Hello Back again with agarwoodindonesia
Distillation technique is actually a very old art. Known from 3000 BC, not much has changed since, but after the invention of boiler in Industrial Revolution era, it paced up distillation techniques even more. Ernst Gunther in his book cited Von Rechenberg describe basically there are several distillation techniques.
The first and the oldest techniques of them all is water distillation or Von Rechenberg name it Hydro Distillation, it is the first distillation techniques known to man since the dawn of distillation. The principal of distillation is very simple, it use the process known as osmosis. The heat from fire below breaks and rupture the cell walls of plant material with the heat helps out the oil inside the plant material to comes out and eventually water will comes in and replace the lost of the oil material. Usually the best way to this is by powder the plant material for roots, woods and seeds, this material is also use for material that easily to become lump when hit by steam such as ylang-ylang and some other flowers. Somehow this distillation tech produce softer or sometimes heavier type of aroma, because contradict what people believe, this type distillation is not based on the vapor point yet on the solubility in water, so common that the heaviest part of the oil usually comes out first because they usually contain resinous material which quite soluble in water. And this also explain the heavy smell that you found in water distilled oud. As for oud soaking cannot be applied in every material since different species=different wood structure different yield and different smell.
Secondly the improved technique maybe some people disagree but I found it to be truth. Since I use it so much. It is like water distillation but using a perforated grid and then we put the plant material above it, the plant material should not be too finely grind yet its should be at exact size and finding this exact size is tricky, it need practice and practice and experience is the best teacher. Because if the materials are ground too finely the vapor in which it is wet vapor will make the material swelling and making inter particle spacing narrowed and the swelling of the material will block the diffusion of the oil and the material above it will also done it and subnormal yield will be gained. And if you grind too coarse the vapor will actually passed trough without contacted the whole material. The type of the oil from Indonesian material from this tech is usually light bright smell as long it doesn’t goes dry up and burn.
The third after the invention of boiler comes the full steam distillation, the principal is the same like water and steam but only by adding a boiler in which apart from the plant material retort, the vapor is pushed trough the plant material, the yield is usually quite high, but the disadvantage of this technique is the heat which usually at 150 C that will burn oud if it it applied to oud, since oud especially Indonesian have high resin content in which it will be burn at that high temperature, caramelization to be exact so it create soya sauce, rubber or something else which unpleasant to our nose.
The forth is uncommon to be use in oud distillation is solvent extraction, however this technique is used to extract resin from agarwood not the oil. Because it has become a thumb rule that resin will always more than oil, usually the gain of resin is about 4%.
Recent years had brought up supercritical CO 2 extraction , for floral material this is good, but not for oud, the pressure in which so high will press the wood and eventually brought out something else then oil and the smell will be weird.. also the distillation apparatus will be quite expensive.
There is also other way to distill, instead of using high pressure some people are thinking of using vacuum distillation, the advantage of vacuum distillation are, shorter length of distillation time, natural smell and improvement of smell do lower temperature, some raise in the yield because suction make the material loosen itself. The disadvantage of this process is the system should not be leak if not it will oxidize the oil in which imply in “peanuty” smell and this not happened only to oud also to other EO that is produce using this tech. Personally I am interested in using this tech, shorter time, better yield, better smell. I hope I can do it soon enough.
I hope you don’t get bored to read. Thank you for your attention and thanks for reading.
Pure Oud Oil
We are now focusing ourself in producing high quality oil. From the best material.
If you wish to make inquiry for pricing and minimum order please go here
We promise you best material and a great quality.
Our Output is only 100 grams/ month at maximum production so we offer you oud oil that is rare and just for you. You can say we are a jewelery maker but in form of essential oil.
Agarwood Distillation Device Dual Function
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This device is our own design, using design that you rarely found on the market. We use digital thermocouple. Also with Propane stove, glass essencier ( oil reciever), Sight Glass to check the water level, Safety valve, Barometer, Gate Valve for pressure regulation and mechanical thermometer for fail safe ( in case of electricity went out) you can still distil. Solely using Propane. Can be use for other distillation, Dual function can be use as water distillation and water and steam distilation. 10 Kg maximum capacity ( depending on the raw material use) Recomended at 5-7 Kg. Shipping by FEDEX we ship worldwide. Time of Delivery 1 Month. Depending on your location. Weight on volumetric base. Can be customized by sizing. Vessel and the retort are stainless steel very durable. Price 3500 US$ without shipping.
