White Paper

Extraction of active ingredients using supercritical CO2

July 31, 2013

Solvents are usually inorganic or organic liquids which are able to extract other gaseous, liquid or solid substances from a mixture. Moreover inert gases are conceivable as solvents. To be effective as a solvent a liquid like density has to be induced at increased pressures. Especially for the separation of sensitive functional substances for pharmaceutical purposes or for foodstuff the gentle extraction process with supercritical CO2 is applied.

To generate supercritical CO2 , liquid CO2 is pressurized with a pump and heated up in a heat exchanger. Then the supercritical solvent is loaded with soluble substances after flowing through the extractor, which is charged with biomass. Subsequently the pressure is reduced, the extracts precipitate into separators and the CO2 reverts to a vapour and is recycled. Extraction with supercritical CO2 is distinguished by a multifold of benefits:
-No residues of organic solvents remain in the products.
-The process is suited for sensitive products by applying moderate temperatures in an oxygen free atmosphere.
-The solvent CO2 is neither combustible nor explosive and is available in large quantities at reasonable conditions.
-In one extraction step different extracts can be produced by fractionationated separation.

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