EXTRACTION OF OIL FROM LOCAL SEED (GROUNDNUT SEED) & CHARACTERIZATION. A RESEARCH PROJECT TOPICS ON CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
ABSTRACT
This project “Extraction of oil from a local seed (groundnut oil) and Characterization” was carried out using ten cups of groundnut seeds that was purchased from a local market in Enugu metropolis. The oil these seeds were in Enugu using solvent extraction method. Two different solvents were used in the extraction namely: Ethane and order to compare their yield, physical and chemical properties.
The extraction was carried out using 32og of size-reduced groundnut with 100ml of 17-hexane while 1.5litres a 15ooml of ethanol was used on 480g of size reduced groundnut seeds. Ta the end of the extraction operation, the amount of oil-extracted using17-hexane was observed to be far greater than the amount of oil extracted using ethanol.
The chemical and physical properties of the oil were determined by analysis of the oil. The physical appearance of 17- hexane extract is light yellow in colour this; true colour of groundnut oil while that the ethanol extract has a light bown colour. The colour of ethanol on pigments in the size-reduced groundnut seed.
From the result obtained, it was deduced that 17-hexane remains the best solvent for oil extraction while ethanol is not a good solvent for oil extraction.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Extraction other-wise called leaching is the preferential solution of one or more constituents of a solid mixture by contact with a liquid solvent. This unit operation, one of the oldest in the chemical industries, here been given many names, depending to some extent upon the technique used for carrying it out extraction of oil form groundnut seeds can be carried out using any of the two solid-liquid extraction methods namely: mechanical extraction method or the used of solvent other- wise called mass-transfer method. The yield of the second method is higher but contains more impurities than the first method and it requires another unit operation (distillation) in purity it better.
The success of an extraction and the technique to be used will vary frequently depending upon any prior treatment which may be given to he solid. In some instance small particles of the soluble material are completely surrounded by a matrix of insoluble matter. The solvent must then diffuse into the mass, and the resulting solution must diffuse out before a separation can result. Crushing and grinding of such solids will greatly alliterate the leaching action, since then the soluble portions are made more accessible to the solvent.
Seeds like groundnut seeds and other vegetable seeds are cellular in structure, and the natural products to be leached form this material are usually found inside the cells. if the cell walls remain intact upon exposure to a suitable solvent, the leaching involves osmotic passage of the solute through the cell walls. This may be slow, but in is impractical and sometime undesirable to grind the material small enough to release the contents of individual cells.
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