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4882380 
Journal Article 
ALTERNATIVE HYDROCARBON SOLVENTS FOR COTTONSEED EXTRACTION 
Wan, PJ; Pakarinen, DR; Hron, RJ; Richard, OL; Conkerton, EJ 
1995 
Yes 
Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
ISSN: 0003-021X
EISSN: 1558-9331 
72 
6 
653-659 
English 
WOS:A1995RC94400006 
Hexane has been used for decades to extract edible oil from cottonseed. However, due to increased regulations affecting hexane because of the 1990 Clean Air Act and potential health risks, the oil-extraction industry urgently needs alternative hydrocarbon solvents to replace hexane. Five solvents, n-heptane, isohexane, neohexane, cyclohexane, and cylopentane, were compared with commercial hexane using a bench-scale extractor. The extractions were done with a solvent to cottonseed flake ratio of 5.5 to 1 (w/w) and a miscella recycle flow rate of 36 mL/min/sq cm (9 gal/min/sq ft) at a temperature of 10 to 45 degrees C below the boiling point of the solvent. After a 10-min single-stage extraction, commercial hexane removed 100% of the oil from the flakes at 55 degrees C; heptane extracted 100% at 75 degrees C and 95.9% at 55 degrees C; isohexane extracted 93.1% at 45 degrees C; while cyclopentane, cyclohexane, and neohexane removed 93.3, 89.4, and 89.6% at 35, 55, and 35 degrees C, respectively. Each solvent removed gossypol from cottonseed flakes at a different rate, with cyclopentane being most and neohexane least effective. Based on the bench-scale extraction results and the availability of these candidate solvents, heptane and isohexane are the alternative hydrocarbon solvents most likely to replace hexane. 
ALTERNATIVE SOLVENTS; COTTONSEED; CYCLOHEXANE; CYCLOPENTANE; EXTRACTION; EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY AND RATE; HEPTANE; HEXANE; HYDROCARBON SOLVENTS; ISOHEXANE; MISCELLA; MISCELLA CONCENTRATION; NEOHEXANE