Mechano-Thermal Extraction Model Approach of Evaluating Extract Recovered from Agro-Based Seed Materials for Oil Production

The application of mechano-thermal techniques for production of oil from native pear seed obtained from fruit garden in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria and the Native pear seed (raw material) was subjected into washing, drying, crushing (mechanical operation), and distillation (thermal operation). The direct extraction and distillation concepts were combined to operate simultaneously to achieve increase in oil recovery from the process. The operational conditions considered in this research include temperature effect, mass of the raw material introduced into the distillation unit expressed in terms of initial concentration, final concentration after the raw materials has undergo the mechano-thermal treatment and the volume of oil extracted or recovered at the end of each process. Extraction model approach was integrated in the process and the obtained results revealed decrease in raw material utilization with increase in the volume of oil recovered as well as the final concentration of the product. The useful parameters considered from the extraction model used include the extraction time, area of extract as 3.4159 × L², Length of cylinder containing the extract (30 mm), volume of extract, thickness of extract, initial concentration of feed, and diffusion Coefficient of 1.12 × 10⁻⁸ m². This has shown that the functional parameters of the extraction model influence the characteristics of the end product as well as properties of the oil to be recovered from the process.