Hellooo Helloo back again with agarwoodindonesia. It’s almost a year that I never writte anything here, don’t think I didn’t wanted to write anything here but I am busy learning my self about distillation, it’s being a bad times for me and Iam learning the hard way. Yet I want to share something with you people.
Do you ever come accross with some dreadfuly rubbery smell? or harsh nauseatic smell from oud?
That my fellow readers called as “still smell”. What cause it anyway? why this monstrous note ever end up on my Oud oil? that would be your next question.
The answer is “still smell” or “pot smell” is caused by water than runs out in the charge ( material) still. So the oud get that burnt smell . This is in the case on water distillation or hydro distillation and water and steam distillation. Still smell also happened in steam distillation this is because the operator may charge the material inside the pot with super heated steam constantly. What is super heated steam? In the world of distiller there are 2 kinds of steam. The first is known as “wet steam” this is the steam that we know everyday from our daily activity such us boiling water in a pot. This type of steam is never beyond 100 C it has low pressure and this kind of steam use in water and steam distillation. The second type of steam is super heated steam also known as “dry steam”, this steam is generated from a boiler oil which boil water above it’s boiling point so it has very strong pressure and heat since usually this type of steam is over 100 Degree Celcius. If this type of steam constantly applied to plants material eventually it will dried up the plant and make it burn if no strict control were apllied. GÜnther in his book Essential oil volume I page 149 mention us about it. On the contray water and steam distillation and water or hydro distillation use wet steam with low pressure yet there is a risk when the water runs out it will eventually burn the plant material inside. So this is why you get that monstrous nauseatic smell.
There is common problem among us distiller quality VS Quantity for those who doesn’t aware of distilling essential oil they must be demanding quality over quantity. Since they pay much. But most distiller see quantity over quality is better because they think this is a rare product no one will ever complain.
I jumped distilling not a long ago, I learned the hard way 6 month of agony and pain also insult. Truly distilling is like cooking at first it was hard and difficult once you know the best recipe and the way to optimize your device and you will win the a good prize.
Indonesia
The land of thousand islands, had one of the most bio diversity on earth. From the tropical rain forest in Kalimantan to Papua into the pastures of Nusa Tenggara. All unite into a unique and rich enviroment.
Known from it’s diversity Indonesia also known as one of the largest source of oudh or agarwood or gaharu. From 17 kinds of tree that can produce agarwood resin, 8 of them are exist in Indonesia.
Oud, agarwood or gaharu is known to mankind since the dawn of history. The term oudh came from Arabic word( العود) wich literally means “wood”, the gaharu came from sanskrit word “aguru” wich mean “the heavy wood” since high quality agarwood is sinking when it puts on water, also known as jinko or kyara also aloeswood, eagleswood in Papua New Guinea.
Oudh or agarwood or gaharu is very rare. Because of excessive hunting for their woods and resin it is now on CITES appendix II, wich means this wood is only allowed to be trade in a very small quota. Indonesia as one of the largest exporter of agarwood restrict it’s exporting quota into 300 Tons/year but only 10-20% are already met.
In the wild agarwood can produce resin after years of process. The resin is actually a defense mechanism, this resin use as means to defend themselves from fungus infection. But now days technology can made agarwood produce agarwood resin just within 1-5 years after it grows in full size.
We offer you high quality agarwood oil from it’s source. Our products are genuine no added material such as coloring agent, alcohol or agarwood oil solvent. Additive is very dangerous when it’s inhaled it may cause harm to your body. Alcohol added agarwood oil can cause cough. Other additives may be carcinogenic or causing other health problems.
So we give you 100% assurance that our oudh are genuine. Please visit our distillery for further understanding about our product and service.
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