Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVVGentle extraction of plant substances with supercritical CO2
We offer our CO2 extraction plant for your own developments
The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as a solvent allows us to gently extract plant substances that are sensitive to high temperatures. This means we can easily and effortlessly extract secondary plant substances such as polyphenols, aromatic substances or lipids.
By varying the pressure and temperature, the solubility can be adapted to the particular secondary plant compounds, allowing for efficient extraction. The treated raw materials and products are solvent-free after the extraction process, which means that this process can also be used for organic products.
The use of co-solvents to improve solubility is another way to optimize the process.
During the process, all relevant process parameters are summarized in a protocol at each stage. An initial economic evaluation of the developed processes can be made by balancing the processes and determining the product yields.
Our laboratories characterize the obtained extracts to evaluate the developed methods or to perform application tests.
Features of the carbon dioxide extraction plant
- The plant can be operated with raw material volumes of 1, 2, or 5 liters.
- The system operates as a closed system so that even large quantities of extractant can be used when solubility is low.
- An extraction pressure of up to 900 bar can be applied.