Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng

Mathematical modeling of vegetable oil extraction in a

counter-current crossed ow horizontal extractor
G.O. Veloso

a,*

, V.G. Krioukov b, H.A. Vielmo

Department of Physics, Statistics and Mathematics, UNIJUI, Northwest Regional University of Rio Grande do Sul,
P.O. Box 560, Ijui, RS 98700-000, Brazil
Department of Technology, UNIJUI, Northwest Regional University of Rio Grande do Sul, P.O. Box 560, Ijui, RS 98700-000, Brazil
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, UFRGS, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil
Received 15 August 2003; accepted 19 April 2004

Abstract
In this work a new mathematical model of vegetable oil extraction in an industrial De Smet type extractor is proposed to
predict the concentration distributions in percolation sections and at the outlets. Oil losses are also considered. The model incorporates counter-current crossed ow of the porous media and the miscela, mass transfer between the expanded akes and the
miscela, diusion in the entire extraction eld, miscela transport between the percolation sections, inuence of loading and drainage
zones, and transient operational regimes of the extractor. The model is composed of sub-models for the percolation sections, trays,
drainage and loading zones. The sub-models are coupled to each other by means of the boundary conditions, and reect the
particularities of counter-current ow. The calculation algorithm is based on the method of lines. The variations in concentration
distributions of bulk and pore phases, and their properties, such as: waves, slopes, steps, etc., are presented.

2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mathematical model; Food processing; Counter-current crossed ow; Oil extraction; Porous media

1. Introduction
Industrial vegetable oil extractors such as De Smet,
Rotocell and Crow Model have been used in the
food industry for more than 20 years (Bockisch, 1998).
In their extraction elds, the expanded akes (a porous
media) and the miscela (a liquid that extracts oil from
the akes) interact through counter-current cross (CCC)
ows (Bockisch, 1998; Miyasaka & Medina, 1981).
Mathematical models of CCC ows, dierent of other
ow congurations [e.g., co-current ow (Iliuta &
Thyrion, 1997), counter-current ow (Lasseran &
Courtois, 1993), crossed ow (Qi & Krishnan, 1996)],
have not been elaborated yet. In the design and process
simulation of extractors, dierent versions of the multistages method are extensively used when, for each percolation section, a uniform oil distribution concentration is assumed in each component (Foust, Wenzel,
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +55-55-3332-0200; fax: +55-55-33329100.

E-mail address: gilmar.veloso@unijui.tche.br (G.O. Veloso).
0260-8774/$ - see front matter
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.04.019

Chump, Maus, & Anderson, 1982). This method, in its

basic approach, is not sensitive to section dimensions,
components velocities, and porous media porosities.
Therefore, a great volume of experimental data that
demand considerable expense and time accompanies the
design and operation of the extractors. In this sense, a
mathematical model of CCC ows that incorporates the
diusion laws and mass transfer, with spatial distribution of concentrations in the extraction eld, is of great
interest. Karnofsky (1986) observed that: Nevertheless,
plant operators should nd useful a method that predicts the distribution of miscella concentrations in a
commercial extractor. When they are experiencing
mysterious operation problems, comparing their distribution with that predicted may give the clue to the
source of trouble. Applied mathematical models to
predict vegetable oil extraction were rst proposed in the
1950s. Karnofsky (1949) and Coats and Karnofsky
(1950) established a physical scheme of oil extraction
from laminated akes. In that work the experimental
data was presented for dierent oleaginous species with
dierent ake thicknesses. The mechanism of extraction

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G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

Nomenclature
ap
C
Cin
Cm
CN
Cp
Cs
Cu
dp
DAB
Ed
Edm
Es
g
h
H
kf
Ls
ms
Mn
Nt
QD
Qes
Qf
Qh
Qp

