Design of a Robusta Coffee Essential Oil Plant with a Capacity of 200 Tons per Year in Malang

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FORMOSA NEWS

Rizzufar Al Mas Dhamar Rizar from Politeknik Negeri Malang designed a Robusta coffee bean essential oil processing plant with a capacity of 200 metric tons per year in Turen Subdistrict, Malang Regency, completed in 2026. This design innovation is crucial for increasing the added value of the national coffee commodity, meeting the surge in global demand for natural essential oils, and optimizing energy efficiency in the agricultural downstream industry.

Indonesia is one of the largest coffee-producing countries, yet domestic processing capacity for high value-added products such as essential oils remains insufficient to meet export market needs. Malang Regency was chosen because it possesses a Robusta coffee plantation potential of approximately 19,000 hectares located close to the production center in Dampit, thereby cutting logistics costs and ensuring a smooth supply of raw materials.

This plant design employs chemical engineering methods combining raw material availability analysis, strategic site selection, and a solid-liquid extraction process using ethanol solvent at $70-80^\circ\text{C}$ for 2 hours. Subsequent steps involve oil purification through distillation and n-hexane washing, which are then evaluated using mass balance and heat balance calculations to ensure operational plant efficiency.

The plant design results show several key technical findings:

• Mass balance analysis proved that the system achieves steady-state conditions with total input and output streams of $19,661.42\text{ kg/h}$ and an essential oil production rate reaching $33.67\text{ kg/h}$.
• The solvent recovery process operates very effectively, yielding ethanol outputs of $13,742.87\text{ kg/h}$ and n-hexane of $4,150.69\text{ kg/h}$.
• Energy evaluation shows that the extractor unit requires the highest heat load of $524,779\text{ kJ/h}$ (44%), followed by the distillation column at 35%, and the rotary dryer at 21%.

Rizzufar Al Mas Dhamar Rizar from Politeknik Negeri Malang emphasizes that applying heat integration strategies and proper thermal management can significantly reduce steam consumption and cut operational costs. These research findings provide a strategic foundation for businesses and industrial downstream policies to realize an independent, competitive, and sustainable coffee essential oil processing plant.

Author Profile:

• Rizzufar Al Mas Dhamar Rizar: Researcher and student in the Chemical Engineering Department, Politeknik Negeri Malang, focusing on chemical plant design and industrial process optimization.

Research Source:

• Article Title: Chemical Plant Design Production of Essential Oil from Robusta Coffee Beans with a Capacity of 200 Metric Tons/Year
• Journal Name: International Journal of Education and Life Sciences (IJELS), Vol. 4, No. 8 August 2026: 1297-1306
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.59890/ijels.v4i8.62