Hey yall,
Im currently manager of a lab running a 6" beaker and wrench system for distillation. Im finding with the sops the lab has, the yields are averaging 50% on the theoretical return of total thc.
When we run the system very slow it does okay though around 85%.
Anyone have any advice on how to dial her in?
Did the facility buy this system new from BW?
How low is the vacuum getting? How many liters/hour are you feeding in?
Yes but all the lab employees at the time no longer work there.
Vacuum gets down to 5-8 mtorr. With the diffusion pump active. I had her running at 4 l per hour thursday and only after slowly bumping up the stillbody 1 degree C continously (until stopping at 165) did I start to actually pull anything decent yield wise compared to the crude / waste return. I found i had to re-add the waste return back in multiple times and was able to over double the yields once adjusting the parameters.
Were using a 100L ecodyst rotoary evap, cup 5 centrifuge, ertelalsop filter. Everything wed need to make fire distillate.
I will say the current SOPs at the lab did confuse me compared to what I had been doing in the past as well.
They do room temp centrifuge, send it to the ertel than to the roto. Boil down, then they winterize and filter again, (compared to room temp before) then boil down the rest of the way. Decarb. Volatile strip 2x. Then distill at 2 L per hour.
Id run it between 172 c and 178 depending on feed rate and such
Glass or steel unit?
Define “theoretical”…do you have analytics?
In house?
Are you doing a THC mass balance to calculate that “50%”?
Or are you just guesstimating based on what you feel went into the CUP?
If you actually know how much THC is in your crude then it is simply a matter of examining how it partitions between your distillate and raffinate…and if it’s in your raffinate you’re running your evaporator too cold (if it makes it to your cold trap, your running your “hot condenser” too %^%^ing hot!!).
Steel unit.
We do a full panel COA to show total available THC then we theoretically estimate we can extract 90% of that total out.
Why do a volatile strip twice? Are you getting anything on the second one?
your thinking low vac? same camp here.
No. That was the current lab SOP as far as mutliple strips. I think the last guy just didnt want to work honestly.
Im wanting to change the parameters and the sop entirely. I feel better winterization from the start will stop the need for the extra winterization after filtration as I mentioned earlier. Hotter temps on the stillbody as gentleman previously mentioned. More liters per hour feed as they only ever ran it at 2LPH.
I honestly think the vac is fine. I think its temp perameters as its never been properly dialed in by the crew.
Well, the problem is the still parameters for sure, gotta be either heat or vac.
Can you measure the vacuum on the next run? Can you also verify the calibration of the vacuum sensors are calibrated? Might also audit the temperature/ flowrate/ fluid level of the heated circulator. You may want to take a look and see if any previous “mods” were made by the last crew as well.
is that on the input biomass for the CUP?
So the problem might be that you’re leaving behind more there than expected?
I suggest you actually test your assumptions (product & raffinate from both processes).
And reiterate that: if it’s not in your distillate, it didn’t evaporate, so the you don’t have your evaporator hot enough.
Do you have data on the input/output steams on your still? Like @cyclopath mentioned what goes in comes out. Test the reject stream for cannabinoids and let us know what turns up. The more data points we have the better we can understand what needs to change. Have you just tried playing around with it, and running the still body hotter? you might run it by the seat of your pants and try to dial in the right values. That is of course if all the mechanical systems are running correctly.
Have you cleaned or inspected it since you started working on it, it could be possible your blades are spent and material is just falling through at higher feed rates.
Are both of your volatile strips the same parameters or is it a strip & cut?
Hey all,
So I really dialed her in today. Reran the stuff from last week and pulled 400 extra grams and pulled 90% on our theoretical today. I also ran the machine just under 4 LPH which is faster than the current crew ever has.
Cleaned her on Friday which may also account for the super clean run today.
so fill us in, what made her chooch?
Still body temp was the biggest factor.
I bumped her in increments of 5’ C just to see the differences in flow rate.
Nice, glad you got it dialed. From time to time that temp will change, especially if your room temp fluctuates a lot.
