Supercritical Fluid

Systems
RAMAN KARUPPIAH
EMAIL: mathavan.ram94@gmail.com
CONTACT: 0134450474

Tel: 603-89412300 Fax: 603-89415300

Email: info@ornets.com
Website: http://www.ornets.com.
Address: No.47-4,Jln SP 2/1,
Taman Serdang Perdana, 43300 Seri Kembangan ,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Introduction
Extract chemical compounds
using supercritical fluid instead of an organic
solvent
Result is an extract with:
little or no residual solvent
superior purity and yield
lower operating costs
compared to solvent-based systems.

History
Almost 130 years ago, Irish chemist Thomas
Andrews gave a lecture to the Royal Society about
critical point.
Solvent properties of SCF were first reported well
over 100 years ago in 1879 by Hannay and
Hogarth.
Since 1980s and 1990s SCF has been used in
several industrial processes.

Terms To Familiarize
Critical point

A point on a phase diagram at which both

the liquid and gas phases of a substance
have the same density, and are therefore
indistinguishable.

Supercritical fluid

A supercritical fluid is any substance at

a temperature and pressure above its critical
point, where distinct liquid and gas phases do
not exist. It can effuse through solids like a
gas, and dissolve materials like a liquid.

Working principle

Selectivity
SF Pressure & Temperature dependent.
For example, volatile oils can be extracted from a plant
with low pressures (100 bar).
Lipids can be removed using pure CO2 at higher
pressures.
The same principle can be used to extract polyphenols
and unsaturated fatty acids separately from wine
wastes.

 Extraction conditions for supercritical

carbon dioxide are above the critical
temperature of 31 C and critical
pressure of 74 bar.
Addition of modifiers may slightly alter this

Ethanol or methanol as co solvents

Applications

Food industry
Fractionation of fish oils with SC-CO2 to
obtain omega-3 enriched fractions is
possible.
Extraction of carotenoids from tomato.
Decaffeination of coffee.
Extraction of polyphenols from rice wine lees.

Research Papers
Particle formation of edible fats using the
supercritical melt micronization process (ScMM)
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089684
4607002690
Supercritical fluid extraction of vegetable matrices:
Applications, trends and future perspectives of a
convincing green technology
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089684
4614000928

Cosmetic industry

Antioxidant such as polyphenols, carotenoids can

be selectively extracted skin health.
Extraction of essential oils aroma rich.

Research Papers
Study of the fatty acid profile and the aroma
composition of oil obtained from roasted
Colombian coffee beans by supercritical fluid
extraction
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089684
4616300456

Pharmaceutical Industry

Drug discovery, and the synthesis, purification

and extraction of drug compounds.
Utilised for the production of fine powders- after
crystallization.

Polymer and plastics industries

Supercritical CO2 is a good plasticizing agent in

particular because it reduces the glass transition
temperature
Purification of polymers from residual solvants or
monomers
Synthesis of polymers and composites

Research Papers
Supercritical fluids in polymer formation, modification
and processing
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896844615
301844
Effect of impurity on the corrosion behavior of X65 steel
in water-saturated supercritical CO2 system
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896844616
301152

Material industry

Drying of aerogel.
The synthesis and deposition of nanaparticles.
The cleaning of wafers

Research Papers
Supercritical drying of aerogel
http://
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089684461530156
X

Waste Treatment
Recovery of metals from wastes.
Removal of trace elements.
Effective recycling of organic wastes.

Research Papers
Removal of common organic solvents from
aqueous waste streams
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19368207
Hazardous Waste Disposal by Supercritical Fluids
http://
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01496399708
003210?journalCode=lsst20

Our Products

Laboratory Scale System

Spe-ed SFE-2/4
They are simple to operate, fast
and affordable.
The system features:
temperatures to 240C
pressure up to 10,000 psi (680
BAR)
pump flow rates up to 400mL/min
modifier addition capability
multiple flow path capability
extract directly from liquid
samples