Concentration of Natural Vitamin E Using a Continuous Countercurrent Supercritical CO2 Extraction‐Distillation Dual Column

A continuous countercurrent supercritical CO₂ extraction‐distillation dual‐column process was developed to extract and concentrate natural vitamin E (VE) from soybean oil deodorizer distillate (SODD). The experimental results demonstrated that process parameters such as extraction pressure, temperature, and solvent‐to‐feed ratio significantly impacted on the extraction efficiency of natural VE. A new five‐parameter mass transfer model for the continuous countercurrent supercritical CO₂ extraction‐distillation dual‐column process was presented based on the Penetration and Double‐Film theories. The calculated values of the mathematical model agreed well with the experimental data, with absolute average relative deviation values of less than 25 %.