Final Report
CONSULTING SERVICES FOR A TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT OF
THE STILLS AT THE OPUWO PROCESSING FACILITY
25th March 2011
commissioned by the Millennium Challenge Account Namibia
with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation
Submitted by:
Werner Bester
Essential Distillation Equipment CC
Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa
werner.ede@vodamail.co.za
+27 21 448 1387
+ 27 82 334 3324
Ref: MCAN/COM/IC/3D01001-D
Table of Contents
Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................1
1.
Background.......................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Scope of work ........................................................................................................................................... 3
2.
Methodology ....................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Pre-processing and steam distillation trials with the Mopane steam still............................................... 3
2.2 Pre-processing and steam distillation of Commiphora............................................................................ 4
3. Main Findings ....................................................................................................................................5
3.1 General ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
3.2 Mopane trials ........................................................................................................................................... 6
3.3 Commiphora trials .................................................................................................................................... 6
4. Recommendations .............................................................................................................................7
4.1 General facility ......................................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Mopane distillation ................................................................................................................................... 7
4.3 Commiphora distillation ........................................................................................................................... 8
Executive Summary
This assignment had two main tasks:
i)
Inspect the installation of both the Commiphora and mopane still;
ii)
Conduct small processing trials and rectify any problems immediately if possible;
The tasks above were designed to lead to an assessment and identification of the technical problems as
well as any recommendations as to how these might be practically solved in order to get the processing
facility situated in Opuwo fully functional.
It was also imperative to get both the oil distillation plants working and producing oil without too many
changes to the current equipment, to train the staff on the operation and maintenance of the stills and
to establish a basis for standard operating procedures for the facility.
The assignment was carried out from the 22nd to the 26th of March 2011.
Key Findings
General facility
•
changes to the electrical supply and fittings is needed,
•
upgrading water quality and supply,
•
installation of drainage and waste removal for a safer working environment.
Mopane distillation
•
pods needs to be pre processed using a suitable machine,
•
stainless steel baskets need a re-usable material cover to facilitate stilling, loading and unloading.
Commiphora distillation
•
steam distillation is superior to hydro distillation for Commiphora extraction in oil yield, separation
and cleaning of equipment after distillation,
•
hand pre processing is the easiest and most convenient method,
•
establish best seal and basket arrangement in the pot for the current use of the hydro still as steam
still.
Key Recommendations
General facility
•
employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the electrical system,
•
employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the water supply system,
Report on the Technical Assessment of the Stills at the Opuwo Processing Facility (April 2011)
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•
testing the water quality and making the necessary changes to supply the boiler with suitable quality
water,
•
employing a contractor to make the necessary changes to the drainage for cleaner and safer
working area,
•
establish standard operating protocols once the facility is fully operational.
Mopane distillation
•
to send some mopane pods to a hammer mill supplier to test different size equipment to establish
the best pre processing means before purchasing of equipment,
•
have a supplier make up some removable hessian covers for the chain baskets.
Commiphora distillation
•
building custom sorting tables to facilitate the pre processing of the Commiphora,
•
acquiring more baskets and seals to use the full capacity of the current pot and to have an extra set
to facilitate and speed up the loading, unloading and cleaning process of the pots and baskets,
•
look at acquiring a pot custom designed for the steam distillation of the Commiphora in the long
term.
1. Background
In 2004, IRDNC started investigating the possibility of commercial harvesting of Commiphora resin.
Commiphora wildii is endemic to north western Namibia and spontaneously produces large quantities of
resin in response to environmental stresses. The resin is similar to myrrh but can be sustainably
harvested. Attempts at marketing the resin have met with limited success. Current indications are that
the market would prefer to purchase the essential oil rather than having to deal with extracting it from
the raw resin. Also, processing it locally adds value to the product and reduces the high costs of
transporting the heavy drums of resin. This was the motivation for applying for funding to ICEMA to
build a processing facility in Opuwo. Similarly, the bulk of the bags of mopane seeds and the associated
challenges with transportation and storage motivated the purchase of the mopane still. The building
was erected at the IRDNC Training Centre on the outskirts of Opuwo, the town closest to the PPOs that
produce the raw material. The building was jointly funded by IRDNC and ICEMA.
In 2009 two steam distillation units, a hydro/water still and a direct injected steam still, were
commissioned by the ICEMA project to process the Commiphora resin and the Colophospermum
mopane seeds harvested by Kunene Producer and Processor Organizations. These were collected from
South Africa and delivered to Opuwo in May 2010. Due to delays in the installation of the three phase
electricity at the site, the equipment could not be connected and tested. The ICEMA High Value Plants
Project ended in June 2010.
