This document discusses engineering approaches to developing infrastructure for harvesting, processing, and controlled environments for essential oil production. It addresses the technical goals and constraints, areas for quick innovation, and challenges in choosing successful outcomes. The author argues that effectuation, or experimenting based on available resources rather than pre-defined plans, better captures how new equipment is developed for complex agricultural tasks like essential oil harvesting and distillation. Interdisciplinary knowledge is also needed to solve societal issues through new applications and inventions.

1. A Look at Engineering Based Approaches to
Developing Harvest, Processing and
Controlled Environments for Essential Oil
Production
Murray Hunter
Centre for Communication & Entrepreneurship
University Malaysia Perlis
Paper presented to the National Conference on Agricultural and Food Mechanization 2012,
10-12 January at Pullman, Kuching, Sarawak

2. The ideal engineer is a composite…He is not a scientist, he is
not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist or a writer; but he
may use the knowledge and techniques of any of these
disciplines in solving engineering problems.
(N.W. Dougherty, 1955

3. Over the time that humankind has existed
upon the earth and society progressed from
hunter-gatherers to cultivators, we have
encroached upon the Earth’s natural terrestrial
ecosystems with our agricultural systems.

4. In fact we do not really understand the
true interrelationships between the
variables influencing the results of our
agricultural activities, as most often they
are not direct cause and effect
relationships (Lovelock 2005).

5. Infrastructure Government
Regulation
Positive Inputs Taxes &
Conducive weather Water subsidies
Negative Outputs
Climate Or Sunshine Trade
Floods, droughts, etc Nitrogen Runoffs, wastes,
environment
Agricultural inputs carbon
Research
Weather Fertilizers etc
Rainfall Knowledge
Wind Labour
Sunshine
UV radiation
Temperature Some
Humidity Resource inputs, Production Processes
fertilizers, herbicides,
recycling
insecticides, machinery, back to
Human research capabilities Farm size & layout system
Habitisation
Organisation & methods
Knowledge Suitability of conditions
Suppliers & contractors Pollution (air, land & water) Propagation
Pollution Labour sources
Attitudes and concerns Water resources Cultivation Positive Outputs
(create hinterland where Products
farm part of)
Processing
Physical
Environment Customers
Financing & Marketing
Revenue flow
various kinds of back to
Soil capital
Topography system
Atmosphere
Natural flora & Negative Inputs
fauna habitat Business
Urbanisation Adverse physical
Environment Competition conditions
Low prices Pests & diseases
Markets Changing demand Pollution
Finance patterns Heavy metals
Trade environment
An Agricultural Enterprise as a
System

6. Complex algorithms are not linear – too complex to calculate – so we need to be
guided by heuristical thinking which is in turn guided by “trial & error”

7. We think only in the short term

8. We do not truly understand the
interrelationships between the variables
influencing an action

9. We discover through trial and error but can
hypothesize

10. Location Climate Genetic Material
Humidity
Collection
Temperature Purchase
Sunshine hours
Topography UV radiation Plant physiology
Seasons
Slope & drainage Propagation Yield and
Rainfall characteristics Chemical
Constituents
of the
Humus Nutrients Method of extraction Essential Oil
Extraction time
Compactness Drainage & water
holding qualities
Pest & weed
pH control Pre-harvest handling
Mineral residuals Irrigation & preparation
Plant
densities
Soil type Time & method of
harvest
Agronomic Harvest &
Soil Practices Extraction
Practices

11. 1.What are the specific technical goals and
objectives?
2.What are the major technology,
infrastructure and climatic constraints
(boundaries)?
3.What are the areas where innovations will
develop quick improvements?
4.What is the probability of successful
outcomes?, and
5.How do we choose between successful
outcomes?

12. Effectuation is like going to the kitchen cabinet and seeing what ingredients you
have and then deciding what you can make up for a meal. This is very different
from causation where you have a specific menu in mind and then search out the
ingredients to make up the meal.

14. that there “is also the tendency for Asian countries, including
Malaysia, to deal with the issue of values in development by
Importing many technologies and systems wholesale from
abroad without going through the process of mental
transformation necessary to master them fully. Although
Malaysia is going through rapid transformation, our growth
is one without development in the context of knowledge
contribution to science, engineering and technology.
As long as we are consumers and operators of
sophisticated techniques, plants and technologies
imported wholesale from abroad, we are to a certain
extent undergoing a technology-less form of industrialization.
This transformation of values and attitudes is a key issue
in the nation’s development agenda”[i] .
[i]
Asma, A., Going Glocal: Cultural Dimensions in Malaysian Management, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysian Institute of Management, 1995, P. 179.

15. Essential Oil Crop Harvesting

16. Selected method often restricted by type of crop
Most herbaceous crops can be mowed
Many flowers must be hand picked
Innovative systems can be designed and
developed

17. A Basic Harvest to Distillation Flowchart for
Peppermint Oil
Determination of Harvest time
(Sampling)
10 tonne fresh herb per Ha.
Mowing and leaving to wilt on
field Fresh herb contains 80%
moisture
Wilting Must wilt to 50% moisture
level where ‘crisp and
brittle’
Pick up with forage harvester
Collect 6 tonne of dry herb
Must insure that herb is not
Deliver to Distillation system bruised.
Use cartridge or box to
avoid too much handling
Volume of 4 m2 per tonne
of herb.
Distillation
If single charge, yield 15kg
oil
Assume 35 minutes distillation time, 10
minutes change over, 6.90 litres/minute If distillate ratio is 0.062/1
steam rate per minute. 9 hours will handle (oil/water), then 241.8 litres
12 tonnes of dried herb in a vat of 4m 3. water required for
distillation.