contact surface between the pore and the

bulk phases per unit of volume (1/m)
oil concentration in the bulk phase (dimensionless)
oil concentration inside the solvent, tube 2,
Fig. 1 (dimensionless)
oil media concentration in mth tray (dimensionless)
oil concentration of the solid phase (dimensionless)
oil concentration in the pore phase (dimensionless)
initial volumetric concentration in solid
phase (dimensionless)
miscela volumetric concentration in the
extractor exit: Fig. 1, tube 5 (dimensionless)
average diameter of the ake particles (m)
molecular mass diusivity in the bulk phase
(m2 /s)
equilibrium mass coecient between the solid
and pore phases (dimensionless)
equilibrium volumetric coecient between
the solid and pore phases (dimensionless)
dispersion coecient (m/s)
oil mass fraction (dimensionless)
integration step (m)
thickness of the bed (m)
mass transfer coecient between the pore
and the bulk phases (m/s)
height of the porous media layer (m)
number of extractor sections (dimensionless)
mass ow rate of porous media in the
extractor (kg/s)
initial oil mass fraction in the akes (dimensionless)
ow rate from the drainage zone to the tray
(m3 /s)
volumetric oil ow rate in the extractor inlet
(m3 /s)
oil ow rate lost from the extractor (m3 /s)
volumetric horizontal ow rate of the bulk
phase through section (m3 /s)
miscela ow rate into the loading zone (m3 /s)

appears to be a combination of diusion, dialysis, and

mixing of slowly soluble extractible material. Karnofsky
(1986) also proposed a semi-empirical model of oil
extraction in industrial extractors. The model uses as a
basis the results of experimental tests developed in laboratories and then, by means of simple numerical
treatments, predicts oil losses in industrial extractors.

Qq
Qs
QT
Su
Sm
u
uh
Vb
Vm
Vs
x
X1
Xf
Xs
z

solvent ow rate in the extractor inlet (m3 /s)

miscela ow rate in the extractor exit (m3 /s)
miscela vertical volumetric ow through section (m3 /s)
Courant number for akes ow (dimensionless)
Courant number for miscela (dimensionless)
horizontal velocity of porous media (m/s)
miscela velocity in the horizontal direction
(m/s)
tray oil volume (m3 )
miscela vertical velocity in the percolation
section (m/s)
relatived velocity between the miscela and the
porous media (m/s)
horizontal coordinate (m)
width of the rst section (m)
left edge horizontal coordinate, AF, of the
extraction eld (m)
width of a typical section (m)
vertical coordinate (m)

Greek letters
Dx
horizontal cell dimension (m)
Dz
vertical cell dimension (m)
eb
outer porosity of the porous media, bulk
phase (dimensionless)
em
part of pore phase to occupy by miscela, Fig.
4 (dimensionless)
ep
internal porosity of the porous media, pore
phase (dimensionless)
lm
miscela viscosity (Pa s)
qhe
solvent (hexane) density (kg/m3 )
qm
miscela density (kg/m3 )
qol
oil density (kg/m3 )
qs
solid phase density of porous media (kg/m3 )
s
time (s)
Subscripts
0
initial
in
initial
ms
last section
Superscripts
N
solid phase
p
pore phase

In Abraham, Hron, and Koltun (1988), a coupled

mathematical model of an extractor and other equipment (desolventizer (DT), miscela separator, etc.) was
developed. The model included algebraic balance
equations for each ow component (marc, water, oil
and solvent) considering the equilibrium between the
phases. The sub-model of the extractor itself was based

G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

on the method of multi-stages and used experimental

data. However, that work did not have the objective of
presenting the concentrations space distributions. Majumdar, Samanta, and Sengupta (1995) proposed an
evolutionary, one-dimensional model of oil extraction
in expanded rice bran akes using a hexane-type solvent. A system where the xed akes are in a tank with
a perforated bottom and the solvent percolates through
the porous media to extract the oil was investigated.
Oil transfer between the akes and solvent, oil diusion
along the liquid phase, and change of oil concentration
in time was considered. Based on this, a sub-model was
developed (Krioukov, Moreira, Veloso, & Thomas,
1998) for a percolation section considering a twodimensional distribution of the bulk and pore phases
concentrations.
In the present work, a coupled model of extraction is
proposed and applied to an industrial facility that uses
CCC ows principle, and includes sub-models for the
percolation sections, drainage and loading zones, and
trays. The verication of the model is also presented,
including a comparison with experimental data and with
numerical simulations of a transient regime.

