Supercritical CO2 Extractor

                                           Supercritical CO2 Extractor

1. Brief introduction :

Supercritical extraction equipment is a new extraction technology born in recent years, its extraction principle is that when the substance is in a specific supercritical state, once the substance to be separated comes into contact with the supercritical fluid, the components of molecular weight and boiling point will be extracted by themselves. Not only extraction, this technology integrates extraction, separation and concentration, and can directly separate the concentrated extract at the same time of extraction.

2. Working principle 

he principle of supercritical CO2 fluid extraction (SFE) separation process is to use the relationship between the dissolution capacity of supercritical fluid and its density, that is, to use the influence of pressure and temperature on the dissolution capacity of supercritical fluid. In the supercritical state, the supercritical fluid is contacted with the substance to be separated, so that it selectively extracts the components of polarity, boiling point and molecular weight in turn. Of course, the extracted material corresponding to each pressure range can not be single, but the optimal proportion of mixed components can be obtained by controlling the conditions, and then the supercritical fluid can be changed into ordinary gas by means of reducing pressure and heating up, and the extracted material can be completely or basically precipitated, so as to achieve the purpose of separation and purification. So the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction process is a combination of extraction and separation processes.

3. Characteristic 

1) Supercritical extraction can be extracted at near room temperature (35 ~ 40℃) and under the cover of CO2 gas, effectively preventing the oxidation and escape of heat-sensitive substances. Therefore, the active components of medicinal plants are maintained in the extract, and the substances with high boiling point, low volatility and easy pyrolysis can be extracted at a temperature far below its boiling point.

2) the use of SFE is the cleanest extraction method, because the whole process does not use organic solvents, so the extraction has no residual solvent substances, thus preventing the existence of harmful substances to the human body and environmental pollution during the extraction process, to ensure 100% pure natural;

3) extraction and separation combined into one, when the saturated solution of CO2 fluid into the separator, due to the drop in pressure or temperature change, so that CO2 and extract quickly become two phases (gas-liquid separation) and immediately separated, not only the extraction efficiency is high and less energy consumption, improve the production efficiency and reduce the cost; 

4) CO2 is an inactive gas, the extraction process does not occur chemical reaction, and is a non-combustible gas, tasteless, odorless, non-toxic, safety is very good;

5) CO2 gas is cheap, high purity, easy to make, and can be reused in production, thus effectively reducing the cost;

6) pressure and temperature can become the parameters to adjust the extraction process, by changing the temperature and pressure to achieve the purpose of extraction, pressure fixed by changing the temperature can also separate the substance; On the contrary, the temperature is fixed and the extract is separated by reducing the pressure, so the process is simple and easy to master, and the extraction speed is fast.

4. Application 

The characteristics of supercritical CO2 extraction determine its wide application range. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry, it can be used for the extraction of the active ingredients of Chinese herbal medicine, the refining of heat-sensitive biological products and drugs, and the separation of lipid mixtures; In the food industry, hop extraction, pigment extraction, etc.; In the fragrance industry, the refining of natural and synthetic flavors; Separation of mixtures in the chemical industry, etc.

Specific applications can be divided into the following aspects: 

1) extraction of bioactive molecules from medicinal plants, alkaloid extraction and separation; 

2) lipids from different microorganisms, or for the recovery of lipids, or the removal of lipids from sugars and proteins; 

3) Extract anti-cancer substances from a variety of plants, especially taxol from taxus bark and branches and leaves to prevent cancer; 

4) vitamins, mainly vitamin E extraction; 

5) the purification of various active substances (natural or synthetic), remove unwanted molecules (such as pesticide removal from vegetable extracts) or "residue" to obtain purified products; 

6) the processing of various natural antibacterial or antioxidant extracts, such as basil, skewred, thyme, garlic, onion, chamomile, chili powder, licorice and fennel seeds.

5. Component:

The supercritical CO2 extractioin system is mainly composed of extraction kettle, carbon dioxide high pressure pump, entrain pump, heat exchange system, filtration system, purification system, pressure and temperature control system, flow display metering system, pipeline, bracket, valve and so on.