Development & Implementation

FeyeCon
Supercritical fluid fractionation

Natural oils for food products In food industry, there are several occasions that liquid mixtures must be separated into their component parts, or fractions. Conventional separation methods often require environmentally unfriendly solvents, elevated temperatures or a high energy input for a good separation. FeyeCon has the solution to fractionate your oil mixtures with a clean and mild process, using supercritical carbon dioxide. Applications The supercritical fractionation process can be applied for a wide range of edible oils: Increasing EPA/DHA levels in fatty acid esters Deodoration of vegetable oils Removal of free fatty acids from triglycerides Extraction of squalene from fish liver oil Removal of dioxins and PCBs from fish oils Extraction of phytosterols from deodorizer distillates

Process The separation principle is similar to that of counter-current liquid extraction: In a packed column, the oil flows down while supercritical carbon dioxide flows upwards and dissolves the volatile fraction of the oil. The CO2 exiting the column from the top delivers the volatile fraction of the oil while the heavy oil fraction leaves the column from the bottom. By operating at the right temperature and flow rates, the separation can be tuned and thus optimized for a specific product and purity.

Fractionation column

Separator

Feed oil

Light components

CO2 recycling

Heavy components

Simple process scheme

Development & Implementation

FeyeCon
Advantages The process operates at low temperature (40-60C) and is therefore especially suitable for thermally labile products Because of the absence of oxygen and the presence of CO2, the process is good for products that are sensitive to oxidation CO2 is a GRAS solvent: non-toxic, non-flammable and safe There is no solvent residue in the product All CO2 can be recyled.

Process and equipment development FeyeCon has developed the supercritical fluid fractionation process for a wide range of products. With this experience, and with the various columns that we have designed and built, we can test and optimize the process for a specific product and product purity. This way, we determine the technical feasibility of the process for your product, we produce demonstration batches, we analyse the economic viability, we deliver the process and equipment design and we will deliver you the turn-key fractionation plant.

FeyeCon test column

Contact:
Martijn van der Kraan FeyeCon Development&Implementation B.V. Rijnkade 17A Weesp The Netherlands www.feyecon.com martijn@feyecon.com tel. 0031294457733 mob. 0031611288691