Separating ethanol (diluted or no) from essential oils ?
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:56 am
Hello,
I have been trying for some time to separate essential oils from ethanol to no avail. After following procedures, I can get essential oils with some volatile salts dissolved in ethanol, however I cannot separate them from the ethanol
I tried a few methods. I added salt water to try and separate to no avail, and then tried to fraction distillate, but it seems like the essential oils will stick to the ethanol no matter what. Tried to use alkalis, nothing. Ammonia, nothing
If I really saturate the alcohol with essential oils, I sometimes diluted water to get a milky white solution then by heating below boiling point, the oil will float on top. However, this method isnt practical because it needs a lot of time to saturate the ethanol, and only a small fraction of the oil floats
The only way that has worked in separating the 2 is by leaving the mixture on atmospheric temperature, in which the oil would fall to the bottom and the alcohol evaporate. If I heat the mixture to around 40 deg C, the oil will vaporize with the alcohol. Any help?
I was thinking maybe mixing ethanol with an azeotrope may make it separable from the essential oil?
Thank you for your time
I have been trying for some time to separate essential oils from ethanol to no avail. After following procedures, I can get essential oils with some volatile salts dissolved in ethanol, however I cannot separate them from the ethanol
I tried a few methods. I added salt water to try and separate to no avail, and then tried to fraction distillate, but it seems like the essential oils will stick to the ethanol no matter what. Tried to use alkalis, nothing. Ammonia, nothing
If I really saturate the alcohol with essential oils, I sometimes diluted water to get a milky white solution then by heating below boiling point, the oil will float on top. However, this method isnt practical because it needs a lot of time to saturate the ethanol, and only a small fraction of the oil floats
The only way that has worked in separating the 2 is by leaving the mixture on atmospheric temperature, in which the oil would fall to the bottom and the alcohol evaporate. If I heat the mixture to around 40 deg C, the oil will vaporize with the alcohol. Any help?
I was thinking maybe mixing ethanol with an azeotrope may make it separable from the essential oil?
Thank you for your time