Evaluation of Density-Based Models for the Solubility of Sclerocarya Birrea Kernel Oil in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide and the Formulation of a New Model

Abstract

Solubility data obtained from literature for Sclerocarya birrea kernel oil in supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) were correlated using six semi-empirical density-based models viz. Chastril, del Valle and Aguilera (DVA), Adachi and Lu (AL), Sparks et al., Kumar and Johnston (KJ), and Mendez-Santiago and Teja (MST). The determination coefficient values (R²) ranged from 0.72 to 0.95. The average absolute relative deviations (AARD%) ranged from 15.53 to 0.049. A comparison was made between all six semi-empirical density-based models, and it was concluded that the MST model provided an improved and better fit than the other models investigated. After examining each of the six models under investigation, an improved model is proposed, which can characterize most of the findings taken into account about Sclerocarya birrea kernel oil yield.