Soxhlet Extraction of Oil from Monkey Sugarcane (Costus afer) Leaves

Abstract

Bio-oil is a mixture of organic components obtained from biomass components such as esters and amongst others, Soxhlet extraction is the most common method of bio-oil production from various feedstock. The aim of this study is to extract the bio-oil of monkey sugarcane leaves by a soxhlet extractor and examine the physicochemical properties. The average percentage of oil yield was 5.2% and a total weight of 26.09g of bio oil was extracted from 500g of dried Costus afer leaves. The physicochemical properties studied and results obtained using ASTM and other standards are; boiling point (125oC), acid value (0.9mgKOH/g), FFA (0.49mgKOH/g), water content (0.53%), saponification value (146.3mgKOH/g), flash point 187oC and pour point (5oC). The bio-oil produced has comparable properties with that produced from other agricultural products and so could serve as a good feedstock for biodiesel production.

Keywords — Monkey sugarcane, agbodou, soxhlet apparatus, oil extraction, methanol