Flower Essential Oil Extraction via High-Pressure Treatment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flower essential oil extraction methods face challenges due to high water content in flowers, leading to browning, loss of fragrance, and energy-intensive dehydration processes, which result in the loss of unstable substances and increased manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A high-pressure treatment method is used to treat flowers with a pressurized liquid medium, followed by extraction with a low-polarity solvent like liquefied propane, eliminating the need for dehydration and simplifying the process, thereby reducing energy consumption and manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional dehydration treatment (drying or salting) is applied to flowers, then preservation is improved, but unstable substances such as low-boiling point fragrance, heat-sensitive or water-soluble ingredients are lost or changed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state parameters of water in flowers by applying high pressure (10-1000 atm) and controlled temperature conditions. This transforms the extraction process from thermal dehydration to pressure-based extraction, preserving heat-sensitive and volatile ingredients while removing water through phase change under pressure rather than evaporation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes phase transition of water under high pressure conditions. By applying pressure to flowers, water transitions from liquid state to compressed liquid or ice phases, allowing extraction and removal of water without thermal evaporation that would destroy volatile and heat-sensitive aromatic ingredients.
2Reliability
If dehydration treatment is applied to flowers, then preservation is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal energy with mechanical pressure energy for water removal. By changing from heat-based dehydration to pressure-based extraction, the process avoids high energy consumption associated with drying while achieving the same preservation effect through controlled pressure and temperature parameters.
3Ease of manufacture
If flowers are dried in advance due to high water content, then extraction is facilitated, but process time increases and process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the water removal step with the extraction step into a single high-pressure treatment process. Instead of separate drying and extraction operations, the high pressure simultaneously extracts water and facilitates essential oil extraction, eliminating the need for advance drying and reducing overall process time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary high-pressure treatment to flowers before or during extraction, pre-conditioning the material by removing water and opening cellular structures under pressure. This preliminary action facilitates subsequent extraction without requiring separate drying steps, streamlining the overall process.
4Device complexity
If conventional extraction methods are used on fresh flowers, then oil-water separation problems occur, but process simplification is achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the extraction system by applying high pressure (10-1000 atm) and controlling temperature, which fundamentally alters the solubility and phase behavior of essential oils and water. This prevents oil-water separation by maintaining both phases in a compressed liquid state where they remain miscible, eliminating the need for complex separation equipment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method retains more flower ingredients, improves extraction yield, and simplifies the process by avoiding dehydration and oil-water separation issues, enhancing industry competitiveness through reduced energy and manufacturing costs.
Implementation Method 1
introducing pressurized liquid medium into the high-pressure treatment tank so as to reach a predetermined pressure, wherein the pressure is maintained for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined temperature
Implementation Method 2
placing the flowers subjected to high-pressure treatment in an extraction tank, wherein flowers are extracted with a low-polarity solvent to obtain an extract
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a flower essential oil extraction method. The flower essential oil extraction method includes (a) placing flowers in a high-pressure treatment tank; (b) introducing pressurized liquid medium into the high-pressure-treatment tank so as to reach a predetermined pressure, wherein the pressure is maintained for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined temperature, then the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure; and (c) placing the flowers subjected to high-pressure treatment in an extraction tank, wherein flowers are extracted with a low-polarity solvent to obtain an extract. By using the flower essential oil extraction method of the present disclosure, the flowers do not need to be subjected to a dehydration process, thus the energy cost is reduced, and more ingredients can be retained. Additionally, the flower essential oil extraction method of the present disclosure can reduce the energy consumption of drying and extraction so as to effectively reduce the manufacturing costs, thereby improving the industry competitiveness.