Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Oil Extraction from Olive Cake

The kinetics of oil extraction from olive cake by using ethanol 96% was studied for different solvent-to-solids ratios and temperatures. The thermodynamic aspect of the extraction process was also examined. In the kinetic study, the results produced by the model of So and Macdonald (a model involving two main mechanisms of oil extraction: a washing process and a diffusion process with two stages) were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. The yield of oil in the extract increased with increasing contact time, solvent-to-solids ratio and extraction temperature. The calculated values of the mass transfer coefficients of various stages of the extraction were found to increase linearly with solvent-to-solids ratio and temperature. In all cases, the predominant mechanism in the extraction was the washing of the oil occurring on the particle surface. The values of the activation energy were 8.56 kJ mol⁻¹ for the washing stage, 9.88 kJ mol⁻¹ for the first stage of diffusion and 17.55 kJ mol⁻¹ for the second stage of diffusion by changing temperature from 20 to 50 °C. Further, the results obtained from thermodynamic study of extraction process gave positive values of enthalpy and entropy changes and negative values of change in free energy. Under the equilibrium conditions, the temperature coefficient was found to be 1.02.