At different scales you use different centrifuges. If you’re so massive a scale you can’t get by with your basic centrifuge you go back to the big boys like for ethanol. Probably can’t keep oxygen out as easily at that scale, but it really doesn’t affect it much.
How would the thca saturation at room temp, which should be below supersaturation if your hte was post processed adequately, create issues during recombine? Am I overlooking a product you would want hte in that doesn’t have cannabinoids in it?
I’m sure @Dannywarbucks is considering the viscosity factor of the HTE reintroduced with the decarbed THCa. I personally like traces of THCa in the decarbed final product but then you run the risk of hardware integrity.
What would you do to further refine HTE after it’s been spun out if you don’t want to introduce any solvents?
Depends on the desired end product. I’d perform a second seeded low temperature crystallization on it to ensure I was still under the level of supersaturation, and would leave these seeds in the vessel during cold storage.
When it is time to use it pass the desired amount gently in a closed, inertly pressurized vessel, through submicron filtration and use it as is.
If I wanted to further separate it into its more volatile and less volatile constituents I could perform a vacuum assisted short path distillation on it, but I wouldn’t normally recommend that process because I feel that’s getting much closer to cannabis derived terpenes, and to me that isn’t the whole picture.
If you’re working with fresh enough material, cured or frozen, your terpenes should be low enough in viscosity to flow both off your crystallized cannabinoids and off the surfaces of the vessel you spin them off into. Use a jacketed centrifuge and you get a bit more control in that department.
I’m also unsure why you would experience problems with hardware integrity unless somehow the evolving co2 from what might be, 10%+/-5% dissolved thca in a final product could impact the functionality of certain atomizers?
This is something I’d like to discuss more in depth whether on this thread or another… comparing HTE with CDT, and or these two fractioning off and being reintroduced.
Interesting point, I will have to do some pondering on this. I don’t believe it is aviscosity issue as much as it could be hardware failure or like you said, atomizer compatibility.
IME, if there is more than a percent or two of THCa left in your vape oil, it can disrupt your filling process by continuing to emit CO2. You get bubbles in the carts during filling. Even under mild heat this happens surprisingly easily.
Yes, fucking pain in the ass when the oil just continues to push out the needle from the CO2, what a mess… Gotta take the time to make sure everything is right and ready to go before continuing.
I recommend filling no higher than 170°F to prevent this decarboxylation during filling. I also don’t recommend adding the hte or any other volatile until after you’ve verified over 90% decarboxylation and you’ve allowed the solution to cool to no higher than 140°F. Usually during this mixing process any residual solvent will immediately evolve out of solution.
If the HTE was still supersaturated I suppose that could cause issues, but if you are using an hte that has been brought below the point of supersaturation, and you’ve vacuumed your THC solution after decarboxylation, this problem appears to go away. It also stands to mention any restrictions in your filling device can greatly increase the amount of kinetic energy the solution is exposed to causing decarboxylation as it passes through the restriction. Cleaning the fill path any time it is allowed to cool for any extended period of time will also reduce the likelihood of additional undesired decarboxylation.
Lastly, in an effort to preserve the low boiling point volatiles a lot of hte will still have an appreciable amount of solvent in it. If your hte can’t reach room temperature without building up a vapor pressure above that of any known terpene at that temperature you still need to subject it to more temp swings to allow the remaining solvent to fill the headspace.
As I said, this is a theoretical SOP. This stream of discourse and proposed experimentation is exactly what I had hoped for by posting. I hope @Akoyeh follows up with results.
When I proposed this idea to a colleague with advanced chemistry expertise, I asked what the max possible psi could be in a 6"x8" vessel containing 1kg of BHO with 75% THCA content at 110C. I think it came out to something like +26,000 psi.
So, reasoning behind the extra spool, vacuum environment and heater/chiller is to allow for as much of the headspace to fill with CO2 and any other gasses and build pressure. If the pressure begins to rise too high or too fast, the solution can be chilled and the excess CO2 gas can be vented. Then just restart the process.
I think the presence of the CO2 gas will inhibit too many undesired reactions in the headspace. I’m not trying to dog on HTE or spinning, but that takes time and hands. How many days does it take to process 12kg in to spun of HTE from the extractor? This process could be completed within 24 hours of extraction, ready to package.
@406_Chemabis I like the idea of comparing each method directly. It would be easy enough.
Like I said, I didn’t do the math. I don’t know any thermo math and at this point I’m not trying to learn that when I can just ask someone I trust. I’ll ask if he’s willing to write it down and post it.
