A Supercritical Reactive Separation Process to Obtain Biopesticides (phorbol-esters) in the Biodiesel Production from Jatropha curcas Oil

A coupled supercritical extraction and reactive distillation processes for the extraction of the phorbol ester (biopesticide) and to produce biodiesel from Jatropha Curcas oil has been developed. Simulations of the extractive-reactive processes in Aspen-Plus environment were performed using the PC-SAFT equation of state. The pure component properties of the phorbol-ester are determined using the group contribution method of Marrero and Gani (2001). Simulation results show that a supercritical solvent mixture of CO2 and methanol is the appropriate solvent for enhanced phorbol ester extraction. A 20 equilibrium stages supercritical extractive column (SEC) under a total pressure of 5 bars and a solvent mixture of CO2/methanol was designed to separate the phorbol ester. The SEC is further coupled to the integrated reactive-distillation process for production of biodiesel.