Dichloromethane, acetone, hexane, cyclohexane, toluene, etc. The MAP process is used to accelerate the extraction process of target compounds from a variety of sources. Major applications are in the food, agricultural, fragrance, essential oil and botanical areas. It can be used for the extraction of compounds from various plant and animal tissues, the gas phase removal of substances from liquids or solids, or the extraction of undesirable components from raw materials. Examples of some extractable compounds are given in Table 2.
Several units are in commercial operation throughout North America.
This source material is then pumped into the process vessel where it is subjected to microwave irradiation. A target compound is then selectively heated by adjusting various MAP parameters such as microwave power, exposure time, and flow rate. The temperature difference between the solvent and the target compound forces the compound into the solvent. The resulting substrate is then filtered off and the filtrate is processed conventionally to remove the target compound. A second compound can be extracted by recycling the expended product under a different set of MAP parameters.