Abstract
Six different membranes were tested at 18.0 MPa and 313 K for their performance to fractionate a model mixture of squalene/oleic acid with supercritical carbon dioxide. A significant enrichment of squalene in the permeate side was achieved with a 10 mu m-coating layer polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) membrane at the tested conditions although with the drawback of a lower total permeate flux. Additional fractionation experiments of the same model mixture were carried out in a countercurrent packed column at 18.0 MPa of pressure and 313 and 323 K of temperature. At a solvent-to-feed mass flow ratio of ca. 40 an extraction efficiency of 88% of the total mass of squalene fed to the column was obtained at 18.0 MPa/313 K. The raffinate and extract streams obtained at these conditions had a squalene content of 10 and 63.5 wt%, respectively. An optimized combination of supercritical extraction and membrane separation could be used to increase the purity of the extract stream in squalene. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Original language | Unknown |
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Pages (from-to) | 231-237 |
Journal | Separation and Purification Technology |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2008 |