There are many substances derived from plants that find use in your day-to-day life. It is important to know that not only do plants play an important role in providing you with food and oxygen, they are also part of the new era of biochemical products.
There are many ways to extract the desired contents from plants. One of the most important ones is the process of extraction. Extraction is the process of separating oils and other botanical minerals from plants and plant-based substances by passing concentrated solvents through them in controlled environments.
There are two types of extraction processes carried out by different extractors:
- Closed-loop extractor
- Open-loop extractor
The difference between the two systems lies in the separation of solvents out from the extracted products.
In closed-loop extraction, the solvent is recycled after it is used once to separate oil from the botanical substance. It has a closed arrangement of apparatus such that none of the components inside come in contact with the atmospheric air.
In the open-loop system, the solvent is not recycled and used only once. After the solvent strips oils and minerals from the biological substance, it is mostly driven out and replaced with new. Open-loop is used for higher precision work where the purity of the solvent is crucial.
How does closed-loop extraction work - Most Important Details!
In closed-loop extraction, the biological specimen is placed in the inner chamber. This chamber is sealed out from the atmosphere and kept at very low pressure and controlled temperature. The solvent is then added through the top-fill port. The top fill port system is the best way to do hydrocarbon extraction.
Once the solvent passes slowly over the botanical specimen, it carries away with it some of the useful oils and minerals. Depending on the type of solvent used, different oils and minerals are extracted out of the plant-based product.
Once the oil separation is completed, the solvent and plant-based oil are both collected in the base container. This mixture is then separated by temperature manipulation and the solvent is recycled and used after filtration. Since the recycling of solvent is possible, closed-loop extraction is more cost-effective and bio-friendly. Naturally, the benefits are too good to overlook.
In short, closed-loop extraction is way better than open-loop extraction as the cost-effectiveness and raw material used are much more economical in this system. Furthermore, it is a faster and more continuous process.
