At SFE Process, we firmly believe that technology can – and must – be a lever for a cleaner, smarter and more sustainable industrial world. It’s this conviction that drives us to constantly innovate around supercritical CO₂, a process as fascinating as it is effective. But today, we’re taking things a step further: by joining forces with De Dietrich, a long-standing player in industrial engineering, together we’re paving the way for even more solid, robust solutions tailored to today’s challenges.
This partnership is not simply a commercial agreement. It’s a genuine synergy born of a shared ambition: to support manufacturers in their drive towards greener, more economical processes, without compromising on performance. Together, we share strong values: high technical standards, responsible innovation and customized customer service.
So why does this partnership change everything for the industry? That’s what we explain here, in a clear and human way.
Supercritical CO₂, our technological DNA
What is supercritical CO₂?
Supercritical CO₂ is a very special physical state that carbon dioxide assumes when placed at over 31.1°C and 73.8 bar. In this phase, it is neither completely liquid nor completely gaseous, but a little of both. This makes it a highly efficient solvent, capable of penetrating materials like a gas and dissolving compounds like a liquid.
At SFE Process, we’ve made it our core business. It’s a clean, safe, recyclable and non-toxic technology that extracts or purifies substances without the need for polluting chemical solvents. The CO₂ we use is not destroyed: it is recovered, recondensed, and reused in a loop.
Why we chose this technology
In our early days, betting on supercritical CO₂ wasn’t necessarily the easiest route. Few people were talking about it, the equipment was expensive, the standards unclear. But we always believed in the potential of this method. Why was this? Because it’s simply better. Better for the planet, better for product quality, better in the long term for manufacturers.
Today, we’re proud to have developed equipment capable of meeting ultra-precise needs, in sectors as demanding as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food processing. And the market is proving us right: demand is exploding, projects are multiplying, and our customers are becoming our best ambassadors.
Its economic, technical and ecological advantages
Supercritical CO₂ ticks all the boxes:
- Environmentally-friendly: no residues, no waste water, no toxic solvents.
- Economical: significant reduction in operating costs thanks to CO₂ recovery and lower energy consumption.
- Technical: ability to process delicate materials, isolate sensitive compounds, purify finely without degrading the product.
It’s a solution that speaks to engineers and CSR managers alike. And that’s exactly what we like at SFE Process: to offer cutting-edge technology, without ignoring the realities of the field.
Why team up with De Dietrich?
A meeting of values and visions
When we met the De Dietrich teams, we quickly realized that we spoke the same language. A shared passion for quality, an obsession with process optimization, and above all, a real desire to shake things up. This alliance is the junction between our technological expertise in supercritical CO₂, and their mastery of high-flying industrial engineering.
Modular and customized solutions
From laboratory to industrial scale
At SFE Process, we know that every project is unique. That’s why we’ve implemented a totally modular approach. Whether it’s a biotech start-up or a pharma giant, our aim is to offer a solution that perfectly matches our customers’ needs, budget and pace.
It often starts with laboratory testing. We take your raw material, run it through our equipment, and help you understand what can be extracted, purified or recovered with supercritical CO₂. Then, if the results are convincing, we move on to the pre-industrialization phase. Here, we size the process, test it on a pilot scale, and fine-tune all the parameters.
When everything is validated, we industrialize. And that’s when our partnership with De Dietrich really comes into its own. They assemble the building blocks and integrate the equipment into a complete, secure, automated line. We’re with you every step of the way. And even afterwards.
Test centers: validate before investing
Our test center, located in Lorraine, is our little technological jewel. A space totally dedicated to experimentation in supercritical CO₂, with state-of-the-art equipment and a team that has seen every conceivable material come and go: plants, polymers, powders, oils, raw extracts…
We regularly welcome customers who come to test their process in real-life conditions. We iterate together, adjusting temperatures, pressures, flow rates and extraction times, and validating the technical feasibility of each project.
This upstream work is essential. It enables our customers to make decisions based on concrete facts, not promises. And when De Dietrich joins the project, their test centers take over to validate industrial integration. It’s like an engineering relay: fluid and efficient.
The turnkey offer, simply explained
At SFE Process, we don’t just deliver a machine. We deliver a real project, complete, tested, documented and ready to go.
De Dietrich takes care of everything:
- Process design and validation
- Equipment manufacturing
- Integration into your plant
- Installation, commissioning, training
- And of course, long-term technical support
It’s a bit like building a custom home, with an architect who understands your vision and a builder who guarantees solidity. The result: less stress, fewer unforeseen events, more performance from day one.
