products of reactions performed at 500 °C. The mass spectra results also revealed the overall selectivity of reactions, where decarboxylation and demethoxylation reactions were favored under subcritical and supercritical conditions, respectively. Among the gaseous products, hydrogen and methane were produced with maximum of 69.04 and 28.75 mol%, respectively, at 2.55 wb% and 425 °C. The proposed thermodynamic modelling of the reaction system satisfactorily predicted the gas phase behavior of the system. In the economic analysis, the simulated conditions indicated that the main energy requirements for a scaled-up black liquor gasification process are related to the necessary heat exchangers and pressurizing of the black liquor solution. Furthermore, the cost of the black liquor gasification is around 0.06 US$ per kg of feed stream. Liquid and gaseous products from gasification could be obtained at a cost of 56.64 US$ and 3.35 US$ per tonne of stream, respectively. Therefore, black liquor gasification is an interesting route for obtaining combustible gases and value-added bioproducts.

Selective extraction of polar lipids of mango kernel using Supercritical Carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction: Process optimization of extract yield/phosphorous content and economic evaluation.

Lipids are biomolecules extracted from plant sources and plant residues and have a beneficial role in various food, nutrition and medical applications. Supercritical carbon-dioxide as an advanced high-pressure technology which increases the productivity and has negligible environmental impact is employed for the selective extraction of polar lipids from the lipid matrix in mango kernel for the first time. The process parameters affecting the extraction such as pressure, temperature and the flow rate of CO2 are ranged in the intervals of 30-50 MPa, 40-60 °C and 10-30 g min-1, respectively. Optimization using Box Behnken design obtained the highest yield of 3.38% at 40 °C, 50 MPa and 30 g min-1. The phosphorous content was evaluated to understand the behaviour of polar lipids extraction at higher pressures. The study showed the effect of process parameters having significant influence on polarity and solvating capacity of CO2 which enabled for the extraction of polar lipids adding value to the mango kernel converting waste into valuable industrial products. The economic evaluation estimates the return on investment of a plant processing 3000 tons of mango kernel per year to account net present value (NPV) almost five times higher than the investment expenses and the payback period is under 4 years.