Ultrasonic Plant Essential Oil Extraction Equipment

Background Technology

Existing methods for extracting essential oils by distillation generally employ two methods: water-tight distillation and water-strip distillation. Water-strip distillation is primarily used for fresh flowers (such as roses and peonies) and relatively hard plant materials, such as sandalwood, dried orange peel, agarwood, and thuja. These materials must be boiled in water. The volatile oils are extracted by steam in boiling water at 100 degrees Celsius. The essential oils are then separated using a condenser and an oil-water separator. However, water-strip distillation takes a long time to extract essential oils, making it unsuitable for industrial production.

The present utility model aims to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology by providing an ultrasonic plant essential oil extraction equipment that addresses the long extraction time and disadvantages of water-strip distillation.

The technical solution for achieving this objective is as follows:

The present utility model provides an ultrasonic plant essential oil extraction equipment, comprising:

An ultrasonic distillation tank for holding the extract, equipped with an ultrasonic generator;

A condenser connected to the ultrasonic distillation tank; and an oil-water separator connected to the condenser for separating condensed water from the extracted essential oils.

This utility model provides an ultrasonic plant essential oil extraction device for extracting plant essential oils, addressing the long time required for existing water distillation. An ultrasonic generator is incorporated into the ultrasonic distillation tank, which uses ultrasonic waves to generate cavitation within the liquid solution. This ultrasonic-assisted process significantly shortens the extraction time and improves the extraction rate of the plant essential oil, facilitating industrial production.

The ultrasonic distillation tank incorporates either focused or divergent ultrasonic waves. During the water distillation process, the intense ultrasonic vibration and cavitation promote the precipitation of volatile oil components within the plant. Simultaneously, the device heats the solution through a temperature control system. At a certain temperature, the volatile oil is carried along with the water vapor to a condenser specifically designed for essential oil extraction, where it is condensed. The condensed oil-water mixture is separated by an oil-water separator at the end, ultimately yielding pure essential oil. Cavitation in ultrasonic water distillation: When ultrasonic waves propagate through a medium, they experience alternating cycles of positive and negative pressure. During the positive pressure phase, the ultrasonic waves squeeze the medium's molecules, changing their original density and increasing it. During the negative pressure phase, the waves cause the molecules to become more dispersed, reducing their density. When ultrasonic waves of sufficiently large amplitude are applied to a liquid medium, the average distance between the molecules exceeds the critical molecular distance required to maintain the liquid's stability, causing the liquid to break apart and form microbubbles. These small cavities rapidly expand and close, causing violent collisions between liquid particles, generating pressures ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of atmospheres. This violent interaction between the particles causes the liquid's temperature to rise suddenly, creating a stirring effect that emulsifies two immiscible liquids (such as water and oil), accelerates the dissolution of solutes, and speeds up chemical reactions. These various effects caused by ultrasonic waves acting on liquids are called ultrasonic cavitation.

The beneficial effects of this ultrasonic plant essential oil extraction device include:

The cavitation effect generated by ultrasonic waves in liquid solutions is applied to the extraction of plant essential oil components. Ultrasonic assistance can significantly shorten extraction time and improve the yield of essential oils.

Used ultrasonic waves include focused and divergent types, with different frequencies selected based on plant characteristics. Ultrasonic power is also adjusted based on the size of the equipment and the amount of material being fed. This extraction equipment offers excellent adaptability, providing specialized essential oil extraction equipment for a variety of plant-based materials.