Supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction is often applied to the extraction of different types of substances such as cannabis, essential oils, food ingredients, industrial chemicals, etc. However, supercritical CO2 fluid extraction requires special equipment to achieve, because its process determines that the equipment must have the following characteristics:
Pressure resistance
During the entire supercritical CO2 fluid extraction process, the co2 extraction machine works in a high-pressure environment, and the pressure under experimental conditions is often as high as 70Mpa, while in industrial production it is as high as about 20Mpa. It can be seen that once a safety accident occurs, the consequences will be very serious, so the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine must ensure sufficient pressure resistance. All current supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machines, whether in laboratory research or industrial production, have never had any safety accidents.
Multiple security design
The design of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine not only includes a complete safety system, but also should provide multiple guarantees for the different pressure properties of the high-pressure vessel, so as to reduce the occurrence of safety accidents.
- Main pump automatic shutdown design: The principle of this design is that when the container pressure in the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine reaches the set alarm pressure, the equipment will immediately stop the current, so as to realize the timely shutdown of the main pump and prevent potential safety hazards caused by the continuous operation of the equipment. When the vessel pressure drops below the set point, the current is switched back on and the main pump starts up again accordingly.
- Safety valve: The safety valve is a reusable safety device. When the pressure of the container in the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine is greater than the set pressure of the safety valve, the safety valve will automatically release the pressure, ensuring the safety of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction. safety.
- Explosion-proof device: The explosion-proof device is a one-time safety device. When the pressure of the high-pressure container in the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction device is greater than its own set pressure, the explosion-proof disc will be deformed, and the device will release the pressure of the high-pressure container, thereby reducing the production environment. Security risks.
The above three safety devices guarantee the pressure of the container in layers in the design of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction device, and the order of the pressure design is explosion-proof device > safety valve > automatic shutdown design of the main pump.
Wear resistance
The supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine is a high-pressure device, so it must have high requirements on the wear resistance of the machine. In continuous production processes, machine reliability is especially important. When selecting materials for kettle covers and valves, their handling resistance and strength should be considered. During the disassembly process of the parts during the service life, the equipment should avoid the poor wear resistance of the material, resulting in the problem of poor sealing.
Integration of control panel
Since the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine is a high-pressure device, the operator needs to frequently walk between high-pressure containers during the production process, which also increases the risk of operator injury. For this reason, the integrated design of the control panel of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction device can prevent the operator from moving between high-pressure containers. This measure effectively reduces the safety hazards of operators during the production process.
Others
In order to ensure the continuity of production, the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine should have the function of easy maintenance and replacement. Therefore, the design of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction machine requires that the kettle body can be opened quickly, and at the same time, the overall replacement device needs to be designed, which can be replaced by a hanging basket, which greatly improves the convenience of the production equipment.
Final Words
To sum up, supercritical CO2 fluid extraction equipment has the following characteristics: pressure resistance, multiple safety designs, wear resistance, integrated control panel, and convenient maintenance and replacement. These features can not only protect the safety of operators, but also ensure the reliability of production equipment and realize the high efficiency, precision and economy of the supercritical CO2 fluid extraction process.