I appreciate the response and it looks like we are on the same page. It should not even be an argument but for some reason I have to explain to these NYC offices why cancer patients shouldn’t vaporize heavy metals. (I really wish I had a thread to hop on and troll this place, @Future is there a Yelp Review thread yet? Could be another one of my bad iDeas)
Just want to make sure that my math makes sense as I am unsure of the solubility of arsenic salts (?) in ethanol. Would THCA and arsenic concentrate at the same rate? I am attempting to show that the 46 ppb in our flower can translate to over a 200 pbb failure in our concentrate.
@BigM thank you for your info! We have had our water tested and I’m thinking its the GH Kool Bloom.
Not that I feel like helping these guys much more… but if I toss a filter stack under my column and run the wash over T5 this should remove the arsenic correct?
Also, is the arsenic some sort of budlight chelado Chelation? Confused on the structure of arsenic within these nutrients?
Would putting ethanol that has been chilled via dry through a molecular sieve help clean the ethanol while keeping it freezing cold? Like would that chilled, sieved ethanol be better to use.
I imagine there are better ways to clean a tincture.
Also in reference to the strainers you posted above. Here is another option that worked well for me.
What I did to filter my tincture when using bucket tek was set up a large filter system using 55 gallon drums (could be done with 5 gal too).
I drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of one drum like you would see in a filter plate/buchner. Covered with silk screen cloth cut to size. Topped with washed silica sand (you could use any media). Then outfitted the lid with compressor fitting. I set this whole thing on top of another 55 gallon drum with the lid off.
Trow some dry ice in to keep it cold. Pour tincture in. Run up the pressure. Filter 50gal+ in an hr or 2 while maintaining dry ice temps.
You can also drill a hole in the side of the collection drum near the top. This way you can drop a tube in to siphon out your filtered tincture without stopping the process, if your doing larger volumes.
If you were to use something like t5, I would still recommend using sand on top to catch most of the particulate.
A 3d filter media is much faster than 2d and this set up is extremely inexpensive.
presumably the next trick is to extract with it, or is this for a new drinking game?!? (doesn’t everybody store their vodka at -80C?)
200proof works, but imo is not better than 190…it is arguably better than 150proof for extraction, but as @Demontrich noted, absorbing water generates heat, so cooling 100proof, then running it over molsieves to get to 200proof might not be a win.
What is your goal here?!?
Defining your solvent prep as “Better” really requires knowing what you’re prepping it for…and where it’s been beforehand.
My responses assume “better for extracting cannabinoids”, but you know how assumptions can get you into trouble quick…
Well for one I wanna take pH samples of the ethanol; before and after the dry ice insertion and then I wanna take pH samples of the ethanol before and after the sieve. I also hope to remove excess water content that could’ve been picked up by the dry ice and I also want to know if there’s an overall difference.
Idk I have a feeling that could possibly help.
Plus! If you’re gonna go that low on the solvent temp shouldn’t you sieve your solvent?
Ik ethanol isn’t an lpg but…
Put it this way right, when you recover butane or an lpg during a cls run you’re urged to sieve your recovered solvent because you’re not going to pick up water content and it’s to make sure your solvent is technically “clean and dry” right?
Ik there are some that sieve their lpg when they distill it to make sure it’s “clean and dry.”
So why not run Freezing cold Ethanol that was chilled via Dry Ice through a molecular sieve before you extract with it? One would think it would be a good idea.
Dry ice does not have any water content (hence being called dry). Dry ice does not melt, it sublimates (skips a state of matter and goes from solid directly to gas phase). Dry ice is made from CO2, and it being heavier than air creates a blanket over the top of your chilling solvent (when added directly to the solvent). Not sure why you think adding dry ice to your solvent pulls in water.
I have worked with ethanol (both denatured and not) for many, many years, and I have really not had problems with the proof dropping enough to ever worry about needing a sieve to strip water content, even being in the PNW.
removing too much water from your ethanol makes it a less selective solvent…
you’re removing the excess water from your LPG in the gas phase, if you’re using that as your model, it is during the solvent recovery/distillation that you’d want to dewater.
certainly not trying to talk you out of trying it.
Very well done and put together. Thank for for providing this.
Are there any concerns with dissolving Dry Ice in Ethanol? I think a small amount of CO2 would be dissolved into the liquid ETOH and carried over into the oil?
Also have you considered doing 2 washes instead of only 1 to get a higher yield?
I am wanting to revise my process to be like yours. I have been using glass jars and a cooler.
CO2 dissolved in ethanol will evaporate in the rotovap. It will be completely gone before all the ethanol is gone. If you are making a tincture or something, just let it sit at room temp for a while and it will degas itself, or better yet, bubble nitrogen through your solution. This will also increase the pH, if it was lowered by CO2.
2 washes instead of 1 will definitely increase your yield, but keep the two pulls separate. The second wash you do will have a higher wax/fat concentration and there’s no sense diluting your first pull with this stuff. Depending on your end product, of course.
