variavel0=<b>M. L. MELGAREJO NAVARRO</b> - lorena@labsin.ufsc.br UFSC
<b>A. A. ULSON DE SOUZA</b> - augusto@enq.ufsc.br UFSC
<b>S. M. A. GUELLI U. SOUZA</b> - selene@enq.ufsc.br 
<b>Abstract.</b> In the present work the results of the solvent extraction of vegetable oils from soybean flakes were obtained using experimental and numerical procedures. The oil extraction was carried out in a packed fixed bed column with pretreated seeds using hexane as solvent. The same experimental conditions were numerically simulated using a transient mathematical model. The Method of Finite Volumes was utilized to solve the governing differential equations, to identify and to study the effect of the variables that influence the process. The mass conservation and chemical species for the solid and liquid phases equations were solved, obtaining the oil concentration profile in both phases throughout the extractor, for different operational times. The numerical results were compared to the experimental data obtained in this work. This work allowed obtaining the best operational conditions of a fixed bed extractor, aiming to maximize its efficiency.
<b>Keywords.</b> Extraction, Vegetal oils, Modeling, Simulation, Mass transfer.