Where our technology changes everything
Pharmaceuticals: efficiency, safety and savings
In the pharmaceutical sector, purity is non-negotiable. We’re talking here about active substances that will end up in the human body. There’s no question of leaving solvent residues lying around, or of degrading an active ingredient through harsh treatments.
Supercritical CO₂ is the ideal solution:
- Leaves no toxic residue
- It allows you to work at low temperatures
- It respects the integrity of the most sensitive molecules
But that’s not all. Thanks to our expertise, we can go even further with supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC). It’s a fast, cost-effective, high-performance purification method, far more efficient than conventional HPLC. And because we work in a closed circuit, operating costs fall. What used to be a high-end process is now affordable.
Cosmetics & plants: pure, natural extracts
Cosmetics brands are increasingly looking for “clean”, natural, traceable ingredients. This is exactly what our technology enables. We can extract essential oils, antioxidants, plant pigments… all without using the slightest petrochemical solvent.
Extracts are pure, unoxidized, and retain their natural aromatic profile. And because we adapt our machines to each raw material, even the most complex plants find their solution.
We work with perfumers, laboratories, formulators… And they all tell us the same thing: “we would never have achieved this level of quality with a conventional method”.
Chemical recycling: a new way of adding value to existing products
Chemical recycling is one of tomorrow’s biggest industrial challenges. And good news: our technology has a central place in it. With supercritical CO₂, we can isolate components of interest from complex waste, separate polymers, recover valuable molecules from used streams.
Whether to recover solvents from liquid waste? Extracting additives from composite materials? Purifying secondary raw materials? We have a solution for every situation.
And the beauty of it is that the CO₂ we use is infinitely reusable. We’re working in a closed loop, without creating any additional pollution. That’s what version 4.0 recycling is all about.
What De Dietrich brings to our projects
De Dietrich is a reassuring name. Their ability to take a project from paper to turnkey plant is a strength that enables us to go even further with our customers. They bring us industrial power, an international network, and unrivalled knowledge of standards and requirements in the field.
Clearly complementary
Where SFE Process brings innovative, agile and adaptable technology, De Dietrich comes in to structure, secure and grow projects. Together, we offer comprehensive support, from proof of concept to industrial commissioning. It’s this complementarity that makes our duo so strong. And it’s what makes all the difference for our customers.
The industrial impact of our approach
Reducing OPEX without sacrificing quality
When we think of industrial investment, we often think of CAPEX, but for our customers, it’s often the OPEX – the operating costs – that weigh heavily in the balance. And that’s where we really make the difference.
With our supercritical CO₂ solutions, the process becomes not only cleaner, but also more cost-effective:
- Less energy consumption, because you heat less.
- No solvents to buy back or manage at the end of the cycle.
- Low maintenance, because our machines are designed to last and are easy to service.
- Fewer intermediate steps mean less material waste and fewer errors.
In other words: equal or superior quality, at a greatly optimized operating cost. Return on investment is often much faster than with conventional technologies.
Recyclability of CO₂: the hidden ecological advantage
If supercritical CO₂ is so popular with CSR managers and engineers alike, it’s because it ticks all the sustainability boxes. For a start, it’s reusable. What you inject at the beginning of the cycle, you get back at the end, virtually intact. All you have to do is re-condense it, re-compress it, and off you go again.
But it gets better: this CO₂ we’re using isn’t “new” CO₂. We most often work with recovered CO₂, the kind we capture in other industrial processes (fermentations, combustion…). In short, we recover this gas rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. It’s circular CO₂, a bit like carbon recycling.
And on top of that, the process is hermetically sealed. No emissions, no volatility, no contamination.
Preparing industries for tomorrow’s standards
Environmental standards are changing fast. And they’re getting stricter all the time. Whether you work in chemicals, food, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics, sooner or later you’ll have to account for your processes:
- GHG emissions
- Input traceability
- Solvent residues
- Energy consumption
With our technologies, it’s possible to get a considerable head start. No need to retrofit or panic at every change in legislation: you’re already prepared.
Conclusion
This partnership with De Dietrich is much more than a strategic project. For us at SFE Process, it’s a new way of imagining industry. More fluid, cleaner, more agile. We’re convinced that supercritical CO₂ has a central role to play in the ecological transition of production lines. And we’re proud to make our expertise available to those who want to do things differently, better, smarter.
By joining forces with De Dietrich, we broaden our playing field, secure the most complex projects and, above all, accelerate the adoption of solutions that make sense.
