Application Closed-End Oscillating Heat Pipe for Essential Oil Condensation of the Small Scale Essential Oil Refiner

• Published in: Walailak journal of science and technology Vol. 10; no. 6
• Main Author: Sakultala WANNAPAKHE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Walailak University 01-10-2013
• Subjects: CEOHP; essential oil refiner; Heat pipe; oscillating heat pipe
• DOI: 10.2004/wjst.v10i6.531
• EISSN: 2228-835X
• ISSN: 1686-3933

This research aimed to investigate the design and building of a small scale essential oil refiner by using heat pipes for essential oil condensation. The device structure of the small scale essential oil refiner was divided into 3 sections as follows: 1) the boiler with a heater for heating, 2) the vapor tube, and 3) the condenser unit. Three patterns of condenser unit were investigated: 1) condensation by water circulation, 2) condensation using heat pipes, and 3) condensation using heat pipes with water circulation. The temperature for testing was 80, 90 and 100 °C. A closed-end oscillating heat pipe (CEOHP) was used in this research. The inner diameter of the heat pipe was 2 mm. R123 was used as the working fluid. 500 g of kaffir lime peels were used for each test with a time of 2 hours. It was found that the highest quantity of essential oil was 1.4 cc when using a CEOHP with a water circulation unit at 100 °C.