2. Description and schematization of the processes in the

extractor
Fig. 1 presents the main outline of the De Smet
extractor. In CCC ows, two media are involved: (a) a
porous media of expanded akes (which substitutes
nowadays the laminated akes in industrial extractors)

Fig. 1. Scheme of the process in the extractor akes: (1) entrance; (2)
solvent inlet; (3) miscela exit; (4) porous media exit; (5) marc without
solvent; (6) loading zone; (7) drainage zone; (8) percolation section; (9)
tray; (10) transporter; (11) pump; (12) miscela distributor; (13) tube
with miscela; (14) marc in DT; (15) vaporizer; (16) solvent reservoir;
(17) solvent ow controller; 18oil exit; (19) tray of drained miscela;
(20) distributed tube; (21), (22) tubes with solvent and (23) rst section.

479

with two porosity types (eb external porosity and ep

internal porosity (Bear, 1972)); (b) a solvent (miscela)
that moves in counter-current crossed ow. The akes
initially contain oil, which, as it interacts with the solvent, is transferred to the miscela. As a result, the oil
concentration in the miscela increases.
The porous media enters in the extractor through
tube 1, in section 6, lling the movable bed to a certain
height. Miscela with negligible oil concentration (in
other words, solvent) enters in the extractor through the
controller 17. It moves then through tube 2, the percolation sections, pumps, tubes until it reaches tube 3. At
this point, the miscela is already enriched of oil, and
leaves the extraction eld to enter in the vaporizer 15. At
the same time, the marc leaves the drainage section
through the desolventizer 14.
During the loading, the concentrated miscela lls out
the spaces between the akes eb , and permeate the pore
phase ep . At the same time, the oil of the solid phase
comes out towards the pore phase, establishing new
concentrations in the solid (C N ) and pore (C p ) phases.
Oil transfer between the solid and pore phases occurs in
the percolation sections and the concentration C p decreases. Also, an opposite ow of solvent is established.
In the drainage stage, the miscela ows from the
spaces eb between the akes, but still remains in the pore
phase, and this eect leads to oil losses. In each section,
during the extraction, the concentrations C (concentration of oil in bulk phase), and C p are not uniform in the
space.
The principle of an industrial extractor operation is
an excellent way to achieve a high level of oil and marc
production, and high oil concentration in the nal
miscela, with only small oil losses. The aim of the model
presented in this article is to predict: the distributions of
C and C p in the extraction eld; the miscela ow rates
through the sections, outlets, and drainage and loading
zones; oil losses; and Cu concentration in the vaporizer
inlet. Some considerations on the components involved
are presented below.
1. Porous media. It is a complex media that contains
water, oil, proteins, etc. For the mathematical modeling of oil extraction, it is assumed that it is formed of
oil and marc. It is also assumed, according to Majumdar et al. (1995), that the cells are broken and the expanded akes have two types of porosities, eb and ep .
2. Oil and solvent. They are complex components but
they are treated as simple substances. Miscela is a
mixture of solvent and oil with an volumetric oil concentration up to 30%. Inside the spaces eb , the miscela
is called the bulk phase (with concentration C); inside
spaces ep , it is called the pore phase (with concentration C p ). During the extraction, miscela can also be
present inside of the solid akes phase (with concentration C N ).

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G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

3.1. Extraction eld

Majumdar et al. (1995) developed transient onedimensional extraction equations for xed porous media
with two porosity types eb and ep . But for the industrial
extraction modeling, two-dimensional equations for the
moved porous media are necessary (domain OAFG)
considering the same phenomena. The follow considerations and hypotheses are assumed:

Fig. 2. Outline of the miscela and porous media ows in extractor: (O)
source of coordinates; (AK) drainage line; (OAFG) extraction eld.

In operational conditions it is presumed that:

the extraction eld temperature is constant;
the horizontal velocity of the porous media is equal to
the velocity of the transporter, u;
the upper surface of the (m
1)th-section is covered
by miscela with C m concentration that leaves from
the mth tray (this property allows the formulation
of the boundary conditions for the upper border of
the extraction eld);
the volumetric ows QT , Qh , QD , Qq are constant
while the oil P concentrations can be modied as
time-dependent;
the miscela vertical volumetric ow rate (QT
eb Vm Xs H ) through sections ms
1 . . . 2 is formed
by the sum of the drained miscela ow rate (QD ) with
the solvent ow rate in the inlet of the last section
(Qq ).
The follow hypotheses for the ows are assumed:
the vertical velocity of percolation, Vm , (Fig. 2) in
each section occurs under gravity and is determined
by the properties of both the miscela and of the
porous media and is considered constant in the
model;
the miscela drag velocity of the bulk phase in the horizontal direction, uh , is considered constant in the entire extraction eld. This velocity creates a horizontal
ow (Qh ) of bulk phase from the right side to the left
(Fig. 2), and is given by: Qh eb uh Ls H .

