In daily life, essential oils are already well-known products. Due to the complex production process, the equipment used is not a single type. The equipment selected mainly depends on the method used for extraction. At present, the commonly used extraction methods of essential oils include water distillation, liposuction, cold pressing, and oil immersion. The obtained essential oils are also different. Each type requires special extraction equipment. The relevant production equipment includes: essential oils Extractors (essential oil extraction equipment price), molecular stills and supercritical carbon dioxide extraction equipment(desktop co2 extractor), etc.

What are the methods of extracting essential oils?

Steam distillation method:

The distillation method is one of the earliest extraction methods. With the changes of the times, the utensils used have been significantly improved, but the principle is basically the same: the aromatic plants are placed in a distillation container, and then high-temperature steam is passed into it ( Or boil the spice and water together), at this time, the essential oil containing the aromatic components in the plant will diffuse into the water vapor to form an azeotrope of oil and water; after that, the azeotrope is cooled, because the oil is insoluble water, which separates from water to form the essential oils we need.
 

Pressing method (extrusion method):

By cutting, pulverizing, squeezing, etc., the water of plants and essential oils containing aromatic components are separated from the raw materials to obtain a mixture of water and oil, and then centrifugation, filtration and other methods are used to separate the oil and water to obtain essential oils. In the past, this traditional method was often used to extract essential oils in ordinary families, which is not only simple and convenient, but also ensures that the natural components of essential oils are not destroyed during the extraction process.

Liposuction (Cold Fat Absorption):

The general method is: spread a layer of lukewarm fat (multiple butter or lard) in several flat-bottomed glass basins (or ceramic basins), and spread fresh petals on the fat; Spread the fat; stack these glass basins on top of each other, so that the petals are pressed between the two layers of fat and their oils can be absorbed by the fat. Change the petals every one or two days. until the fat is saturated. Finally, the fat is separated out, and the essential oil is obtained. Liposuction is an ancient method for extracting aromatic essential oils in southern France. It is also the most expensive method due to the labor and time-consuming process.
 

Immersion method (grease warm immersion method):

This method is similar to the liposuction method, but uses liquid oil instead, and the operation is relatively simple: put the plant material (petal or resin, etc.) in the liquid oil, heat and keep the temperature at 60 to 70 degrees, and the aromatic components in the raw material released into the liquid oil. Then the liquid oil is filtered and separated to obtain the essential oil.
 

Extraction method (dissolution method):

Fully mix liquid solvents such as alcohol and petroleum ether with plant raw materials, and the aromatic components in the raw materials, vegetable waxes, pigments, etc. will be dissolved and released into the solvent; and then the solvent will be separated from the liquid mixture. Extracts of ingredients, vegetable waxes, pigments, etc.; finally, the extracts are purified to obtain essential oils.
 
The principle of "supercritical co2 extraction " extraction method is: the density of carbon dioxide under high pressure or low temperature is close to that of liquid, while at the same time retaining some properties of ordinary gas, it is solidly called "supercritical fluid", which has strong solubility ability. When a spice plant comes into contact with it, the plant's aromatic components dissolve in this fluid. Then, the aromatic components can be finally separated out by means of decompression or heating. This is a new method that has emerged internationally in recent years.
 

How do you compare equipment for essential oil extraction?

Distillation extraction equipment

Using the volatile components in plants, under the increase of temperature and pressure, as the steam is collected, the aromatic substances with curative effect can be taken out after cooling and filtering. The most commonly used equipment is molecular distillation equipment.

➢Extraction process:

Put the plant parts (flowers, leaves, wood chips, resin, root bark, etc.) containing aromatic substances into the still, and heat it at the bottom to burn or pass steam. When the hot steam is filled in the container, the aromatic essential oil components stored in the plant will evaporate with the water vapor, and as the water vapor passes through the condensation pipe above, it is finally introduced into the condenser. In the oil-water separator, oil lighter than water will float on the water surface, oil heavier than water will sink to the bottom, and the remaining water is pure dew. Then use a separating funnel to further separate essential oils and hydrosols.

➢ There are three common distillation extraction methods:

①Steam distillation

②Irrigation distillation

③Attar distillation

Solvent extraction equipment

It is mostly used on delicate and fragile petals and resins that need to be avoided from heat sources. The substance extracted by the solvent will not destroy the delicate aroma, and will be very close to the original smell of the plant, and the substance obtained after filtering out the wax and impurities is called "original essential oil".

➢Extraction process:

The raw material and organic solvent are placed in the coexistence heating and distillation to obtain a mixture containing wax and essential oil, that is, "condensed body", and then use alcohol to decompose and filter out the wax and impurities in the solvent, and finally obtain the "original essential oil".

Supercritical co2 extraction machine extraction

The solvent in the solvent extraction method is replaced with carbon dioxide supercritical fluid, which does not require high temperature at all, does not destroy the aromatic molecular structure of the original plant, and does not produce chemical changes, which is the closest to the original plant.co2 extraction equipment for sale.
The so-called supercritical fluid refers to the state in which the temperature and pressure exceed the critical point, so that the physical properties of the supercritical fluid are between the gas phase and the liquid phase, the diffusion coefficient is 10-100 times higher than that of the liquid, and the mass transfer resistance is higher than that of the liquid (solvent). ) is small, and the dimension transfer is faster.

So what is the difference in the smell of essential oils under these three extraction methods?

• The essential oil under the distillation extraction method is extracted at high temperature, so the smell will be different from the smell of the actual plant, and the essential oil obtained by this extraction method has smaller molecules and lighter weight.

• The essential oil under solvent extraction is extracted at low temperature. Compared with distillation, the smell will be closer to the original plant, and the composition is relatively complete!

• What about CO2 extraction equipment for sale ? The same as the solvent, it is extracted at low temperature, but due to the technical relationship, this type of essential oil will be slightly more expensive than the essential oil extracted by the first two methods.

So to say the difference in smell, the degree of closeness to the original plant would be:CO2 extraction equipment>solvent extraction>distillation extraction