JPH1088145A - Removal of phenol from pyroligneous acid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently remove phenol from a pyroligneous acid and obtain the pyroligneous acid suitable as a medicine, a food additive, etc., at a low cost by adding a papain enzyme to the pyroligneous acid, allowing the pyroligneous acid to stand for a prescribed time and then treating the resultant pyroligneous acid with active carbon. SOLUTION: A papain enzyme prepared from an unripe fruit of a papaya is added to a pyroligneous acid and the resultant pyroligneous acid is then allowed to stand for 2-3 days and subsequently treated with active carbon to remove phenol from the pyroligneous acid. Furthermore, the papaya which starts ripening (or is unripe) is preferably cut into squares and then charged into the pyroligneous acid.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for removing phenol from wood vinegar.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Wood vinegar is collected as water contained in smoke produced by steaming trees and bark.

This wood vinegar is extracted as a by-product of charcoal production and is usually discarded. However, use of wood vinegar has been studied, and wood vinegar has a great effect as a medicine. It has also been known that bacteriostatic action can be used as a deodorant or food additive.

However, the above-mentioned wood vinegar contains phenol which is a harmful substance. Therefore, in order to use the wood vinegar safely as a medicine or a food additive, it is necessary to remove phenol from the wood vinegar.

[0005] As methods for removing phenol from the wood vinegar, the wood vinegar is stored and allowed to stand for waiting for sedimentation. The wood vinegar is boiled with activated charcoal. A possible method is to add and boil the coal.

[0006]

However, according to the above-mentioned stationary precipitation method, it takes a very long time to separate and remove phenol from the wood vinegar solution, it is difficult to mass-produce industrially, and it is not practical. There is a problem that is not.

Further, according to the method in which activated charcoal is added to wood vinegar and the mixture is boiled, if activated carbon is added to wood vinegar and the mixture is boiled, a brown color appears in the wood vinegar and it is difficult to remove this color. In order to remove phenol from the wood vinegar, it is necessary to replace the activated carbon many times, but as a result, there is a problem that not only phenol which is a harmful substance but also an effective substance is adsorbed on the activated carbon and removed.

According to the method of shaking the wood vinegar with ether and then adding propylene glycol and boiling, it is possible to remove phenol, but it is difficult to remove phenol so that it can be used safely. Glucol and ether remain, and if they are discarded, there is a problem of pollution. Further, ether and propylene glycol are expensive and are not economically attractive and impractical.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a method for removing phenol from wood vinegar for the purpose of easily removing phenol from wood vinegar.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, after the papain enzyme is added to the wood vinegar for a predetermined time, the wood vinegar is treated with activated carbon.

According to the present invention, the papain enzyme added to the wood vinegar solution decomposes the phenol contained in the wood vinegar solution, thereby removing the phenol contained in the wood vinegar solution. Is treated with activated carbon to cause the activated carbon to adsorb the phenol remaining in the wood vinegar, thereby removing most of the phenol contained in the wood vinegar.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the method for removing phenol from wood vinegar according to the present invention, papain enzyme is added to wood vinegar for a predetermined time, and then the wood vinegar is treated with activated carbon.

First, in the wood vinegar liquid according to the present invention, there is no particular limitation on the type of tree or the like used as a raw material or the method for collecting the wood vinegar from the tree or the like. In this example, wood vinegar is collected from trees such as oak, sardine, sakura, and beech, and bark. In this method, the tree or the like is carbonized at a temperature of 170 to 800 ° C., and smoke containing moisture generated by the carbonization is induced and cooled to liquefy the moisture contained in the smoke. This solution is centrifuged or allowed to stand for 2 to 3 months, and the tar and solid impurities in the solution are separated by sedimentation. The supernatant is taken out and used as a wood vinegar solution.

The papain enzyme is added to the wood vinegar solution and allowed to elapse for a predetermined time. This papain enzyme is a component contained in a large amount of unripe papaya fruit and is known as a proteolytic enzyme. As an example of collecting the papain enzyme, it is common to injure immature fruits, i.e., blue papaya, collect the latex coming out of it, and purify this latex to make it.

In the present invention, the above-mentioned papain enzyme is added to the wood vinegar solution. In this embodiment, immature papaya containing a large amount of the papain enzyme is added to the wood vinegar solution, whereby the papain enzyme is added. I have. That is, papaya that has started to ripen (immature) is cut into pieces, put into wood vinegar, and left for 2 to 3 days.

During this time, the immature papaya put into the wood vinegar gradually matures and the sugar concentration is promoted from about 7 degrees to about 14 degrees. In the process, the papain enzyme contained in the papaya is actively activated. The phenol contained in the wood vinegar is decomposed and removed by the activated papain enzyme.

As described above, papaya is put into the wood vinegar, and after 2 to 3 days, the papaya is taken out of the wood vinegar. At this time, most of the phenol contained in the wood vinegar was decomposed and removed.

Next, the wood vinegar liquid from which the papayas are taken out is treated with activated carbon. In the treatment of the wood vinegar with activated carbon, the wood vinegar may be treated by adding activated carbon to the wood vinegar, or the wood may be passed through the activated carbon.

By treating the wood vinegar solution with activated carbon in this way, the phenol remaining in the wood vinegar solution is adsorbed on the activated carbon and removed, and as a result, phenol free or phenol is used as a pharmaceutical or food additive. A small amount of wood vinegar is obtained that does not cause a problem.

The following table shows the test results of this example.

[0021]

As described above, according to the method for removing phenol from wood vinegar according to the present invention, phenol contained in wood vinegar can be removed to such an extent that it does not pose a problem as a pharmaceutical or food additive. It can greatly contribute to the utilization of wood vinegar as a pharmaceutical or food additive, and has the effect that it can be implemented at low cost and practical because the method is simple.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for removing phenol from a wood vinegar solution, comprising adding a papain enzyme to the wood vinegar solution for a predetermined time, and then treating the wood vinegar solution with activated carbon.