Multipurpose Plant

In 2007 the first multipurpose plant was born, and it was made of 3 basic cycles: extraction, fractionation and pasteurization. It is produced in two sizes: 1 liter and 5 liters. This kind of plant is the first ever made in Europe, and its version 500 is equipped with a 5 liters extractor, a 4,5 meters high fractionation column and a 1.2 liters continuous pasteurizer. This plant is manufactured exclusively in our laboratories, and it is usually provided with a PLC and the Gerico control software. The closures are “Rapid” type, with no locknut or bolts, and they are certified up to 600 bar performances. The heat exchangers are pipe-in-pipe type, s well as the condensator and the evaporator. DescriptionThe blocks diagram of the multipurpose Separeco SFE/SFF/SFP plant is shown in the figure. The SFE cycle is composed by the extractor E1 for solid matrices and two separators S1and S2, In this cycle the volumetric pump PCO2 for the liquid CO2 and the pump Pco-solvent for the co-solvent are active. The mixing happens before the extractor. The process pressure is controlled by the membrane valve MV1, piloted by the PLC. The separation occurs in the two consecutive separators. The SFF cycle is composed by a fractionation tower T1 connected to the pump Pliquid. This pump sends the liquid to fractionate into the tower. The process pressure is controlled by the membrane valve MV1, piloted by the PLC. The SFP cycle is composed by a pasteurization reactor connected to the pump PCO2 and to the pump Pliquid through the static mixer M. The thermostatic coat keeps the process temperature between 35 and 45°C.