Supercritical Fluids

Supercritical Fluids

A replacement of conventional solvents totally free of worrying solvents!

Simulating conditions of 1,000 atmospheres pressure, similar to the atmosphere of Neptune or Uranus, Supercritical Fluids are a strong allrounder when it comes to extraction, cleaning, impregnation and coating.

Supercritical Fluids come into existence when a gas is contained above a certain pressure (critical pressure) while being heated above its critical temperature. It then develops characteristics of both a liquid and a gas. Due to these unstable conditions the characteristics of supercritical Fluids can be finely tuned to meet the needs of your process or application. That is because small changes of the pressure can lead to a drastic change of the fluid’s density.

These properties make them a powerful and pure replacement for conventional solvents, which often are toxic. With the use of supercritical fluids these negative side effects can now easily be avoided. Beyond that, their solvent power is setting the benchmark for non-polar and slightly polar components. Especially supercritical CO₂ has significant advantages for the extraction of natural substances, which makes it particularly suitable for processing food materials.

In food processing Supercritical Extraction applies to various procedures such as the decaffeination of coffee and tea or the extraction of flavors from spices and herbs. Furthermore supercritical CO₂ is able to remove pesticides from plant raw materials and extracts and can also be used for De-oiling and Spray Extraction. Compared with the use of organic solvents such as methanol or ethanol, Supercritical Fluids are vastly superior. Besides its non-toxicity it also convinces with its easy availability while being reasonably priced.

Supercritical Fluids are additionally a safe method for the Drying of Aerogels. Because of its nature it applies no thermal stress and is therefore suitable for sensitive materials. SCFs can as well be used for the generation or modification of fine particles. With Hygienic Design we meet the high standards of the pharmaceutical industry offering innovative technology. We are also able to provide you with our Special SCF-Process which is designed to apply high pressure.