Techno-economic evaluation of the extraction of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) oil and ar-turmerone using supercritical carbon dioxide

• Technical and economic aspects of SFE to obtain turmeric volatile oil.
• Global yield isotherms and extraction kinetics were determined SFE from turmeric.
• Cost of manufacturing for turmeric extract and scale-up study were reported.
• Highest yields of turmeric extract and ar-turmerone were obtained at 333 K and 25 MPa.

Extracting volatile compounds using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is one of the most interesting applications of supercritical technology because of the high solubility of these substances in CO2. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SFE) has been applied for obtaining extracts from several vegetable matrices, including turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), due to its valuable volatile oil. However, a techno-economic evaluation of turmeric oil and ar-turmerone extraction has not yet been performed. Therefore, the effects of temperature, pressure and process time on the extract yield, relative ar-turmerone yield and manufacturing cost were evaluated in this work. Turmeric rhizomes were ground, sieved and placed in contact with scCO2 flowing at 8.4 × 10−3 kg/min in a laboratory scale SFE unit. Major compounds in the extracts were identified and quantified by gas chromatography. The manufacturing cost (COM) of the extracts was estimated using a model cost developed in the simulator SuperPro Designer 8.5®. Using SFE led to high yields of extract and ar-turmerone. Fast extraction combined with relatively low solvent consumption were observed. Yields of 6.4% and 1.02% of extract and ar-turmerone, respectively, were obtained at 333 K and 25 MPa for a solvent mass to feed mass ratio of 1.31. For these conditions, the lowest manufacturing cost (COM = US$ 178.8/kg extract) was estimated for a unit containing two 0.005-m3 extractors.

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