3. The mathematical model

The coupled mathematical model includes sub-models for the main components of the extractor: the
extraction eld, the drainage and loading zones and the
trays.

for the conditions of industrial extractors, a Reynolds

number of about 100 corresponds to the turbulent regime (Kececioglu & Jiang, 1994). Therefore the dispersion coecient Es (Cussler, 1997) is used instead
of the molecular diusion coecient;
the velocities of the porous media and the miscela are
low (Vm  10 mm/s, u  5 mm/s). Residence time of
any ake element in the extraction eld is approximately 1 h, and so equilibrium was assumed to occur
between the pore and solid phases in any point of the
eld;
the oil transfer between the pore and bulk phases, as
show in the experiments of Chien, Ho, and Lee
(1990), is rather slow and, therefore, the known formula Nol kf C p
C is used;
the oil volume that leaves the pore phase during the
percolation is replaced by the same volume of solvent.
the equilibrium constant between the solid and pore
phases is usually determined by a relationship among
between concentrations: Ed gN =gp . In the model,
this constant is transformed into volumetric form
through the following relation (Veloso, 2003):
CN
Cp


Ed

Edm

qs
qhe C p qol
qhe Ed C p qs
qol


1

During the extraction process, Edm varies, approximately, in the interval between 1:6  Ed to 1:9  Ed ,
in which Ed holds a constant value.
The equations for the extraction eld (domain OAFG,
Fig. 2) deduced by Krioukov et al. (1998) are:
bulk phase equation
 2

oC
oC
o C o2 C

Vm
Es
2
os
oz
ox2
oz

1
eb
oC
kf ap C p
C
uh
eb
ox

where the terms on the right-hand side reect the

following processes: movement in the vertical direction, diusion, mass transfer between the bulk and

G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

pore phases, and movement in the horizontal direction, respectively;

pore phase equation
p

oC
kf ap C
C
oC



u
ep 1
ep Edv
os
ox

where, the rst term on the right-hand reects the

mass transfer between the bulk and pore phases,
while the second term corresponds to the movement
in the horizontal direction.
The Es coecient is determined by
Es b1 DAB b2 Vs dp

as found in Cussler (1997), where: b1 0:7 and b2 2:0

are experimental coecients; Vs is a relative velocity
between the miscela q
and
the porous

media and is
2

Vm2 u
uh . For the mass

determined by Vs

transfer coecient (kf ), the Sherwood number, Sh, is

obtained by Treybal (1963)
Sh aReb Sc0:42

a 2:4;
a 0:442;

b 0:34
b 0:69

3.3. Trays sub-model

The ow QT pours into a tray with non-uniform
distributions CLs ; x; s. Admitting a rapid mixture of
the miscela inside the tray, it is assumed that the concentration in the tray C m is uniform, but time-dependent
for the transient regime. The equations to account for
changes in the miscela concentrations in the trays are
derived from the oil conservation law applied to the tray
volume

Z Xk

Vb dC m H
Cx; Ls ; sVm eb dx
C m QT ds
Xn

m 2; . . . ; ms
1

for 0:08 < Re < 125

for 125 < Re < 5000

where Xn m
2
Xs X1 ; Xk Xs Xn .
From this equation, one obtains
R Xk
dC m eb HVm Xn Cx; Ls ; s dx
C m sQT

ds
Vb

Similarly, considering the bulk phase drainage (ow

QD ), the following relation is obtained for the last tray:
dC ms
ds

where

481

h R
i
RL
X
eb H Vm Xnf Cx; Ls ; s dx uh 0 s CXf ; z; s dz
C ms sQT

Re Vdp qm =lm Reynolds number; Sc lm =qm DAB

Schmidt number, Sh kf dp =DAB .

