Fractionation of lipids in a static mixer and packed column using supercritical carbon dioxide

Fractionation of shark liver oil and olive oil deodorizer distillate using supercritical carbon dioxide was carried out in a laboratory-scale static mixer and laboratory- and pilot-scale packed columns. Both lipid mixtures contain squalene, which was the desired end product. The separation factor for squalene from shark liver oil was high, and the laboratory-scale packed column gave a degree of separation superior to that of the static mixer. The mass transfer performance of the static miser was similar to that of the pilot-scale packed column for the recovery of squalene from olive oil deodorizer distillate. The separation factor for squalene was low, and more than one processing step was required before high purity squalene could be obtained. The pressure drop over the static mixer was measured and correlated against the specific energy consumption. For all operating conditions, the pressure drop was less than 1 bar and, hence, not significant for industrial-scale plant design. Literature correlations for drop size and overall mass transfer coefficients were compared with experimentally determined overall mass transfer coefficients. The correlation predictions agreed with experimental, results only at low dispersed phase velocities in the static mixer.