Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) Systems

Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) Systems

Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) employs a supercritical fluid, most commonly CO₂, as the mobile phase solvent for the extraction. The intrinsic low viscosity and high diffusivity of supercritical CO₂ have rendered SFE a faster extraction and higher efficiency technique when compared to traditional liquid extraction. This provides faster flow rates and thus faster extraction times without the requirement for a higher pressure system. The addition of a co-solvent to the CO₂ flow can help tune the strength further. The extraction oven can offer temperatures up to 100°C. Lastly, after the extraction vessel is the back pressure regulator, which provides the back pressure requirement to keep the CO₂ supercritical, and is an integral part of the performance of the extraction.

 

Advantages

1. Selectivity  – CO₂ polarity varies greatly depending on the pressure it is exposed to. This makes CO₂ a tunable solvent which allows the user to find the precise conditions for extraction of the compounds of interest while leaving unwanted compounds behind. This inherent trait of CO₂ greatly reduces the need for post-extraction cleanup that would be necessary with most solvent extractions.
2. No residual solvents  – given the gaseous state of CO₂ at atmospheric conditions, the resulting extract does not require the long rotovap time needed to dry solvent-extracted analytes.
3. Faster – given the high diffusivity and low viscosity of CO₂ in its supercritical state the extractions typically take a fraction of the time compared to solvent extractions.
4. Higher Yield  – due to increased temperature and pressure, supercritical CO₂ can penetrate many matrices that solvents cannot thereby allowing for greater surface area contact which in turn increases yield.
5. Low Operating Cost  – cost Per Extraction is significantly lower as the cost of CO₂ is much lower than the equivalent amount of solvent.
6. Environmentally Friendly

When compared to Soxhlet extractions, supercritical fluid extractions have proven to be capable of providing extractions up to 25 times faster with equivalent recovery while using up to 30 times less solvent.

Analytical SFE

• The analytical CO₂ pump offers built-in peltier cooling to maintain a stable CO₂ flow yielding excellent extraction time reproducibility. Automatic, built-in shut-off valves close the CO₂ inlet and outlet and isolate the pumps for quick and simple priming when not pumping.
• The system can be configured for CO₂ only or 1-10 co-solvents, 1-10 extraction vessels for the vessel volumes listed above, and 1, 6, 12, or 54 fractions.

System	Extraction Vessel	CO2 Flow Rate
Analytical	1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL	0.2 - 10 mL

Hybrid SFE

• The hybrid CO₂ pump offers a flow range from 0.5 to 20 mL/min covering both analytical 10 mL vessels up to semi-prep 100 mL vessels. Automatic, built-in shut-off valves close the CO₂ inlet and outlet and isolate the pumps for quick and simple priming when not pumping.
• The system can be configured for CO₂ only or 1-10 co-solvents, 1-10 extraction vessels for the vessel volumes listed above, and 1, 6, 12, or 54 fractions.

System	Extraction Vessel	CO2 Flow Rate
Hybrid	10 mL, 50 mL, 100 mL	0.5 - 20 mL

Semi-Prep SFE

• The semi-prep CO₂ pump offers a flow range from 3 to 50 mL/min covering 50 mL vessels up to 200 mL vessels. Automatic, built-in shut-off valves close the CO₂ inlet and outlet and isolate the pumps for quick and simple priming when not pumping.
• The system can be configured for CO₂ only or 1-10 co-solvents, 1-10 extraction vessels for the vessel volumes listed above, and 1, 6, 12, or 54 fractions.

System	Extraction Vessel	CO2 Flow Rate
Semi-Preparative	50 mL, 100 mL, 200 mL	3.0 - 50 mL

Prep SFE

• The Prep CO₂ pump offers a flow range from 5 to 150 mL/min covering 500 mL vessels up to 2 L vessels. Automatic, built-in shut-off valves close the CO₂ inlet and outlet and isolate the pumps for quick and simple priming when not pumping.
• The system can be configured for CO₂ only or 1-10 co-solvents, 1-10 extraction vessels for the vessel volumes listed above, and 1, 6, 12, or 54 fractions.

System	Extraction Vessel	CO2 Flow Rate
Preparative	500 mL, 1 L, 2 L	5 - 150 mL