Mamdouh Allawzi

Extraction of jojoba oil by pressing and leaching

Abstract Jojoba oil extraction by pressing alone, pressing followed by leaching, and leaching alone were investigated. The extraction process by first and second pressing followed by leaching gave about 50% by weight oil with reference to total seed, which is in agreement with what has been reported previously. The extraction by leaching process was carried out using different solvents. These solvents were; hexane, benzene, toluene, petroleum ether, chloroform, and isopropanol. Hexane, benzene, and petroleum ether gave the highest yield (all about 50% by weight oil with reference to total seed), but when cost is considered, petroleum ether is recommended as the best solvent to leach jojoba oil. The yield obtained in this work for leaching by hexane and benzene are 3–5% and about 10% for isopropanol more than those reported in the literature. Traces of solvent remained with the extracted oil after simple distillation followed by a second stage distillation via a Rotavapour apparatus. These traces slightly affected some of the oil properties such as pour point and flash point.

CO 2 Supercritical Extraction of Essential Oil of Jordanian Rosemary

Background: Experimental investigation of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of active ingredients from rosemary herb has been performed. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) was used as a solvent with ethanol as a trapping agent. This work showed that the SFE can be an exceptional alternative to the use of chemical solvents. Objective: The effect of temperature and pressure on the extraction process was investigated to increase the yield of the extracted essential components. Methods: The types of extracted compounds from rosemary were specified and analyzed using GC-MS. Results: The results indicated that several essential active ingredient compounds were extracted. Furthermore, the pressure affects the extraction, as the composition of some compounds increases with a pressure increase. Conclusions: SFE can be used to extract valuable active ingredients from rosemary. Two process parameters were investigated, namely, pressure and temperature, which indicate that SFE is a selective process for the production of certain constituents. Highlights: Some of the main components of the essential oil of Jordanian rosemary obtained in this study have important applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. For instance, α-pinene is one of the main raw compounds used in the perfume industry.

The use of oil shale ash in the production of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil

Oil shale ash obtained from combustion of local oil shale deposits was used in this study as a heterogeneous catalyst to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil (WVO). Two alcohols with high and low boiling points, ethanol and ethylene glycol, were used for oil shale catalytic esterification of the WVO. Results show that the esterification of wastes of oil utilizing wastes of oil shale combustion can be used to produce biodiesel. Additionally, it was found that in order to make the oil shale ash an effective catalyst for transesterification, high reaction temperature is required. Therefore, the results have indicated that high biodiesel yield is obtained when using ethylene glycol at high temperature, while the yield is low when solid catalytic reaction is performed using ethanol at low temperature. The maximum obtained yield was 75 wt. % utilizing ethylene glycol at 150 °C, whereas this yield decreased to 69.9 wt. % as the operating temperature was reduced to 100 °C. On the other hand, when using ethanol, the yield of biodiesel was relatively low (11 wt. % at 60 °C and 9 wt. % at 80 °C).

Biodiesel production from waste soybean oil using jordanian oil shale ash

Biodiesel, an alternative diesel fuel derived from vegetable oil, animal fat, or waste vegetable oil (WVO), is obtained in this work by reacting waste vegetable soybean oil using oil shale ash as a heterogeneous catalyst in addition to two alcohols ethylene glycol and ethanol. Results have indicated that high biodiesel yield is obtained when using ethylene glycol at high temperature, while the yield is low when solid catalytic reaction is performed using ethanol at low temperature. This indicates that heterogeneous catalytic reaction is favored at a high temperature using alcohol with a high boiling point. Maximum yield was 75% wt using ethylene glycol at 150°C and the yield dropped to 69.9% wt as the operating temperature was reduced to 100°C. The increase in yield by 5% wt as the temperature increased from 100°C to 150°C is not significant. Using ethanol, the biodiesel yield is as low as 11% wt at 60°C and 9% wt at 80°C.