Techno-economic evaluation of solar distillation system for essential oil extraction from medicinal plants

Abstract

Energy is an inevitable option for sustainable development and energy saving has become more significant nowadays. The environmental problems such as climate change caused by the overuse of fossil fuels has emerged as one of the biggest challenges for the world. In this regard, renewable energy sources such as solar energy, tidal energy, wind energy, biomass energy, etc. could be used to meet the demand of developing countries over the world. Among these sources, solar energy is the most abundant source and solar energy technologies have become a viable option for so many applications in the field of agriculture. This study evaluated the application of solar energy for essential oil extraction and its economic feasibility. It was found that benefit-cost ratio is 1.80 and payback period is 21 months. The study concluded that solar distillation system is an economically feasible method for essential oil extraction.