Vb

10

where Xf Xn Xms ; Xn X1 ms
2
Xs .
3.2. Drainage sub-model
3.4. Loading zone sub-model
Porous media enters the drainage zone (with velocity
u) and bulk phase (with velocity uh ). Experimental results by Sirur (1990) and the presence of dissolventizer in
the plant indicate that part of the liquid is not drained.
This is probably caused by miscela remaining in the pore
phase. At the same time, all bulk phase passes in the last
tray forming the ow QD . Therefore it is assumed that in
the drainage zone:
only the bulk phase is drained;
the oil in the pore and solid phases is considered lost;
oil transfer between the pore and bulk phases does
not occur.
Then considering that QD Qh the ow rate QT (Fig.
2) is given by
QT Qq QD Qq HLs uh eb

The oil losses (in other words, the oil ow inside the
pore and solid phases) are determined according to:
Z Ls
Qf s Hu1
eb ep 1
ep Edm
C p Xf ; z; s dz
0

The akes enter in this zone with a mass ow rate of

Mn and mass concentration of Nt , (Fig. 2) which are
both known quantities. The outlet QT with a concentration of C 2 branches into two ows: Qs (that passes
into the rst section) and Qp (which passes into the
loading zone to ll spaces eb and ep of the porous
media). The processes in the loading zone are very
complex, so to create a sub-model it is necessary to assume a few simplied hypotheses. It is assumed that
spaces eb is only lled out with miscela and that the
spaces ep is lled with miscela and oil that leaves the
solid phase. It is also considered an equilibrium between
the concentrations of the pore phase (Cinp ) and solid
phase (CinN ). The oil transfer between the pore and a bulk
phase in this zone begins, most likely, after the completion of these phases, which almost occupies the entire
residence time of the porous media in this zone. In other
words, it is proposed that no transfer takes place, and so
concentration C 2 does not change in the loading zone.
To nd the oil concentration, Cinp , the volumetric oil
ow rate in the extractor (Qes ) is obtained as: Qes
Nt Mn =qol and initially distributes inside the akes with a
volumetric ow rate of Ls Hu1
eb . As a result, the

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G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

(b) for the left hand (line AF) of the eld

oC Xf ; z; s
0
ox

z 0; . . . ; Ls ; s > 0;

16

(c) for the upper boundary of the eld (line OA)

sections m 1; . . . ; ms
1
Fig. 3. Filling outline of particle.

Cx; 0; s C m1 s s > 0;

17

where, x 0; . . . ; X1 ; if m 1 and
volumetric concentration (before the contact with the
miscela) is given by
Cs

Nt Mn
qol Ls Hu1
eb

11

Now, the complete lling of the pore phase is considered. During the rst stage of lling (Fig. 3(a)),
concentrated miscela with concentration C 2 passes to
the pore phase, occupying part of it (em ) with an oil
amount, C 2
em . Almost simultaneously, oil is extracted
from the solid phase into the pore phase, occupying the
other part (ep
em ) of the space ep (Fig. 3(b)). After
complete lling takes place, uniform oil mixing occurs in
spaces em and ep
em , forming the pore phase concentration in the loading zone Cinp (Fig. 3(c)). At this
moment, equilibrium between the solid phase, with
concentration CinN , and the pore phase is established.
Based on these considerations Veloso (2003) developed
the equations
C e

Cinp

2 p
Cs 1
C

C 2 ep
1
C 2

ep Edm 1
ep


1
Cinp
Qp HLs uh eb u1
eb ep
1
C2

12

13

Miscela with a high oil concentration leaves the

extractor through tube 3 (Fig. 1) with a ow rate Qs
given by Qs QT
Qp . The miscela volumetric concentration in the extractor outlet, Cu , is established by
the following expression:
Z X1
1
Cu
Cx; Lr ; s dx
14
X1 0
3.5. Coupled model: initial and boundary conditions
The model includes partial dierential equations (2)
and (3), ordinary integra-dierential equations (9) and
(10) and expressions (6) and (7) and (12)(14), which
allow the determination of the ow rates and concentrations in the drainage and loading zones. The
boundary conditions for the bulk phases are:
(a) for the right hand (line OG, Fig. 2) of the extraction
eld
C0; z; s C 2 s z 0; . . . ; Ls ; s > 0;

15

x X1 m
2
Xs ; . . . ; X1 m
1Xs ;
if m 2; . . . ; ms
1;
for section ms
Cx; 0; s Cin

x Xf
Xms ; . . . ; Xf

18

(d) for the bottom boundary of the eld (line FG)

oCx; Ls ; s
0
oz

x 0; . . . ; Xf ; s > 0

19

The boundary conditions for the pore phase on the

right-hand of the eld (line OF) are
C p 0; z; s Cinp s

z 0; . . . ; Ls ; s > 0;

