PURPOSE: An extraction raw material such as animal or vegetable substance is made to contact with a supercritical gas together with an extraction assistant consisting of an alcohol or an organic solvent to effect the extraction of the extractable substance in the supercritical gas and the extractable substance is separated by varying the pressure and temperature of the supercritical gas.
CONSTITUTION: The extraction raw material is mixed with the extraction assistant (e.g. alcohol, organic solvent, etc.) in the stirring tank 29, and the mixture is heated with the heat exchanger 31 and supplied to the extraction tank 27. Separately, liquid carbon dioxide is treated with the booster pump 25 and the heat-exchanger 26, and the obtained supercritical gas is introduced into the extraction tank 27 to effect the extraction of the extractable substance with the supercritical gas. The supercritical gas containing the extracted substance is introduced into the separation tank 33, and only the extracted substance is separated under a prssure 1.0W2.0 times the critical pressure at a temperature 1.0W1.2 times the critical temperature. After the separation treatment, the gas is introduced into the extraction assistant-separation tank 35. The carbon dioxide gas is circulated through the valve 36 and the extraction assistant is reused after separation the low-boiling impurities in the separation tank 37.
EFFECT: The extraction assistant can be dissolved in the supercritical gas at an arbitrary ratio and an extractable substance free of extraction assistant can be produced.
SATO JOSHIRO
TAKAKUSAKI TSUNEHIKO
KUBOTA MASAYOSHI
TAKAHASHI SANKICHI
MATSUZAKI HARUMI
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