18. Effectuation in Tea Tree (Melaleuca
alterniafolia) Harvester
Development
Harvester must make a
clean cut here

19. Harvester must damage the stumps
To promote coppice
growth

20. RM 4,200,000

25. RM 200,000

26. How we really develop new pieces of
equipment utilized for complex tasks

27. Effectuation in Distillation
Development

28. Distillation Principals: Latent Heat
• Molecule speed and energy Amount of heat required to vapourise a unit
dependent upon temperature mass of liquid, without raising the
•Change from liquid to gas state temperature of the vapour above that of the
requires energy liquid is called LATENT HEAT of vapourisation
•Due to motion of molecules, all
compounds with determinable
boiling points will emit vapours
from their surafaces, if area closed
this will insert pressure upon the
molecule, termed vapour pressure
•These vapours will saturate the
molecule and take up additional
molecules
•This saturated vapour will carry
other molecules
Heat and relative pressures are important in distillation

29. Distillation Principlas Mixed Vapours
Molecules of Molecules of
water vapour
Molecules of
water vapour
a water and gas b
vapour
Liquid water Liquid oil
Liquid Liquid oil b
water a a b
Eg. Water 99.6c Together at 99.6c Eg linalyl acetate
226c
The composition of mixed vapours from immiscible liquids

30. Releasing Oil from Plant Materials
In steam distillation water condenses of plant surfaces and
latent heat surrounds the material and raises volatile materials
to boiling point

31. Releasing Oil from Plant Materials
Method of Oil Release through Putative Impression from
Leaves
General vapour space 99c
98c saturated mixed Region of oil vapour
Vapour phase
vapour elution
Herb surface
Water liquid mixed liquids oil liquids water liquids

32. Wild Collection & Distillation
Tea Tree
Australia

33. Small Holder (Patchouli Indonesia)

34. Cambodia (Lemongrass, Cajuput)

35. Influencing Factors Historical
Compound
characteristics
(volatility/mol. Weight)
Surrounding Material Compounds Highly volatile
mixed with terpenes
waxes, also
lactones,
Low/medium volatility/stable
esters etc.
Distillation Solvent Cold
Extraction Pressing
Automated
harvest and
Influencing Factors Harvest and
distillation
Price vis. Market later load system system
Volume
Plant cell structures
Field size
Topography
Soil/field characteristics
Part of plant (i.e., Extensive
rhizome/leaf) Manual large scale
Coppice High --- Low
harvesting farming
Value
due to
scale,
material, Specialties
Distillation investment
Hydro Material
Characteristics „Finer‟
CO2 composition
spectrum
Steam Solubility in
water
Individual
Fractional
aroma
Distillation
compounds
Destructive Material
Characteristics

36. Phase One Experimentation

37. Phase two Scale up

38. Lid with Clamps
Corrugated Iron Condenser Tank
Vapour Outlet Running
into Corrugated Tank
Distillation Vat
Vapour Outlet Running Pipe for
“T”
Counterweight into Corrugated Tank Pressure
Equalisation
Oil
Welded Steel Mesh Bottom
Water
Brick
Compartment “Firebox” for wood fire
Constant Level Separator
Tank

39. Mixed Vapour Out
Critical to understand
Re-vapourisation
this behaviour to scale
up
Re-condensation
Re-vapourisation
Re-condensation
Re-vapourisation
Re-condensation
Re-vapourisation
Re-condensation
Re-vapourisation
Re-condensation
Steam in

40. Each box can be distilled on rotation
or both together, governed by boiler
capacity.
Boiler
Box No. 1. Box No. 2.
Condensers
Boxes driven in by tractor
and coupled up to steam
inlet and condenser.
Separators

46. Conclusion

47. Technical and social disciplines are
undergoing convergence which can be
seen in the way many industries are
merging together into one. Convergence
is creeping into the research and
development process where trans-
disciplinary approaches are required to
solve problems. Being an engineer is not
good enough in isolation. In order to
create, an engineer must have knowledge
across a number of disciplines so that
knowledge can be synergized into some
meaningful expressions in the form of
new applications and inventions.

48. “Issues facing society to be solved” New Forms of
Expression
Other disciplines of Insight Expressed
knowledge
Application &
Microbiology
Our current Knowledge Invention
Biology Trans-disciplinary synergy of Deep Insight
knowledge
Engineering
Agriculture Physics
Chemistry
Biochemistry

49. Australia 2139
Brunei 3
China 3910
Indonesia 6
India 627
Japan 26906
Dem. Rep. Korea 4
Republic Korea 5935
Malaysia 54
New Zealand 316
15 This phenomenon can be seen at a national
Philippines
level if one looks at the number of resident
Singapore 402
patents filed per million population in each
Thailand 12 country.
Vietnam 9
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Source: WIPO Statistics Number of International Patents Filed by Residents

50. Knowledge without application is useless in
creating tangible benefits to society,
but hopefully this paper has shed light
that it is not knowledge in itself that is
important rather the ability to apply it.
And the ability to apply it doesn’t rely
upon formulae, theory or algorithm,
but rather emergent thinking and the
heuristics have developed. This is a neglected
part of engineering education and this is also the
quality that makes a good engineer stand out
from the rest of the pack.

51. Thank
You