Technical and economic evaluation of supercritical CO2 extraction of oil from sucupira branca seeds

Supercritical CO2 extraction of sucupira branca (SB) seeds was studied under different conditions of pressure (20-40 MPa) and temperature (40 and 60 degrees C). Operational conditions were assessed on laboratory and pilot scales, and their influences on manufacturing cost (COM) and productivity were discussed. At 40 degrees C and 30 MPa for 65 min, 40 g oil/100 g SB seeds were obtained. In the economic and technical approaches, a plant with two extractors (2 x 15 L) is more convenient to implement than a plant with one extractor (1 x 30 L), obtaining a COM of 49.21 US$/kg SB oil and productivity of 20,083 kg oil/year. This COM and productivity were reached at the kinetic point where the S/F was 13.5 g CO2/g SB seeds. In this period, the mass transfer is controlled by diffusion and convection (FER period). The oil obtained under these conditions presented phytochemicals, such as alpha-humulene, beta-caryophyllene, alpha-copaene, (-)-beta-elemene, (E)-germacrene D(-)-gamma-elemene, and spathulenol.