Improved Pilot Scale Design of the Extraction Process of B. Graveolens essential Oils for Waka Inciensos Company.

B. graveolens or Palo santo is a plant species that belongs to the desert area of northern Peru, its little impact as a raw material has led to the disappearance of its forests, despite having valuable properties that are exploited by nearby people turning it into incense. However, this practice leaves many residues of palo santo wood, which also have healing, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties thanks to the essence of this species. Currently, the processes to extract this essence from the residues of palo santo incense production result in very low yield and low profitability, as is the case of the company Waka Inciensos, which currently achieves a yield of 2.32%, using the steam distillation method. Based on this, the present research improves the extractive process by changing the parameters of particle size of the organic matter, type of solvent and extraction method. A yield of 6.23% is achieved with 96° Ethanol as solvent and fine organic matter size applied to the steam distillation method. The design of the extractive process at pilot scale is carried out and the OPEX and CAPEX values are obtained, which indicate a feasible project for application up to 3 months of operation for a production of 50 L per month.