An optimal control approach to steam distillation of essential oils from aromatic plants

In this work, an optimal steam flow trajectory for essential oils extraction from aromatic plants is derived, minimizing energy consumption. A phenomenological dynamic model of the oil extraction process is adopted from literature and a multi-objective optimal control problem is formulated, in order to minimize energy consumption and at the same time maximize the yield of extraction. The resulting optimal control problem is highly non-linear and it is solved by numerical methods. Simulation results are presented for three scenarios: (i) Maximum yield, (ii) minimum energy consumption and (iii) trade-off between yield and energy. It is shown that the optimal steam flow rate trajectory is not necessarily constant. Using a mixed cost-function, it is possible to extract almost 100% of oil essential while saving 60% of energy. Finally, a sensitivity analysis shows that the optimal steam trajectory has few variations when parameters of the plant physiology change.