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Recovery of D‐limonene through moderate temperature extraction and pyrolytic products from orange peels
Author(s) -
Negro Viviana,
Ruggeri Bernardo,
Mancini Giuseppe,
Fino Debora
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.5107
Subject(s) - chemistry , limonene , pyrolysis , orange (colour) , raw material , pulp and paper industry , dehydration , residue (chemistry) , chromatography , pyrolytic carbon , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , essential oil , food science , biochemistry , engineering
BACKGROUND D‐limonene, a high‐value added molecule found in the flavedo of orange peels (about 0.7% w/w), is used in the nutritional, pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields. An accelerated moderate temperature extraction was investigated in order to recover D‐limonene. Furthermore, the residue from the extraction was used for energy recovery through the pyrolysis process. RESULTS The proposed extractive process was able to recover D‐limonene up to 0.48 ± 0.002% w/w (on a wet basis) from orange peels at the highest investigated temperature (130 °C for 60 min). The residual matrix was then subjected to a dehydration step, which was carried out at room temperature for 10 days, in order to decrease the moisture from the porous surface, and then to a pyrolysis process. The average chemical energy recovery efficiency (91% ± 0.04) suggested that the thermochemical process is suitable for biofuel production. CONCLUSION Orange peels can be exploited for the recovery of an important bio‐product and the residue can be used as feedstock for biofuels. This work has confirmed that accelerated extraction is more efficient than Soxhlet extraction (more than 68% w/w against 37% w/w of total D‐limonene, respectively), and that a pyrolysis process can be successfully performed on the residue. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry