Experimental and modeling studies on extraction of cholesterol from cow brain using supercritical carbon dioxide

Modeling of the experimental data is attempted with the use of differential mass balance equation across the extraction column, with the accumulation of solute in the solid phase defined using Fick's diffusion equation. The effective diffusion coefficient is estimated by minimizing the error between the experimental data and that predicted by the model. The effective diffusion coefficient was found to increase with the temperature of extraction and with the flow rate of the supercritical fluid. The effective diffusion coefficient was found to vary between 1.9 and 2.8 × 10−13 m2/s for the entire range of experiments used in the present study.