Applications of Supercritical Fluid Technology to Pollution Prevention and WasteMinimization

摘要

The applications of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) to environmentalproblems can yield significant benefits because of the solvent properties and low toxicity of the available solvents, e.g., carbon dioxide. This paper will discuss a new federal EPA program to investigate uses of supercritical carbon dioxide for pollution prevention, waste minimization, and environmentally benign chemical processing. These unique supercritical carbon dioxide technology applications include extraction of natural pharmaceutical materials, phase-transfer catalysis, replacing organic solvents in chemical synthesis, removal/recovery of heavy metals, and separation of organic materials from soils and slurries.