Abstract Illicium verum Hook essential oil (EO) is composed mainly of trans-anethole (TA), which has therapeutic potential. The extraction is usually by hydrodistillation, taking long hours, leaving the process costly and product with lower quality. Thus, the present study sought to optimize dehydrated fruit fragmentation by Box-Wilson central composite design and EO extraction and EO quality using a 24-1 fractional factorial design. It is concluded that the fruits must be fragmented to sizes smaller than 425 μm using a knife mill. For hydrodistillation, the condition reported as ideal was granulometry < 0.425 mm, 8% mass, 1 hour and water volume of 200 mL. This process provided an EO yield of 10.2% and high-grade TA (96.6%), requiring shorter time of extraction.

Operation and performance of a commercial PAFC power plant were analyzed. Processes influencing energy conversion efficiency were studied in each module of the fuel cell power plant. The main processes were simulated using mass and energy balance equations, and the results were validated by means of experimental data. It was concluded that the electrical efficiency is higher in comparison with microturbines. The main result achieved is a better understanding of balance of plant processes, knowledge necessary for fuel cell power plant development.