The aqueous extraction of sunflower oil from whole plant in twin-screw extruder, a first step for the manufacturing of biodegradable agromaterials by thermo-pressing

Twin-screw extrusion is an original solution for the biorefinery of sunflower whole plant according to an aqueous extraction process. In best operating conditions, oil yield is 57% and residual oil content in the cake meal is 14%. Oil is extracted in the form of two oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by phospholipids and proteins at interface. The cake meal would be suitable for use in animal feeds and for energy production in pellets burning furnaces. As a mixture of fibers and proteins, it is also considered as a natural composite. It can be processed into biodegradable agromaterials by thermo-pressing. During molding, part of residual oil is expressed (until 41% of oil from whole plant), leading to the increase of the total oil extraction yield (aqueous extraction in twin-screw extruder and expression during thermo-pressing): until 81% of oil from whole plant. Panels have promising mechanical properties in bending (until 12 MPa for stress at break). They are usable as inter-layer sheets for pallets, for their sound and heat insulation properties or for the manufacturing of containers by assembly of panels. Their hydrophobic character (8% for residual oil content in the panels) makes them resistant to water.