Revista de Ingeniería

revinge | eISSN 2011-0049 | ISSN 0121-4993

Estudio comparativo de la extracción de cafeína con CO2 supercrítico y acetato de etilo

No. 24 (2006-11-01)
  • Andrés F. Ordóñez
    Ingeniero Químico. Desarrollo Tecnológico, COLFLAVOR S.A. Envigado, Colombia. tecnologia@colavor.com
  • Néstor Y. Rojas
    Ph.D. Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá D.C., Colombia. nyrojasr@unal.edu.co
  • Fabián Parada
    Ph.D. Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá D.C., Colombia. fparadaa@unal.edu.co
  • Ignacio Rodríguez
    Ingeniero Químico, M.Sc, Profesor Asistente, Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Bogotá D.C., Colombia. lirodriguezv@unal.edu.co
https://doi.org/10.16924/revinge.24.5

Abstract

This work examines the extraction of caffeine from coffee beans using supercritical CO2, emphasizing on the practical features of this extraction technology and comparing its results to the Soxhlet etraction method using ethyl acetate. Experiments were designed to study the influence of pressure, temperatur and time of extraction, and to determine the best combination among these variables. The laboratoryscale equipment used consisted of a high-pressure extraction reactor fed with liquid CO2 and pressurized with N2, a heating device and a separation vessel where caffeine was collected. Results indicate that pressure and time are the variables with the highest influence on the extraction rate. Yields of 1.6 grams of caffeine per kilogram of green coffee, and 3.53 grams of caffeine per kilogram of green coffee, were reached using supercritical CO2 and ethyl acetate (Soxhlet) respectively.

Keywords: Extracción, cafeína, fluidos supercríticos, extracción Soxhlet, Extraction, caffeine, supercritical fluids, extraction Soxhlet