Green Solvent Improving Mechanical Disruption of Palm Kernel Oil Extraction

Abstract Even though the mechanical extraction process offers a simple and environmentally friendly process, the recovery of oil is relatively low. Thermal pre-treating the oilseed increases the oil yield but produces unwanted oil colour. A new method which combines grinding and extraction using green solvents was developed to extract palm kernel oil. The performance of six different green solvents such as water, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, dimethyl carbonate, ethyl acetate, and d-limonene in extraction palm kernel oil was determined using a controllable blender extractor (CBE), new extraction equipment modified from a household blender appliance. Further, ethyl acetate, which produced the maximum oil yield, was used to study the effect of the operating parameters of the CBE. The oil yield of 34.2 ± 0.02% was obtained in the extraction condition of the ratio of palm kernel to ethyl acetate of 1:7, rotational speed of 5000 rpm and 10 minutes extraction time. Compared to other green extraction methods, the CBE-intensified palm kernel oil extraction could save >70% energy consumption. In terms of extraction time, the CBE-intensified could extract palm kernel oil faster than existing extraction methods.