Design of an Essential Oil Extraction Machine Using PLC and Solar Energy

Essential oils can reduce stress levels, for this reason, their study and production have increased from 10% to 15%, and there are several methods to obtain them, the steam extraction method is one of the most used. The objective of this research was to design an essential oil extraction machine that makes use of a PLC and solar energy as a power source. A computer-aided design software (SolidWorks) was used for the design of the extraction machine, all under the German VDI 2221 standard as design methodology. The design of the essential oil extraction machine was achieved through a morphological matrix, this matrix provided several alternatives to choose a proposal close to an ideal solution, among the main attributes defined, are the choice of a PLC, steam dragging as a distillation method, and the use of solar energy as power supply to contribute to the environmental pollution issue, all supported by a technical and economic evaluation. The development of the design of this machine is to provide a new alternative for the production of essential oils in large quantities and above all using a renewable type of energy.