For the past six years, Accudyne Systems has produced commercial laboratory scale supercritical fluid (SF) processing machines for Supercritical Fluid Technologies (SFT). These machines include the SFT Phase Monitor, SFT-150, SFT-250, and SFT-1000. The latter three machines represent increasing controls sophistication, with the SFT-150 having very basic temperature controls and the SFT-1000 having automated pressure sequencing and programmable cosolvent dosing. The control systems for all these systems were developed by ASI. The process flow scheme for each was developed in collaboration with SFT.

The work between ASI and SFT has resulted in the award of two U.S. Patents for precision high pressure control of SF units. These patents refer to the pressure control scheme enabling pressure regulation of a SF system to better than 0.1 bar in 700 bar under steady state conditions. Developed in collaboration with SFT using ASI prior art in the use of electropneumatic regulators and closed loop control systems, the control scheme leverages the mechanical capabilities of air-driven piston pumps. This control scheme enables the SFT-250 and SFT-1000 to maintain tight pressure regulation in the presence of large variations in CO2 flow rates.

In collaboration with SFT, ASI has designed and deployed pilot scale SF systems that have leveraged the patented pressure control scheme and the control system capabilities of the SFT-1000 system. An early pilot plant version was designed and built for Delphi Automotive Systems and is currently being used in an extraction cleaning process related to lithium polymer battery production.

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supercriticalfluids.com