20

The initial values for the entire extraction eld are

Cx; z; 0 C0 x; z and C p x; z; 0 C0p x; z
21
for x 0; . . . ; Xf ; z 0; . . . ; Ls . As for the tray:
C m 0 Cm0 for m 2; . . . ; ms . It is observed that, in
this problem, the boundary conditions depend on
the time, and on the concentrations C in the integration domain.
To solve the system of modeling equations, the
method of lines was applied (Lambert, 1993). Eqs. (2)
and (3) are transformed into ordinary dierential
equations (ODEs) setting aside temporal derivatives and
2
2
discretizing the spatial derivatives: oxo , oxo 2 , ozo and ozo 2 . In
Eqs. (9) and (10) the integral terms were replaced by
nite sums. The obtained ODEs were solved through
the fourth-order RungeKutta numerical method,
maintaining the relations between the cell sizes Dx, Dz
and the integration step h according to Courant criteria.
The code was written in C language.

4. Numerical simulations
The proposed numerical solution was applied to a
model of an actual De-Smet type extractor (ms 6)
whose data is presented in Table 1, as provided by
Cussler (1997), Majumdar et al. (1995), Pires and
Moreira (2000) and Sirur (1990). The model and the
developed code were veried according to the following
criteria:

G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

483

Table 1
Parameters and experimental data of the extractor, the porous media (expanded akes), hexane, and soy oil
Xs (m)
2.0

X1 (m)
1.4

Ls (m)
2.0

H(m)
2.4

Xms (m)
1.4

ms
6

u (m/s)
0.005

Mn (kg/s)
9.3

Qq (dm3 /s)
8.8

Cinhe (%)
0.1

Nt (%)
21.3

uh (m/s)
0.002

gfe (%)
0.65

ap (1/m)
72

qol (kg/m3 )
910

qhe (kg/m3 )
680

qMn (kg/m3 )
520

qs (kg/m3 )
1180

l (Pa s)
3.2 10
4

eb
0.4

ep
0.24

1. The numerical results had to obey the oil conservation law in the stationary regime that is
Nt Mn Qq Cin Qs Cu Qf

22

where the left- and right-hand sides correspond to the

oil ow rate into the extractor and the oil ow rate
out of the extractor. Insignicant errors (less than
0.2%) were revealed for all of the tested regimes.
2. Mesh sizes and integration step (h) could inuence
the calculation stability. Courant numbers Sm
Vm h=Dz (for miscela) and Su uh=Dx (for akes ow)
were chosen so that they were smaller than 0.8 to assure calculation stability. The simulation results for
these numbers were independent of the mesh parameters.
3. Cx; z and C p x; z concentrations in the stationary
state had to be independent of their initial distributions.

data, while the results obtained from the ideal stages

method present a considerable deviation from the
experimental data. Evolutions of concentrations C and
C p are shown in Figs. 5a8a and in Figs. 5b8b,
respectively, with initial concentrations of C0 0:01 and
C0p 0:20. In the three-dimensional plots C f x; z
and C p f x; z, the extraction eld OAFG (Fig. 2)
corresponds to the area: x  z 30  20 (with the conditional units). Comparing these plots with Fig. 2, it is
observed that:
the hexane inlet in the extractor corresponds to line
x 05, z 0; the concentrated miscela outlet corresponds to line x 2530, z 20;

In addition to the above, the results were compared

with experimental data collected from a real extractor
(Pires & Moreira, 2000), and with results obtained from
the ideal stages method (Fig. 4). Concentration C m and
Cu are shown as functions of the number of trays,
including the outlet tray. The contact area ap was
determined by performing a series of simulations with
dierent values of ap , until the equality of experimental
(gfe ) and theoretical losses was achieved. As seen, the
present model reasonably matches the experimental

Mass concentration

0.4
experimental
model
ideal stages

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
1

section

Fig. 4. Comparison of the experimental data with the theoretical results.

Fig. 5. Ca and C p b concentration evolutions for time s 18 s.

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G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

Fig. 6. Ca and C p b concentration evolutions for time s 378 s.

