In many developing countries, there is a growing demand to extract plant-based products such as herbs and spices for export. Supercritical CO₂ extraction machine is recognized as one of the most advanced and environmentally friendly technologies, delivering high-value extracts without the use of harmful solvents. However, the high investment cost of current systems has limited its wider adoption.
Most commercial CO₂ extraction systems are designed to operate at pressures up to 500 bar with complex processes to handle a wide range of materials. This makes them expensive and often unnecessary for herb and spice applications, where optimal extraction conditions are typically between 250–300 bar with simpler operating parameters.
Example: Black Pepper Extraction
- Optimal condition: 300 bar, 50 °C, 5 hours
- Yield: 500 g/L, 5.5% piperine, 2.3% VOC
- Alternative low-pressure condition with our design: 180 bar, 38 °C, 14 hours
- Achieves a comparable yield with significantly reduced system requirements.
This demonstrates that a flexible system design with two pressure levels is more cost-effective:
- 180 bar type: specialized for raw materials with low oleoresin content.
- 300 bar type: used for raw materials with high oleoresin content.
By tailoring the system to the actual extraction needs, investment costs can be reduced while maintaining performance.
| VOC | Piperine* | 300bar | 180bar | |
| Black pepper 500gr/L | 2.3 % | 5.5 % | 5 hours | 14 hours |
| Black Pepper 250gr/L | 3.2 % | 2.2 % | 3.5 hours | 8 hours |
Energy Efficiency Through Heat Pump Technology
With our long-standing expertise in refrigeration system design, we have developed a proprietary heat pump technology that fully replaces traditional heating elements during extraction. This innovation:
- Provides precise temperature control.
- Significantly reduces electrical consumption.
- Enhances overall system efficiency.