Design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a new microwave-assisted distiller for the large-scale industrial systems

It is crucial to distill essential oils, especially from medicinal and aromatic plants, in high yield without losing their chemical properties. Within the scope of this study, big enough in contrast to microwave-assisted distillers (MWAD) used in the laboratory, an industrial-scale microwave-assisted distillation system is designed and fabricated. There are 12 magnetrons, each with a power of 1 kW operating at 2.45 GHz. Different magnetrons' operating time duration and working order compositions have been optimized and tabulated in comparison for efficiency. Throughout the study, using the proposed system, a max 24 % improvement in essential oil yield, a 50 % improvement in working time (from 90 min to 45 min), and a max 25 % improvement in energy saving is achieved compared to conventional steam distillation (CSD). The proposed system can be an alternative to different inefficiencies experienced in industrial-scale traditional distillation of steam systems.