PURIFICATION OF CRUDE TERPINEOL USING VACUUM BATCH DISTILLATION

• Main Author: Nur Maulia, Annisa
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/48579
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Terpineol is an unsaturated monocyclic in the form of monoterpenoid alcohol. This compound can be found in flowers (narcissus and freesia), in herbs (oregano and rosemary), and lemon peel oil. Terpineol has no color and smells like lilac. It is widely used in commercial products, such as essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics, households cleaning products, medicines, food and beverage flavorings. Industrial production of terpineol is carried out in two stages, consists of the formation of terpene hydrates through the ?-pinene hydration process and partial dehydration of terpene hydrates into terpineols. However, the crude terpineol product has a blackish brown color and has a pungent odor due to the presence of side products such as terpene hydrates, limonents, and various other polymers. This causes the selling price of crude terpineol to decrease and its use in the industry to be limited. Therefore, it is necessary to refine crude terpineol to improve the quality and composition of terpineol by vacuum batch distillation method. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effect of the vacuum pressure factor on the crude terpineol refining process. The experimental method consisted of three stages, namely the analysis of crude terpineol raw materials using Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID), the process of separating terpineol by vacuum batch distillation methods, and distillation analysis using Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID). This experiment was carried out by varying the operating pressure at 120 mmHg and 180 mmHg. The experimental results have shown compatibility with the results of the simulation of vacuum batch distillation with 60% column efficiency. Based on the results of experiments, terpineol products with a purity of 98% can be obtained at 120 mmHg with a maximum amount of distillate is 1000 mL. The decrease in operating pressure gives an increase in concentration of terpineol around 13.11%. Distillation with operating pressure 120 mmHg proven economically profitable. This pressure reduction process still yields the greatest benefits with a percentage gain of 139% towards operating conditions of atmospheric pressure and 106% towards operating conditions pressure of 180 mmHg.