3L Centrifuge for first pass filtration after winterization?

Has anyone ever tried using a large centrifuge for filtering out the wax in the first pass for CO2 oil. Usually use large buchner funnel with a coffee filter, which we then double up and squeeze the last of oil out of but is time consuming. Thinking about a centrifuge. Any advice or alternate form for getting out the majority of plant wax, etc?

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@Roguelab has a pretty interesting DIY centrifugal filtering setup he has posted about before. I totally forgot about it when I was trying to figure out how to do a coarse filtration of my ethanol more quickly and thinking positive pressure filtration was going to be my best option. Hereā€™s some pics where I saw it introduced. I think I might pick up another panda and try this routeā€¦

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Iā€™ve used a sorval RC3 with a GSA rotor. Holds 6 250ml tubes. Worked great for winterizing up to 300g of BHO.

Iā€™ve got a second rotor for the Ace15 prototype that I was planning on using much the way @Roguelab is using his panda.

Iā€™ve also got a Beckmann J2-21 I paid $40 for that Iā€™m trying to put a basket rotor in.

At 15k rpm, Iā€™m pretty sure it qualifies as a bad ideatm, but thatā€™s not actually stopped me in the past :wink:

Iā€™m not sure I can punch a drain through the refrigerated bowl either, but I figured I worry about that once I had the basket spinning.

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Look for a biodiesel centrifuge used for removing glycerin from the final stages of biodiesel refinement. They are affordable and made to use with solvents.

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look what showed up in my feed yesterdayā€¦

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/d/raw-power-centrifuge/6774761650.html

edit: instead of clicking a two year old craislist link to see what a raw power centrifuge looks like, try : https://www.wvodesigns.com/raw-power-centrifuge.html.html

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Yes indeed, it works great for first pass. We used a Sorvall ST-40R. It took roughly 10 minutes at 3900 rpm to get it to separate cleanly. Since we made the switch to hemp processing I no longer have a need for it though so itā€™s available for sale. An excellent centrifuge.

Yep, lab centrifuges do work. Iā€™ve used Backman refrigerated centrifuges to winterize about 5kg of crude per day. 4x 500ml PP centrifuge bottles at a time so ~400g of crude per run.

Very labor intensive.

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I bought a 5L basket centrifuge with custom centrifugal liners ( filters) made of nylon for this exact application. It can only be used for a first pass if at all. My tests concluded that 2 passes through the standard BĆ¼chner funnel setup still ended up with less waxes compared to 1st pass centrifuge and 2nd pass Buchner. I wish i had more time however to revisit this. I believe that one of the reasons for these results May have to do with the liner material (nylon) compared to a coffee filter material which may absorb waxes as well as filter. Hope this makes since, thanks.

Its fun weighting all those bottles isnt it!

yeah, the problem is your filter media, not the concept.

try 1micron polyester felt.

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Just about the most wasteful winterization procedure Iā€™ve ever seen even if it does technically work.

  1. Mix crude with warm ethanol 1:4
  2. Pour equal amount into each 500ml PP bottle within 1 or 2 grams, fill 60+ bottles at a time on SS baking sheets
  3. Place in -80c for awhile
  4. Centrifuge for 15min. 3 centrifuges running, so every 5min youā€™re rushing toā€¦
  5. Decant first supernate carefully, refill with prechilled ethanol to equal weights again and shake. Then put back in -80c for awhile
  6. Centrifuge again, decant second supernate
  7. Waste even more time hand cleaning all 60+ bottles of ethanol saturated waxes.
  8. Realize your waste waxes are still 20% CBD and your ā€˜proprietary dewaxing techā€™ is the dumbest technique ever and your employee is having existential dread because all they do is move freezing cold bottles around 8 hours per day.

So I wouldnā€™t suggest that route to anyone.

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We pellet for 30 min -10*c @ 2272 rcf, It does it in one spin. Then filtration through celite 545 to remove any other junk. Filtration is very fast with the majority of the particles removed, One filter cake in a 4" funnel can handle 25-30 gal of solution easly. You need a fuge with liter sized bottles!

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How many kg of crude are you winterizing with that method per shift/8hours? How many man hours does it require?

I just couldnā€™t imagine choosing that work flow again, especially as itā€™s an open process. But Iā€™m intrigued if youā€™re satisfied with it.

6 liter fuge with bottles, 100 grams crude per per bottle. 600 grams every 30 min with each machine.

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Thanks for sharing! Did you settle on that method as preferable over others (filter press, something like Samboā€™s trolley, etc) or has that always been your tech and a ā€œIf it ainā€™t broke donā€™t fix itā€ mindset?

Also curious if you use those centrifuges for any other processes? Iā€™ve always wondered if theyā€™d assist with something like THCa isolation. I only have experience with hemp.

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sure. you can spin the sauce off your diamonds. rinse the diamonds too.

said use is cited in the Only The Strong sauce tek - #50 by Plant2pipe thread

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spinning the terps off the crystals prior to solvent rinse. I find that the thick sludge of terps is the hardest thing to rinse off without melting everything.

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Anyone familiar with the ā€œThe Escet Methodā€?
Claims to avoid winterization step in filtration and low proof alcohol.

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No, tell me more.

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Patent app: US20160228787A1 - Method and Apparatus for Extracting Plant Oils Using Ethanol Water - Google Patents