Measurement of Diffusion in Dimethyl Ether - Water Systems for Extraction of Aqueous Biomass

This paper describes processes for extraction of lipids from aqueous feed streams using the near critical solvent dimethyl ether (DME). DME has a moderate mutual solubility with water which enables lipids to be extracted directly from aqueous streams. Both neutral and polar lipids can be extracted in good yield from a range of feedstocks including marine, algal, plant, egg, dairy, and fermented feedstocks. Results are presented on measurements of the rate of diffusion of water in DME using the Taylor-Aris method. These measurements, combined with thermodynamic and equilibria data for the DME-water system enable modelling of the contacting dynamics in the process.