Countercurrent extraction machineThe design is based on the principle of continuous countercurrent leaching, and the main equipment consists of a spiral feeder, a spiral propulsion continuous countercurrent leaching chamber (with an external steam heating jacket), a designed continuous solid-liquid separation mechanism, a continuous slag discharge mechanism, and a transmission mechanism, which can be optionally equipped with advanced computer intelligent control. The device implements a continuous countercurrent extraction process as follows.
The solid material to be extracted (Chinese medicinal herbs or natural plants) is added from the upper hopper of the feeder and continuously fed to the lower end of the leaching chamber by the screw feeder. The screw propeller in the leaching chamber smoothly pushes the solid material during the process, and the effective ingredients are continuously leached. The residue is discharged by the slag discharge mechanism; At the same time, the solvent enters from the leaching chamber and the concentration of the permeated solid material increases continuously as it moves towards the lower end. The extraction solution is then exported through the solid-liquid separation mechanism at the bottom of the leaching chamber.
Countercurrent extraction machineThroughout the entire extraction process, the computer automatically controls the solid material and solvent to maintain relative motion and uniform heating, continuously updating and diffusing the interface; Always maintain an ideal concentration gradient between the material and liquid; The effective ingredient extraction rate is high and the extraction speed is fast.
Characteristics and Performance
The technical characteristics of the countercurrent extraction machine are the organic combination of continuous countercurrent extraction process technology and computer control and simulation technology. It adopts innovative traditional Chinese medicine extraction equipment designed with its own technology, which has the advantages of high extraction efficiency, large concentration gradient, fast leaching speed, high effective ingredient extraction rate, small liquid yield coefficient, significant energy saving, low-temperature leaching, and uniform heating. Stable implementation of continuous countercurrent extraction process and fully enclosed continuous production; The small size and easy operation of the whole machine make it easy to clean and maintain, and comply with GMP standards.
This device combines computer intelligent control and other technologies to control the extraction production process, and conducts online analysis and optimization control of important process parameters, making the entire extraction production process stable, controllable, and energy-saving, eliminating the instability of manual operation, and effectively improving product quality. Transforming traditional fuzzy production into full process data tracking and intelligent control, replacing traditional manual operations based on experience with computer digitization and intelligent control. The computer intelligent control system mainly includes functional systems such as process measurement and control subsystem, soft measurement quantum system, process analysis subsystem, production management subsystem, experiment management subsystem, remote monitoring subsystem, etc., which can be configured according to user needs.
The process measurement and control subsystem can achieve automatic measurement and control of process parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, liquid level, and motor speed.
The experimental management subsystem is specifically designed for configuring experimental and pilot equipment, with functions such as experimental plan management, data processing and storage retrieval, statistical analysis, reporting, and reporting. Various data processing and analysis software can also be provided upon user request.
The soft sensing quantum system performs online calculations of process parameters such as processing capacity, material to liquid ratio, infiltration time, leaching time, and effluent coefficient.
The process analysis subsystem can dynamically analyze material balance, energy consumption accounting, extraction efficiency, component extraction rate, etc.
The production management subsystem can generate production plans from given process cards, provide production operation guidance, automatic control, and production process management.
traditionalCountercurrent extraction machinecomparison
At present, the production technology and equipment for traditional Chinese medicine extraction in China are backward, and traditional extraction processes are commonly used, mainly including decoction extraction, circulating reflux extraction, percolation extraction, and countercurrent tank group extraction, all of which are completed in closed units for leaching. As the leaching process progresses, the concentration of the leachate increases, the concentration of the material decreases (referring to the concentration of soluble substances in the material), the leaching rate slows down, and gradually reaches a certain equilibrium state. Therefore, in order to maintain a certain leaching rate, it is necessary to update the solvent to replace the almost saturated leaching solution. These processes also have unavoidable drawbacks: low extraction rates and significant waste of medicinal materials; Long extraction time; The high liquid output coefficient increases the burden of subsequent processing and consumes more energy; There are significant differences between batches; It belongs to intermittent operation with poor working conditions.
Compared with traditional extraction equipment, the advantages of our developed continuous countercurrent extraction equipment are as follows.
Extraction rate of active ingredients
Due to the use of continuous countercurrent extraction process, the concentration gradient is large and the effective ingredient extraction rate is high; The application of this device can increase the extraction rate of effective ingredients by 10% to 30% (compared with experimental data analysis).
Due to the use of advanced computer intelligent control, the product quality is stable and the equipment works continuously, overcoming the drawbacks of batch differences. Uniform heating, low-temperature leaching, and maximum protection of the thermosensitive components from damage.
processing power
Due to the use of continuous countercurrent extraction process, the extraction speed is fast; Continuous production after one drive results in high processing capacity and efficiency. Exempted from the additional time spent on processes such as feeding, preheating, changing media, and slag removal during the intermittent production of multifunctional extraction tanks. Taking the NLTQ-A40 equipment with a leaching chamber capacity of 0.8m3 as an example, it can process 28 tons of raw medicinal materials (extraction time of 180 minutes) after 10 days of operation, equivalent to two 6m3 multifunctional extraction tanks.
energy consumption
The liquid extraction coefficient is small (generally controlled between 6-12 times), while the liquid extraction coefficient of the multifunctional extraction tank is large (generally controlled between 18-30 times), saving the steam consumption required for excess solvent heating. At the same time, it can significantly reduce the concentration time and steam consumption of the subsequent process (evaporation equipment), and improve the utilization rate of the evaporation equipment. When extracting the same quantity and variety of Chinese medicinal materials, the extraction time required using this equipment is significantly less than that of a multifunctional extraction tank (generally reduced by more than 50%), and saves the steam consumption required for solvent heating in excess time. Automatic temperature control for heating (while multifunctional extraction tanks generally have poor controllability), saving steam consumption. Through analysis of actual production and operation data, the use of this equipment can save an overall energy consumption equivalent to 50% of that of a multifunctional extraction tank.
Control method
This device can be equipped with a computer intelligent control system, which replaces traditional manual operation based on experience with computer digitization and intelligent control, reducing the instability of manual operation.
equipment investment
Countercurrent extraction machineUsually, using this equipment instead of a multifunctional extraction tank to build an extraction workshop will reduce the workshop's footprint and height, decrease the investment in equipment and supporting facilities for subsequent processes, and significantly reduce the overall investment in the extraction workshop (by about 20%).