Industrial-scale implementation
Liquefied gases as alternative solvents for green extraction of natural products

The special properties of the liquefied gases used, and in particular their low boiling point, facilitate the solvent evaporation/condensation stages, prompting manufacturers to develop extraction units incorporating the solvent recycling circuit. In this way, extractions can be carried out in either batch or semi-continuous mode.

Two types of industrial extraction units using liquefied gases can be distinguished, depending on their thermodynamic operation: units operating according to a thermodynamic "heat pump" cycle, with a compression phase followed by an expansion phase, and units operating in isobaric mode (constant pressure).