Applications SFC vs HPLC

The main condition to use PS-SFC for a separation is the possibility to dissolve the sample in the supercritical fluid. This solubility can be evaluated from experiments or from literature on the applications of the supercritical fluids (extraction or analytical chromatography) (eg, [9,10]). 

PS-SFC appears to be a complementary technique to preparative HPLC. Actually, it can be presented as one of the multiple alternatives to HPLC that aims at reducing the cost and solvent consumption while maintaining the efficiency of separation Simulated Moving Bed, Flip-Flop, Back-Flush, PS-SFC, Multi-Dimensional Chromatography, etc. On this basis, the potential applications of PS-SFC can be evaluat- 

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) has been employed at the analytical scale by a number of workers for several years [1]. Scaling-up the technique for preparative use has been investigated and developed by relatively few and still presents a number of challenges. 

This Chapter relates the problems associated with scaling-up the technique for use at the laboratory preparative level and above and pays special attention to the technical demands on materials and apparatus to ensure complete safety in the operation of the chromatograph. The ideas and designs of others will be reviewed and compared with the authors own approach. The advantages and disadvantages offered by the various systems will be explained in sufficient detail for the reader to adopt the system most suited to his/her needs. The non-specialist reader may not be familiar with the use of supercritical fluids as mobile phases in chromatography so the Chapter is introduced with a brief explanation of the nature of the supercritical state. 

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a form of liquid chromatography where the usual liquid solvent mobile phase has been replaced with a supercritical fluid. A supercritical fluid is a substance that is above its critical point. The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which the maximum vapour, pressure of the liquid is equal to the external pressure or the temperature at which the liquid boils freely under that pressure [2]. 

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