What is emulsification? Why did it happen?
Emulsification refers to the mixing of two immiscible liquids (such as aqueous and organic phases) to form a stable milky liquid. The emergence of this phenomenon is often closely related to the following factors:
Interfacial tension and active substances: Certain extractants or impurities may reduce interfacial tension, leading to emulsification.
Agitation intensity: excessive agitation or turbulence can easily lead to the formation of emulsification.
System conditions: Changes in pH and the presence of impurities in the solution increase the risk of emulsification.
Solid particle interference: Suspended particles accumulate at the liquid interface, strengthening the stability of the emulsion.
How to prevent emulsification?
Optimize mixing conditions:
Reduce excessive stirring: Choose a gentle stirring method to avoid causing turbulence.
Equipment optimization: Low shear extraction equipment is selected to reduce the risk of emulsification at the source.
Adjust system conditions:
Control pH: Adjust the pH of the water phase to near neutral to reduce the tendency to emulsify.
Control flow ratio and extractant purity: ensure high purity of extractant to avoid interference from impurities.
Pretreatment raw materials:
Solid-liquid separation: pretreatment of fermentation liquid or conversion liquid to remove insoluble matter such as bacteria and reduce emulsification source.
Membrane separation method: membrane separation technology such as ultrafiltration is used to reduce the content of macromolecular substances such as proteins.
What to do when emulsification has occurred?
When the emulsification phenomenon strikes, the following ways can help you escape:
Static separation: The emulsion is left to rest overnight, waiting for density differences to encourage natural stratification.
Physical method
Centrifugal separation: The use of centrifuges to quickly separate emulsified mixtures is both efficient and time-saving.
Filtration removal: Add diatomaceous earth or perlite and other filter AIDS, filter to remove the emulsion layer.
Chemical method
Add inorganic salts, such as table salt or calcium chloride, to help layer the liquid.
Add ethanol: Carefully add a small amount of ethanol to promote the stratification of the emulsion, but the amount of addition should be controlled.
Adjust the pH value: Adjust the pH value of the water phase through acid and alkali to destroy the stability of the emulsion layer.
Other methods
Heating demulsification: Heating can reduce viscosity and interfacial tension and help demulsification.
Ultrasonic treatment: Using vibration to destroy the milk droplet structure, easy to achieve milk breaking.
Precautions in actual operation
It is very important to choose the right emulsifying equipment, such as colloid mill, homogenizer or ultrasonic emulsifier, which should be selected according to the experimental needs. In addition, the control of emulsification temperature and emulsification time is also the key, which needs to be regulated according to the properties of oil and water phases and find the best parameters through experiments.
Although emulsification poses challenges during extraction, by optimizing mixing conditions, adjusting system conditions, pre-treating raw materials, and implementing effective demulsification measures, we were able to significantly reduce emulsification and improve extraction efficiency. In actual operation, reasonable selection of emulsifying equipment, control of temperature and time and other factors can not be ignored. The comprehensive use of these technical means will enable us to be comfortable in extraction technology and provide strong support for scientific research and production!
Release date：2025.01.23 
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