Skip to main content

Solutions for solvent sustainability

2nd April 2023

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Paul Vanden Branden, director and product manager at laboratory equipment supplier SciMed, examines the potential of supercritical CO2 to supplant environmentally harmful solvent in extractions and separations

The environmental and financial challenges associated with widely used organic solvents are severe. To reach sustainability goals, laboratories around the world must wean themselves off these long relied-upon hydrocarbons and pursue greener alternatives.

Using supercritical liquid CO2 in experimental procedures is gathering popularity because of its relative environmental benignity. It is easy to prepare, non-toxic, non-flammable and the recycling process for CO2 into the system means that it does not contribute to global warming.

Environmentally sound CO2 holds significant potential in its supercritical fluid phase to ease the scientific community’s dependency on expensive, hazardous and environmentally harmful organic solvents such as hexane. While suitable for use in a range of applications, this is especially important in procedures such as chemical extractions, separations and purifications. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is an area of burgeoning interest and CO2 is the most common supercritical fluid used in SFE procedures.

Advantages of SFE techniques

SFE is conducted by pumping supercritical CO2 through a fixed bed of substrate: the CO2 flows through the substrate and dissolves soluble components until they are exhausted. The loaded solvent is then run through a separator where the soluble components are precipitated by adjusting the temperature and pressure before the CO2 is condensed and recirculated. By manipulating the density of supercritical CO2 fluids, they can replicate the performance of various organic solvents whose polarities range from n-pentane, at the lowest density, to pyridine, at the highest.

This feature allows selective extraction, purification and fractionation procedures to be performed. One area generating particular interest is the replacement of hexane, which is typically used for solvent extractions despite its known status as environmentally damaging, with supercritical CO2.

Hexane is commonly used for extracting oil contaminants from water and soil for analysis and for extracting edible oils from seeds and vegetables because of its efficiency in these experiments, which could not previously be matched by traditional alternatives. However, supercritical CO2 systems now allow comparable results to be achieved without requiring such a harmful chemical.

Globally, regulations are tightening around the use of harmful solvents such as hexane, with both the UK’s Department of Trade & Industry and the US Environmental Protection Agency publishing recommended procedures using supercritical CO2. Beginning the shift to supercritical CO2 systems and procedures in industry and academia now makes sense, as the ultimate outcome is likely to be a total ban on harmful solvents.

Supercritical CO2 is simply one avenue by which laboratories can progress towards sustainability while improving their practical output versus spending ratio. Other avenues include the increased use of on-site analytical apparatus to minimise dependence on outsourcing to professional laboratories and instrumentation to reduce utilities consumption.

SciMed exclusively represents Core Separations, the world’s largest supercritical CO2 company, which produces systems for laboratory scale applications (around 10 ml) and production-scale applications (250-500 litres). Its team of experts can also work on proof-of-concept testing for any new SFE procedures.

Contact:

Lee Murfitt

SciMed

+44 161 442 9963

[email protected]

www.scimed.co.uk/sustainable-laboratories-whitepaper/

UPL to split out specialities

Indian agrochemicals giant UPL has announced plans to transfer its speciality chemicals business, including agrochemical

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

AI for SAPs

Together with Algo Artis, Japan’s Nippon Shokubai has developed an algorithm-based means for the production

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Nippon Shokubai's API Facility in Japan

Nucleic acid API boost

Nippon Shokubai is to expand its GMP capacity for nucleic APIs tenfold It will install

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Flamma's facility in Dalian

Flamma opens in China

Italian CDMO Flamma Group has officially opened its new cGMP plant at Dalian, China, where

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

GL Chemtec has opened a new kilo lab

GL Chemtec completes kilo lab

CDMO GL Chemtec has announced the completion of a cGMP kilo lab at Oakville, Ontario

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sterling's facility at Deeside, UK

CDMOs in ADC investments

Five CDMOs across the world have separately announced investments in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Piramal Pharma is

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Halozyme has dropped its approach to buy Evotec

Halozyme abandons Evotec bid

San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company Halozyme Therapeutics has withdrawn the offer it made for Evotec after

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Afyren Neoxy plant

Milestones for two greentech firms

Afyren has achieved continuous production at its Afyren Neoxy plant at Clermont-Ferrand (pictured)

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Origin by Ocean derives its materials from sargassum

CABB in algae biorefinery deal

CABB has agreed a strategic partnership to establish a first-in-kind algae biorefinery at its site at Kokkola

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

First waste-based biosurfactants

Belgian start-up AmphiStar has launched what it claims are the first fully upcycled biobased surfactants

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Aether to supply Seqens

Indian firm Aether Industries has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Chemoxy International, a UK-based

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

New model for biocatalysts

BASF, the Austrian Research Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (ACIB) and the University of Graz in

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CBE JU funds 31 more projects

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2 billion partnership between the EU

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Lubrizol's new office

Lubrizol opens London office

Lubrizol has opened a new office in Hammersmith, London. This will be home to a

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sudarshan to buy Heubach

India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Alliance in natural fragrances

Sensegen, a US-based specialist in biotech-enabled fragrances, notably a new class of natural musk raw

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Croda breaks ground in China

Croda International has broken ground for a low-carbon, multi-purpose production facility on a greenfield site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CCT collaboration for Givaudan

Flavours and fragrances giant Givaudan has agreed a research collaboration for the development of sustainable

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

REACH Authorisation

Candidate List ‘reaches’ 250

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added three more substances to the Candidate List of

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Staff at Brenntag's newly acquired Czech site

CO2-free distribution site first

Brenntag has officially inaugurated what it claims to be the first CO2-emission-free chemical distribution site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington