Terpenes and Plant Oils

Turpentine is a liquid obtained from the distillation of tree resin. It consists mainly of the monoterpenes a-pinene and p-pinene. As a solvent, it is used to 

Explosion range, lower/upper limit/vol% Not available 0.8/6 1.1/7.1 14/22 

Limonene has recently been used in rice bran oil extraction as an alternative to hexane, which is commonly used in such processes.The yield and quality of crude rice bran oil obtained from the limonene extraction were almost equivalent to those obtained using hexane. Interestingly, although antioxidants were not present in the limonene, only a very small amount ( 1 wt%) of oxidation product was found in the recovered limonene, and therefore the solvent is potentially recyclable in such a process. This also suggests that 

Reaction and process advantages Non-caustic and relatively inert Pricing competitive with conventional solvents. Food-grade limonene is twice the price of hexane. High boiling point may be advantageous for some processes 

Environmental advantages Can be bio-sourced from a range of feedstocks Readily biodegradable Not a SARA Title III compound, and not regulated by the Clean Air AcC 

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