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The Commiphora hydro still The Commiphora still was originally designed to work as a hydro still where the product is submersed in water in a single basket. After trials it was decide that this method was not sufficient for oil extraction and created great difficulty during the cleaning process. The modifications will allow the still to operate as a steam still; although not ideal it is a workable solution for the immediate future. 3. Main Findings 3.1 General During the inspection, cleaning and steam cleaning (running the distillation units with empty pots and no cooling) it was established that: 1. The electric breaker in the actual distillation room and on the main box was insufficient and will need to be upgraded, 2. The quality of the water feeding the boiler is not good enough and some form of purification will be needed. A water sample was taken and analysed by a lab where it was noted that it has a high lime content and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level, pending subsequent discussions with experts a solution needs to be implemented, 3. Changes to the plumbing of the feed water to the boiler and to the cooling water for the condenser will be required, 4. Drainage measures need to be taken to create a safe and clean working environment. Report on the Technical Assessment of the Stills at the Opuwo Processing Facility (April 2011) Page 5
3.2 Mopane trials The following are the main findings with respect to the trials conducted on the mopane steam stills. 1. Distilling the whole unprocessed pods was not successful and no oil was recovered as the shells did not open during distillation, 2. Distilling the pods that have been processed with the hammer mill produced a good amount and quality oil of about 2% when compared to the full weight of the crushed shell and kernel, 3. It was calculated after weighing the empty shells and kernels that weight distribution is about equal. The kernels were then distilled and nearly no oil was recovered. 3.3 Commiphora trials The following are the main findings with respect to the trials conducted on distilling the Commiphora resin. Using the hammer mill to pre-process the Commiphora resin was rejected due to the previous trials with the resinous mopane seeds and build up within the hammer mill. Hand pre-processing seems to be the easiest and best as the operators have enough idle time during distillation for this procedure; some extra tools may be needed and designed. During the first steam distillation trail of the Commiphora resin was successful and approximately ±6% oil was recovered/volume (i.e. 100kg myrrh = 6kg oil), which was good, comparable to results from trail distillation done in laboratory conditions. As there is no norm quantity of oil recovered only further trials will establish this. Of the material that was used to cover the baskets in this trail, the mutton cloth and hessian was the considered to be the most appropriate. The only seal that was re-usable was the silicon seal. Upon opening the pot after distillation it was established that the Commiphora resin boils and make bubbles that rise to certain height making it possible to determine the optimal amount of baskets that can be used in the hydro still. It was also established that the boiling myrrh bubbles could also possibly seal around the baskets negating the use of too many seals. This would be tested in the second trial. A few different cleaning methods for the baskets and still were also carried out. In the second trial approximately 5% oil was recovered. On opening and inspection it was found that the boiling myrrh did seal as quickly as expected and it would better to use more silicon seals to get a better yield in a shorter time. Based on this a final basket and seal layout determined (see below in the recommendations). Cleaning protocols were finalised. Report on the Technical Assessment of the Stills at the Opuwo Processing Facility (April 2011) Page 6
Page 1 and 2: Final Report CONSULTING SERVICES FO
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6: • testing the water quality and m
Page 7: 1. Whole unprocessed pods 2. Crushe
Page 11: 3. Acquire a strong enough hammer m

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