Telephone (+49)231 755-2339
Fax (+49)231 755-2341
Laboratory of Plant and Process Design Emil-Figge-Str. 70 Geschossbau 2 44227 Dortmund Germany
Room G2-R3.20
Gladbeck (Germany)
Diploma thesis: Experiment-based Modeling and Simulation of Process Alternatives for the Recovery of Artemisinin from Artemisia annua
Field of research: Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Phytoextraction for the Design of Processes for the Production of Natural Products from Plants
Natural products from plants are widely used within the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. A major step for the recovery of these metabolites is the phytoextraction, which is a kind of solid-liquid extraction. This process step is influenced by many process parameters, like e.g. extraction temperature, liquid to solid ratio, type of solvent or particle size. Due to the fact that the steps of mass transfer and phase equilibria influencing the phytoextraction are still not fully understood, the process design for natural products from plants is often based on heuristics or a high amount of experiments is needed.
The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of these mass transfer steps and phase equilibria, to improve the design of the extraction step and the overall process design. This is done by experimental investigations and mathematical modeling of the kinetics of extraction and of the phase equilibria.
Papers
B. Dreisewerd, J. Merz, G. SchembeckerDetermining the Solute-Solid Interactions in PhytoextractionChemical Engineering Science 134 (2015) 287-296, DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2015.04.025)
