WHERE ARE SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS BEST APPLIED?
The author has widely communicated his view on using supercritical fluids for developing new products or processes – ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ (3), in other words, don’t force fit supercritical fluids into an application that is adequately handled by traditional industrial operations, such as solvent extraction, distillation, wiped film evaporation and the like. On the other hand, if research is fundamental in nature, for example, dealing with physico-chemical phenomena, thermodynamics, kinetic principles, and so on, it need not have industrial application, especially in the university system with its goals to teach, to instill curiosity, and to create knowledge. Applied industrial research should be sufficiently and justifiably motivated, especially in today’s economic climate. Where then, on both technical and economic grounds is the unique combination of properties and attributes of supercritical fluids most advantageously applied in developing improved processes and product