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Technical difficulties have been experienced with the operationalisation of the still. These technical
difficulties need to be resolved and standard operating procedures need to be established to ensure
that essential oils of a standardized quality are produced. The Opuwo Processing Facility is targeted for
training support by the MCA-N INP Sub-activity (PPO number 1.1.12) in 2011 but before this can take
place the facility needs to be fully commissioned.
1.1
Scope of work
2. Inspect the installation of both the Commiphora and mopane still
3. Conduct small processing trials and rectify any problems immediately if possible
4. Advise as to possible solutions for problems that cannot be rectified immediately
5. Establish an outline and recommendations for standard operating procedures
Although not required in terms of the scope of work for these consultancy services the consultant was
requested by the IRDNC to manufacture trial components (baskets and seals) to make it possible for the
small processing trials outlined above in point 2 to be carried out.
In addition to the above work training of the staff on the operation and use of the equipment and the
distillation procedure was also conducted during the trials. A short training video was also made.
Through the above tasks it was expected that an assessment and identification of the technical
problems would be made and that recommendations as to how these might be practically solved in
order to get the processing facility fully functional would be addressed.
2. Methodology
On initial inspection of the processing facility it was decided to first clean the facility and equipment in
order to start with a fresh approach. This was done by physical means and by use of the boiler to steamclean the plant, including the material pots, cooling condenser and oil/water separator of both the
mopane and Commiphora distillation units. After cleaning the layout of the equipment was rearranged
in a more permanent position to utilise the space more efficiently.
Two main processing trials were conducted, one on the Mopane steam still and the other on the
Commiphora hydro still. In the case of both trials the raw material to be distilled was weighed to
correlate the weight to oil percentage for the different trials, as this will also have an effect on the final
decision. All trials were conducted for a period of two hours.
The components of these trials are described below.
2.1
Pre-processing and steam distillation trials with the Mopane steam still
Three trials were done using different pre-processed material with a piece of hessian on the basket
using the same distillation process:
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1. Whole unprocessed pods
2. Crushed pods with current hammer mill (on loan from CRIAA SA-DC)
3. Hand shelled kernels
The two pots that make up the mopane steam still
2.2
Pre-processing and steam distillation of Commiphora
Two trials were conducted on the Commiphora resin using the adapted hydro still.
1. In the first trial 5 baskets, manufactured for these trials, were prepared with a covering of 5
different types of material placed in them and then filled with different sized pieces of Commiphora
resin and placed in the pot with seals of different sizes and materials.
2. In the second trial and based on the findings of the first trial it was decided to establish whether it
would be possible to use less seals and pieces of material. In this trial the bottom basket was
covered with mutton cloth, filled with fine Commiphora powder and placed in the pot with a seal.
The next three baskets where filled with bigger Commiphora pieces (according to the mesh size of
the baskets) and placed in the pot without covering material and seals. The final basket with the
finest mesh size was placed on top with a silicon seal.
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The Commiphora hydro still
The Commiphora still was originally designed to work as a hydro still where the product is submersed in
water in a single basket. After trials it was decide that this method was not sufficient for oil extraction
and created great difficulty during the cleaning process. The modifications will allow the still to operate
as a steam still; although not ideal it is a workable solution for the immediate future.
3. Main Findings
3.1
General
During the inspection, cleaning and steam cleaning (running the distillation units with empty pots and
no cooling) it was established that:
1. The electric breaker in the actual distillation room and on the main box was insufficient and will
need to be upgraded,
2. The quality of the water feeding the boiler is not good enough and some form of purification will be
needed. A water sample was taken and analysed by a lab where it was noted that it has a high lime
content and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level, pending subsequent discussions with experts a
solution needs to be implemented,
3. Changes to the plumbing of the feed water to the boiler and to the cooling water for the condenser
will be required,
4. Drainage measures need to be taken to create a safe and clean working environment.
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3.2
Mopane trials
The following are the main findings with respect to the trials conducted on the mopane steam stills.
1. Distilling the whole unprocessed pods was not successful and no oil was recovered as the shells did
not open during distillation,
2. Distilling the pods that have been processed with the hammer mill produced a good amount and
quality oil of about 2% when compared to the full weight of the crushed shell and kernel,
3. It was calculated after weighing the empty shells and kernels that weight distribution is about equal.
The kernels were then distilled and nearly no oil was recovered.
3.3
Commiphora trials
The following are the main findings with respect to the trials conducted on distilling the Commiphora
resin.
Using the hammer mill to pre-process the Commiphora resin was rejected due to the previous trials with
the resinous mopane seeds and build up within the hammer mill. Hand pre-processing seems to be the
easiest and best as the operators have enough idle time during distillation for this procedure; some
extra tools may be needed and designed.