Fig. 7. Ca and C p b concentration evolutions for time s 1008 s.

akes inlet and outlet occur at line x 30, z 020,

and line x 0, z 020, respectively;
the rst section occupies zone x 2530, z 020
(with the top at x 2530; z 0).

the front of C p concentrations grows with some inclination while the porous media advances through the
extraction bed. In the last section, the decrease of C p is
observed because of the intense oil transfer to the bulk
phase.
Fig. 7(a) and (b) show distributions of concentration
in the extraction eld at the time s 1008 s. In the
bulk phase, steps had already been formed in almost
all the sections, and the plateau disappeared. The
maximum concentration C is veried in the bottom of
the rst section. In distribution C p x; z, the front
inclination increased presenting derivative (oC p =ox)
inections at the limit between the rst and second
section.
At time s 2538 s (Fig. 8(a) and (b)) the distributions Cx; z and C p x; z that characterize the stationary
state had already been established: the point of maximum (which continued increasing), the steps between
the sections (which became smoother in the bottom of
the sections), and the inections in the derivatives
oC p =ox (also observed between sections).The stationary
regime is obtained at time s  10 000 s. In comparison
with time s 2538 s, only insignicant quantitative
alterations can be observed.

In Fig. 5(a) and (b), the distributions of concentrations C and C p are shown at time s 18 s. As seen, a
wave of low concentration had already passed in the last
section (caused by the hexane admission), forming a step
between the sections. In the akes inlet zone, some
deformation in the concentrations C appeared, caused
by the beginning of porous media motion with high oil
concentration. An intensive oil transfer is observed between the pore and bulk phases, which caused the concentrations C0:01 ! 0:05 and C p 0:20 ! 0:14 to
approach each other in the extraction eld.
Fig. 6(a) and (b) shows the situation in the extraction
eld at time s 378 s. In the last section, the concentration C wave deepens, while in Section 5 it is noted the
rise of a wave sign. In the bottom of the rst section, a
region of maximum concentration C appeared. Approaches of concentrations amongst themselves continued: C0:05 ! 0:07 and C p 0:14 ! 0:09. The plateau
became smaller during the eld evolution: the height of

G.O. Veloso et al. / Journal of Food Engineering 66 (2005) 477486

485

4. The model was validated using to the following

criteria:
that the oil conservation law was obeyed;
that the steady-state distributions of concentrations C and C p were independent of the initial distributions;
that the obtained numerical results compared well
with the available experimental data.
5. The numerical simulations revealed some interesting
characteristics of the concentrations Cx; z; s and
C p x; z; s distributions in the extraction eld. For instance, in the transient regime, they show concentrations waves Cx; z; s that propagate though the
heights of the sections, derivative inections and
slopes in the surfaces C p x; z; s. The solutions also
showed a maximum for Cx; z; s in the concentrated
miscela outlet zone, and the existence of steps and
their dissipation at the end of percolation sections.
6. The model can be useful to design and manage
extractors that work with several types of solvents
and akes. However, to use the model, it is required
the knowledge of some experimental data that can
be obtained in laboratory conditions, such as: Ed ,
qol , qhe , qs , Vm , uh , eb , ep , ap , dp .

Acknowledgements
Fig. 8. Ca and C p b concentration evolutions for time s 2538 s.

5. Conclusions
1. This work presents a counter-current crossed ow
model applicable to industrial extractors of the De
Smet type. In contrast to the multi-stage method,
this model is based on the laws that govern the phenomena and on the peculiarities of ows in porous
media. The model predicts the space distributions of
the extraction eld main parameters, as well as the
oil losses. Therefore, it is sensitive to the porosity
alteration, the main dimensions of the extractor,
and the operational regime parameters. Finally, it is
able to assist in the design and operation of the
extractor.
2. The model is composed of a system of partial dierential equations and ordinary integraldierential
equations. The boundary conditions linked the miscela and the porous media in a counter-current crossed
ow.
3. The use of the method of lines showed good eciency
when the connection between the mesh sizes and integration steps satised the Courant criterions; that is,
Su and Sm < 0:8. This method is very adaptable to
problems with complex boundary conditions.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial

support of the project by CNPq-Brazil (grant
No.470458/2001-1). The authors also acknowledge the
Zaari Company for possibility to use of experimental
data.

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