Energetic and Environmental Analysis of Different Techniques for Biomolecules Extractions

There is an increase in the demand of natural and environmentally more sustainable products, for that the biorefinery is a very promising tool due to its capacity to develop more sustainable products. Biorefinery processes are being optimized to reduce the global energy consumption and environmental impact by increasing extraction yields. In this work, two intensification techniques, microwave-assisted extraction and ultrasound-assisted extraction, have been tested and their results have been compared with those obtained by the conventional method. The best results were obtained with microwave-assisted extraction. Another studied aspect was the selectivity of the solvent, for which three ionic liquids ([C4C1im][Br], [C4C1im][OAc] and [C4C1im][BF4]) and two deep eutectic solvents (Choline Chloride:Urea (1:2) and Choline Chloride: 1,4-butanediol (1:2)) were tested. The best extraction yield was obtained with Choline Chloride:Urea (1:2). The objective of this work was the evaluation of the impact of the processes in terms of energy consumption and solvents’ toxicity, in addition to the determination of the extraction process performance. For this, an analysis of energy consumption was performed, with microwave assisted extraction having the lowest consumption. For the toxicity study different parameters were taken into account, concluding that deep eutectic solvents are a good option. In conclusion, the combination of microwave assisted extraction with deep eutectic solvents can be considered the most efficient extraction method.