Advisor : Kalbande, Dr. S. R.Authors : KHEMLATA.2021-12-122021-12-122022-10-14Citation : KHEMLATA. (2021). Study on solar biomass distillation system for oil extraction from medicinal plants. Department of Unconventional Energy Sources and Electrical Engineering, Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. M. Tech. 2021. Print. xvi, 130p. (Unpublished).https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810179093Description : The present investigation was conducted at the Deptt. of Unconventional Energy Sources and Electrical Engineering, Dr. PDKV, Akola during the year 2020-2021 to evaluate the performance of a solar biomass distillation system for extracting oil from Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) and Palmarosa grass (Cymbopogon martinii) and to study the economic feasibility of solar biomass distillation system.Abstract : The project, entitled "Study on solar biomass distillation system for oil extraction from medicinal plants", was undertaken with the objectives of evaluating the performance of solar and biomass distillation systems for oil extraction from Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass, and studying the economic feasibility of the solar biomass distillation system. The study was conducted in the Department of Unconventional Energy Sources & Electrical Engineering by Dr. PDKV, Akola. In recent decades, the increasing energy crisis in the developing countries, due to the depletion of fossil fuels at a fast rate and resulting climate change hazards, has shifted towards the use of renewable energy technologies. Today, the use of solar energy is not only limited to lower temperature applications, but there are different types of processing operations that can also be carried out in the medium to higher temperature range. One of the medium temperature range agricultural industries is essential oil extraction from medicinal plants. One of the promising methods for resolving the issue of heat energy required during medicinal plant distillation is to utilize solar energy for essential oil extraction. As a result, in this study, an attempt was made to investigate the solar biomass distillation system for oil extraction from medicinal plants, which consists of 16 m2 Scheffler solar collector with automatic tracking mechanisms, secondary reflector, 50-litre capacity distillation still, condenser, florentine flask and 38 W pump for supplying cooling water to the condenser and water tank. A biomass combustion chamber with chimney was fitted for cloudy day operations, in which biomass briquettes were burned and heat was supplied to produce steam from water inside the distillation still. Soybean briquettes were used having calorific value 4170 kcal/kg. The performance of the system was evaluated in terms of water boiling test and full load test, for oil extracting from medicinal plants. The temperature obtained from the scheffler collector was above 400 °C and the maximum temperature reached by the water inside the distillation still was 100 °C. A CRAL head type thermocouple was installed to measure the temperature at different points of the distillation still. The system successfully operated between 10:00 A. M. and 17:00 P. M. Five pre-treatments of shade drying (fresh, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h) were given to Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass before oil extraction. Among these pre-treatments, the 24 h shade dried sample gave the maximum oil yield during distillation. In Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass oil extraction, the highest oil yield was obtained from 24 h shade dried sample in biomass distillation system (BDS). The oil yield was varying for Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass 0.40 -0.92 % and 0.19-0.63 %, respectively. The energy requirement was more for fresh sample as compared to other shade dried samples. The physical and chemical analysis of extracted oil from both the system was done. No significant differences were observed in the quality of extracted oil from the SDS as well as the BDS of pre-treated Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass samples. It was conducted that the SBDS was found to be economical for oil extraction from medicinal plants. The payback period of the SDS and BDS was 3-4 years and 2-3 years if used for 8 and 4 months per year, respectively for the Lemon grass and Palmarosa grass oil extraction. It is not possible to use SDS throughout the year, but BDS can be used for 300 days a year. The payback period of the BDS was found to be 1 year, 6 months, 15 days for Lemon grass oil extraction and 11 months and 15 days for Palmarosa grass oil extraction for 300 days operation. Hence, the solar biomass distillation system can be integrated in the present energy scenario for oil extraction from medicinal, where sunshine is available in abundance and throughout the year in addition to the region where agro residue/briquettes are available for thermal application.EnglishThesis