Processing

Organic production process to obtain purest quality products

Oil Distillation

Traditional Oud oil extraction factories are set up in the upper Assam region and the adjoining states in association with our partners. The company follows traditional methods to distil oil from extraction-grade wood. Steam distillation or hydro distillation is followed depending on the product requirement of customers. The steam distillation process involves the boiling of water into steam to vaporise resin, which is then cooled into liquid form after condensation. At Vanadurgi, the semi-continuous extraction of Agarwood oil with water, at the right flow rate and pressure, is followed. In order to produce odour as per the customers’ requirements, the company has made required modifications at various stages of the extraction process. It has developed an efficient Agarwood oil distilling process with the assistance of its sister concerns which are engaged in the extraction of value-added ingredients for food products and cosmetics. The temperature, the number of days of distillation, condensation, and the collection of oil as per the distillation duration determine the quality of oil. The quality and quantity of oil is similar to that of conventional extraction process, but the process can be completed in a shorter duration.

As a first step, wood is segregated into various grades depending on resin density, and each grade is separately used for extraction. The wood is chopped and dehumidified with electrical dryers, or in semi-shaded sunlight, for 3 to 4 days, and 3 to 4 hours per day. Later, the chopped bits are crushed into about 1 mm grains to increase the surface area of extraction. Based on odour requirements, the material is soaked in a pot for 200 to 400 hours for fermentation. Depending on the distilling capacity and the quality of wood, the material is loaded into extraction vessels to get the best recovery.

Agar Boya or Agar wax is extracted from the non-infected white wood. We have set up 500 to 1,000 kg capacity units at some of our primary processing factories. After chopping the trunk and grading the wood, leftover white sap wood is cut into smaller pieces of 2 to 3 cm length, and about 0.5 thickness. The material is then soaked in the fermentation vessel for 2 to 3 weeks, and extracted through the hydro distillation vessel which works on firewood.