Supercritical CO₂ extraction equipment plays a vital role in the food, medicine, and chemical industries. Researchers actively adopt this technology because it combines efficiency, flexibility, and environmental friendliness.
Advantages of Supercritical CO₂ Extraction
Supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction technology represents a modern separation method with remarkable advantages. It ensures a fast mass transfer rate, strong penetration ability, high extraction efficiency, and low operating temperature. These features make it superior to many conventional separation processes.
The oil extracted through supercritical CO2 fluid extraction process typically achieves a yield of more than 95%. It also contains fewer impurities, appears lighter in color, and eliminates extra refining steps such as vacuum distillation and deodorization.
Compared with traditional extraction, this method leaves the residue intact. Therefore, industries can conveniently reuse it to extract protein, blend with food, or process as animal feed.
At present, industries widely apply supercritical CO₂ extraction to plant oils. It has matured in producing rice bran oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, corn germ oil, wheat germ oil, and sea buckthorn oil. These applications have achieved excellent industrial outcomes.
Supercritical CO₂ Extraction Process for Wheat Germ Oil
The refining process of wheat germ oil follows this flow: wheat germ → pretreatment → supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction → two-stage separation → refined wheat germ oil.
This method employs two separation kettles. Operators gradually reduce pressure and adjust temperature, which allows the CO₂ to release wheat germ oil step by step according to its properties.
By applying supercritical CO₂ technology, manufacturers can omit traditional refining steps such as deacidification, deodorization, decolorization, and degumming. Consequently, they directly obtain commercial-grade wheat germ oil with improved quality.
This method fully demonstrates the advantages of supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction. Operators can flexibly adjust conditions based on the target product. Furthermore, the process effectively addresses wheat germ oil’s high acid value and unpleasant odor, which result from free fatty acids.
In addition to producing premium wheat germ oil, the method also yields high-quality defatted germ. Because the process removes both oil and part of the water, the defatted germ resists spoilage. People can eat it directly or use it as a raw material for high-protein foods, perfectly meeting the needs of low-fat consumers.
Experimental Data
When industries used one-stage separation, the acid value reached 7.89 mg KOH/g oil. However, after applying two-stage separation, the acid value dropped sharply to 1.00 mg KOH/g oil. This improvement clearly enhanced oil quality and stability.
Conclusion
Supercritical CO₂ extractors maximize the recovery of valuable components while ensuring selective extraction and separation. The technology proves highly effective for isolating volatile oils, fatty oils, coumarins, terpenes, alkaloids, and quinones.
In summary, Supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction not only refines wheat germ oil efficiently but also generates additional high-value products. Its wide application continues to push forward sustainable and high-quality development in food and chemical industries.