Separation and Purification Technology, Vol.14, No.1-3, 19-25, 1998
Supercritical CO2 extraction coupled with nanofiltration separation -Applications to natural products
The idea of coupling supercritical CO2 extraction (SC CO2) with nonofiltration separation (NF) to extract and purify low molecular weight compounds (up to 1500 g mol(-1)) has already been proposed. The Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) has developed two tubular membranes of nanofiltration resistant enough to endure supercritical conditions and initially designed for liquid filtration (for separating compounds of low molecular weight, between 500 and 1000 g mol(-1)). The first membrane is a multilayer composite nonofilter, comprising a macroporous ct alumina substrate, a mesoporous titanium oxide underlayer, and an organic top layer in Nafron(R). The organic/inorganic design of the nanofilter combines the mechanical stability of the inorganic substrate and the selectivity of the organic layer which is the active layer in nanofiltration. The other membrane is a strictly inorganic nanofilter. The same macroporous alpha alumina substrate is coated with a titanium oxide layer. The layer is obtained using the sol-gel route. For this NF membrane, the TiO2 conception provides very good thermal and chemical resistances to the nanofilter. Because of its attractive physico-chemical properties and its 'low' critical point (7.38 MPa and 304.2 K), carbon dioxide has been chosen as the supercritical fluid used for extraction. In this work, we present applications of the coupled process to fractionation of natural products, presenting an industrial interest. First, we study fractionation of triglycerides issued from fish oil. The aim is the concentration of essential fatty acids involved in the limitation of cardio-vascular diseases. Then, experiments were conducted for purification of beta-carotene issued from either carrot oils or carrot seeds. This pigment, often used in the agro-food and cosmetic industries, is sensible towards temperature and oxidation, and therefore difficult to isolate. The coupled process leads us to obtain, in both cases, encouraging results in terms of separation and purification.