During the first steam distillation trail of the Commiphora resin was successful and approximately ±6%
oil was recovered/volume (i.e. 100kg myrrh = 6kg oil), which was good, comparable to results from trail
distillation done in laboratory conditions. As there is no norm quantity of oil recovered only further trials
will establish this. Of the material that was used to cover the baskets in this trail, the mutton cloth and
hessian was the considered to be the most appropriate. The only seal that was re-usable was the silicon
seal. Upon opening the pot after distillation it was established that the Commiphora resin boils and
make bubbles that rise to certain height making it possible to determine the optimal amount of baskets
that can be used in the hydro still. It was also established that the boiling myrrh bubbles could also
possibly seal around the baskets negating the use of too many seals. This would be tested in the second
trial. A few different cleaning methods for the baskets and still were also carried out.
In the second trial approximately 5% oil was recovered. On opening and inspection it was found that the
boiling myrrh did seal as quickly as expected and it would better to use more silicon seals to get a better
yield in a shorter time. Based on this a final basket and seal layout determined (see below in the
recommendations). Cleaning protocols were finalised.
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4. Recommendations
4.1
General facility
The facility, being built before the actual arrival and installation of the stills, will need some minor
changes to create a user-friendly and safe working environment, based on the findings of this
assessment it is therefore recommended that:
1. The 5KA rating electrical breaker in distillation room and in the main box needs to be upgraded to a
breaker with a 15KA rating due to the type of boiler used as it causes fluctuations in Amperage, this
change was discussed with the contractor in Opuwo,
2. The water supply system be modified to facilitate the movement of the boiler which has already
been discussed with a contractor in Opuwo,
3. Depending on the results of the water analysis a water purification unit (such as water softener to
remove lime and Reverse Osmosis to bring down the TDS) to supply the boiler with suitable quality
water needs to be installed,
4. Upgrading of water tanks from 5000 ℓ -10000ℓ for sufficient water supply for cooling as there is not
sufficient supply for a full day’s worth of operating the stills,
5. After discussions with contractor in Opuwo a suitable solution was reached to modify the floor by
cutting channels into so that the excess water (from the boiler and cleaning) can drain out of the
processing room thus creating a safer working environment,
6. Create a simple method for removing spent plant material from the facility and floor to a waste or
composting site after each distillation procedure by creating some ramps for a flat bed wheel
barrow type vehicle which can then be tipped into a waiting trailer for removal from the site, if
necessary, not withstanding that this “waste material” could also be valuable on its own. Either way
a suitable storage area or dump area will need to be identified;
7. Standard operating procedures will have to be established to produce a product of uniform quality
and to determine the cost of production in order to be able to calculate a sales price;
8. A business plan should be put together for future changes to improve productivity and for the
marketing of the oil.
4.2
Mopane distillation
The mopane distillation system seems to functioning well and only a couple of minor changes needs to
be implemented on the pre-processing and on the baskets for loading and unloading, based on the
findings of this assessment it is therefore recommended that:
1. The crushed Mopane seeds are the best for distillation in yield/weight and ease and speed of
processing, although more trials should be done with size of pre-processing,
2. Oil samples should be tested for quality and also be sent to prospective buyers,
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3. Acquire a strong enough hammer mill with a suitable grid for processing the seeds, preferably only
breaking the shell, not too fine,
4. Making some clip or tie-on pre-fitted, re-usable hessian covers for the baskets.
4.3
Commiphora distillation
The Commiphora distillation plant, which was originally designed for hydro distillation, can be used to
steam distil the Commiphora and based on the findings of this assessment it is therefore recommended
that:
1. Individual mesh (of the correct size) tables with catchment area below should be constructed to
facilitate with pre-processing,
2. Steam distillation will be used as it is superior to hydro distillation in the case of the extraction of oil
from the Commiphora (time and quantity) and ease of cleaning after distillation,
3. In longer term it would be better to acquire a pot and baskets designed to steam distil the
Commiphora as current use of the hydro still does not use the steam supplied as effectively as
possible and to facilitate with loading, unloading and cleaning,
4. Oil samples should be tested for quality and also be sent to prospective buyers,
5. Basket layout in pot will be nine baskets, the bottom basket and 5th basket to be covered with
material (mutton cloth or hessian) and 5 silicon seals for every 2nd basket starting on the bottom,
6. Two sets of 9 baskets with two sets of 5 seals to be acquired for ease of cleaning and re-filling,
7. Lifting out of baskets and seals out of pot after distilling to be done while pot is warm,
8. The pot to be physically cleaned at the end of day or when the build up of spent resin in the pot
interferes with inserting of baskets for new distillation.
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