REFINERY OF CITRONELLA OIL USING VACUUM HYDRODISTILATION METHOD IN ACEH UTARA DISTRICT
Syafruddin 1, Reza Fauzan 1, Zulfan Khairil
Simbolon 2,
Rizal Syahyadi 3,
Atiqah Aida 1,
Rima Dhinta Dewi Astuti 1,
Pocut
Nurul Alam 4
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic, Lhokseumawe,
North Aceh, Aceh 24301, Indonesia
2 Department of Informatics and Computer
Engineering, Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic, 24301 Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, Indonesia
3 Department of Civil Engineering, Lhokseumawe State Polytechnic, 24301 Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, Indonesia
4 Department of Chemical Engineering, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia
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ABSTRACT |
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Citronella oil
is a non-timber forest product (NTFP) and is commercially obtained from the
distillation of citronella leaves (Cymbopogon nardus
L). Fragrant citronella leaves are one of the raw materials for obtaining
vegetable oils in the form of essential oils. Essential oil is the main
component consisting of composition in the form of geraniol and citronellal.
The process of extracting essential oils can be done using various methods,
one of which is the Vacuum Hydrodistillation
method. The Vacuum Hydrodistillation method is
carried out using a vacuum pump as a pressure guard and the boiling point of
the distillation process does not exceed the boiling point temperature of
water, which is 1000 C, so that the oil produced is maintained its purity.
The vacuum hydrodistillation process of citronella
was carried out for 3, 5, and 7 hours with each treatment using random and
whole pieces of raw material. The resulting essential oil products were
analyzed in the form of yield, density, refractive index, and oil composition
analysis using GC-MS. The best essential oil yields from citronella were
obtained under operating conditions with random samples and distillation time
of 5 hours. Where the yield produced is 0.17% with a refractive index of
1.41570 and a density of 0.92735 gr/ml. |
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Received 28 October 2022 Accepted 29 November 2022 Published 10 December 2022 Corresponding Author Syafruddin, syafruddin.pnl@gmail.com
DOI10.29121/granthaalayah.v10.i11.2022.4905 Funding: This research
received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial,
or not-for-profit sectors. Copyright: © 2022 The
Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License. With the
license CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download,
reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work
must be properly attributed to its author. |
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Keywords: Essential Oil, Vacuum Hydrodistillation,
Fragrant Lemongrass, Geraniol |
1. INTRODUCTION
Citronella oil is one of the most prospective oil commodities among the 12 essential oils exported by Indonesia. Market demand for essential oils is very large, especially for citronella oil, ranging from 9-10%. patchouli and vetiver oil which are in a lower position in terms of demand for citronella oil (veniter oil) BPS (2020). Hasanah et al. (2021), Mahjoub et al. (2013), Sulaswatty et al. (2019). Some areas that produce citronella oil include Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, West Java, and Central Java with production of more than 95% of total production in Indonesia Directorate General of Plantations, (2013). Mahjoub et al. (2013) With a fairly large number of sales of essential oils, the selling price of these oils is still affordable and very cheap. This is because the quality of the quality requirements does not meet the qualifications. Limited public knowledge regarding the processing of refining citronella oil is the main key cause for the decline in the quality of citronella oil. Zaituni et al. (2016), Hidayati et al. (2015) According to a report from the Ministry of Trade (2011) world citronella oil production is approaching 4000 tons and 40% of its sources are supplied by China and Indonesia. The low production of citronella oil can further increase the value of citronella oil with the presence of derivative products from this oil. Various uses of fragrant citronella oil that can be used such as making cosmetic products, food, beverages. The fragrance can last below the boiling point of water, so it doesn't damage the content of the citronella oil itself. Bojan et al. (2007), Daryono et al. (2014), Eka Jati et al. (2010).
2.
METHODOLOGY
The raw material used is fragrant citronella. While the equipment used is a set of vacuum hydrodistillation tools, refractometers, pycnometers, measuring pipettes, Erlenmeyer, and a set of 50 ml titration tools. 25 liters of water is put into the distilled kettle. Esmaeili et al. (2018), Gavahian et al. (2018), Ghifary (2008) 10 kg of prepared citronella leaves with whole size and random pieces are put into the distilled kettle. The pump is turned on to circulate the cooling water, then the heater is turned on until it reaches a temperature of 100oC and then the distillation process is carried out by varying the boiling time. Variation of boiling time is 3.5 and 7 hours. Gill et al. (2017), Ibrahim (2021) During the boiling process, the steam from citronella leaves will be cooled using cooling water. So, the oil will come out through the condenser. After the distillation process is complete, the yield of the oil obtained is calculated and the quality of the essential oil is analyzed. Jayanudin and Hartono (2011).
