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Supercritical CO2 Extraction: Pressure-Swing Solvating Power

Interactive 3D supercritical CO2 extraction plant: tune pressure, temperature and flow through a Van der Waals equation of state, watch density-driven solvating power strip solute from a packed bed, and see a pressure-drop separator recover it.

Chemistry & Materials3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

This simulator models the core unit operation behind decaffeination, hop-extract and nutraceutical processing plants: a packed-bed extractor fed by supercritical CO₂, followed by a lower-pressure separator that lets the solvent give the solute back up. CO₂ density is computed live from the real Van der Waals equation of state as you move the pressure and temperature sliders, and that density directly drives a Chrastil-style solvating-power index that controls how fast solute leaves the packed bed and how completely it precipitates once the pressure drops in the separator — the same pressure-swing principle that lets industrial supercritical extraction leave zero solvent residue in the product.

⚙ Under the hood

Tune pressure, temperature and flow through a real Van der Waals equation of state and watch density-driven solvating power strip solute from a packed extraction bed, then a pressure-drop separator recover it — the core unit operation behind decaffeination and botanical extraction plants.

supercritical CO2chemical engineeringvan der Waalsseparation processsolubilityphase behavior

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install