Diseño de un proceso industrial para obtener aceite esencial de Eucalipto (Eucalyptus globulus labill) en la empresa IFG innovaciones agropecuarias Ibarra-Ecuador

Abstract

The design of an industrial process to obtain eucalyptus essential oil (Eucalyptus globulus labill) was carried out at IFG Innovaciones Agropecuarias Ibarra-Ecuador, for which initially the simulation of the process was performed at laboratory level, where the variables that are part of the sizing of the equipment such as feed, temperature, time in the extraction operation were determined, while for the condenser the variables such as the total mass of steam, temperature at the inlet and outlet of the condenser were obtained. Once the variables were obtained, the calculations were made taking into consideration the experimental tests. In addition, to ensure a quality product, this is based on the NTE INEN-ISO 770 standard, crude or rectified Eucalyptus oil. Under this context, the physical characterization was carried out, taking into consideration theperformance of an infrared spectroscopy, allowing to know the functional groups present and a test of antibacterial activity of the essential oil. The production capacity is 3.5 kg of raw material, allowing to obtain 300 ml of essential oil per day. The equipment that is part of the production linemust be built in stainless steel in order not to cause damage to the final product. For the validationof the process, results were obtained such as density 0.920 g/ml: a refractive index of 1.46132; values characteristic of the essential oil obtained in comparison with several authors. On the otherhand, it was determined that the essential oil inhibits bacteria such as S. aureus, E. cloacae, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. Infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the organic functional groups characteristic of this type of essential oil. Finally, it is recommended to motivate the IFG companyto take advantage of different plants present in the area, thus achieving the implementation of obtaining different types of essential oils.