2.1. GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY (GC-MS) ANALYSIS
Analysis of citronella oil samples was carried out using GC-MS gas chromatography (GC-Shimadzu 2010 with an autosampler and ionization detector. GC-MS was connected to a mass spectrometer (Agilent 5975C) using a DB-1MS capillary column (30 x 0.25 mm 1. D) 0.25 πm layer thickness). Injector and detector temperatures were set at 250 oC. Oven temperature was programmed at 40 oC for 8 minutes, increased at 3 oC/min to 240 oC and then held for 10 minutes. Helium as carrier gas was set to flow rate of 1.2 mL/min.The sample volume injected was 10 MI with the aim of qualitatively identifying the presence of compounds present in citronella oil. Kültürela and Tarhan (2016), Kumar et al. (2016).
2.2. OIL YIELD ANALYSIS
Calculate the weight of the citronella to be refined (input), then calculate the final weight of the fragrant citronella oil obtained (output). Kumar et al. (2016).
Yield (%) = Weight
of refined oil (output) x 100%
Weight of distilled citronella (input)
2.3. DENSITY ANALYSIS
1. Weigh the empty
chemical pycnometer
2. Fill the empty
pycnometer with essential oil distillate
3. Reduce the mass
of the pycnometer which has been filled with yield with a beaker empty
4. Then the mass and volume are obtained
𝜌 = m/v
2.4. BIAS INDEX ANALYSIS
1) Drop the sample to be checked for its
refractive index in the sample container Refractometer.
2) Cover tightly and allow light to pass through
the solution and through the prism. So that the light on the screen in the tool
is divided into two.
3) Slide the boundary mark by rotating the
adjusting knob, until intersects the point of intersection of two diagonal
lines that intersect with each other on screen.
4) Observe and read the refractive index scale
indicated by the screen needle through a microscope.
5)
Two-color result display that has been set up so as to provide
two colors that have a clear and firm color.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
From the results
of research on distillation of essential oils from citronella using the vacuum hydrodistillation method as follows: Table 1
Table 1
Table 1 Results of Research |
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Sample Size |
Distillation Time (Hours) |
Color |
Refractive Index (π) |
Acid Number |
Density (gr/ml) |
Yield (%) |
Random Pieces |
5 |
Clear |
1.41570 |
4.32 |
0.92735 |
0.17 |
6 |
Clear |
1.41508 |
4.49 |
0.85838 |
0.29 |
|
7 |
Clear |
1.41493 |
4.66 |
0.86406 |
0.37 |
|
Intact |
5 |
Clear |
1.41547 |
4.32 |
0.83954 |
0.13 |
6 |
Clear |
1.41484 |
4.88 |
0.83000 |
0.22 |
|
|
7 |
Clear |
1.41464 |
4.49 |
0.82947 |
0.27 |
3.1. YIELD
Below is a graph showing the yield levels for samples of the full size
and random pieces.
Figure 1
Figure 1 Effect of Distillation Time on Essential Oil Yield Levels |
From the research
that has been done, it is known that the highest oil yield was obtained from
the vacuum hydrodistillation process with random
sample pieces and 5 hours of distillation time, which is equal to 0.17%. This
is because the samples that were randomly cut have a smaller size than the
whole pieces the more surface area, so the oil will be easier to extract.
3.2. DENSITY
Figure 2
Figure 2 The Effect of Distillation Time on the Density of Essential Oils |
From the graph
above it can be seen that the distillation time affects the density of the
essential oil obtained, where the longer the distillation time the lower the
density of the oil. And for the best density value, it was found in samples
with random pieces and 5 hours of distillation time, which was 0.92735 gram/ml.
Figure 3.
Figure 3
Figure 3 The Effect of Distillation Time on the Refractive Index of Essential Oils |
From the graph of the relationship between distillation time and the
value of the refractive index of the essential oil samples, it can be seen that
the distillation time has an effect on the refractive index. Where the longer
the refining time, the lower the refractive index. This is because the longer
the oil is extracted at a certain temperature, the components of the essential
oil will be damaged, so that the value of the refractive index decreases. While
the comparison between the size of the intact sample and the random section, it
was found that the index of refraction in the random section was higher than
that of the intact sample. According to Ibrahim (2021) the higher the refractive index obtained, the
better the quality of the essential oil obtained. Obtained essential oil with
the best index of refraction that is in the sample with a random sample size
and distillation time of 5 hours.
3.3. COMPOSITION ANALYSIS OF
FRAGRANT CITRONELLA OIL WITH GC-MS TOOL
Figure
4
Figure 4 Results of GC-MS Analysis of Fragrant Citronella Oil |
From
the results of the GC-MS analysis it can be seen that the chemical compounds
identified were 21.57% Geraniol and 10.36% Citronellol. Geraniol levels in
essential oils are usually used for making perfume.
4. CONCLUSION
In this study it can be concluded that the distillation of citronella oil by vacuum hydrodistillation method is very effective. Seen from the results of the analysis of essential oils obtained. For the best distillation time for 5 hours of distillation with random pieces.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
None.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia for their support.
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