CBD Crystallization

Would the heat of a cart not create the appropriate environment for the decarb of CBDa? Leaving you with a variable timeline before crystalization?

2 Likes

Does anybody have a good cartridge recipe that works for combining CBD Isolate powder with a thc distillate (lest assume 99% for simplicity on the math). I am trying to make a 1-1 cartridge but most of the information above seems to relate to the CBD amounts and less about the THC. I want to avoid chrystalization but have no idea how the chemistry works. Is there a % that I can keep the CBD under that we are confident will avoid chrystalization?

For a 1 gram cartridge:

  • 400 mg CBD
  • 400 mg THC Distillate
  • The rest of the volume made up in true terpenes

50:50 cartridge ought to be resistant to crystallization. I’ve never seen it happen.

2 Likes

Do you know anything about powder volume? As in if i have 1ml thc distillate and i add 1000mg CBD isolate powder, what that should give me in new volume?

1g (1000mg) of CBD isolate is roughly equivalent to 1ml in volume.

4 Likes

Ask the all knowing one for the density of thc and cbd…

https://www.google.com/search?q=density+of+THC+and+CBD

Or look around here: Density of crude?

4 Likes

You are saying not to decarb and load up a cart with CBD distillite and it will not crystalize?

No.
Distillate is by the nature of its production decarbed.

They are suggesting using raw CO2 crude.

What I don’t understand is the concept that extracting CBDA with CO2 is easier than extracting with ethanol. A rotovap or vacuum assisted moonshine still will get the ethanol off without decarbing.

I was also under the impression that decarbing first made cannabinoids more soluble in CO2

@ExTek90? @Plant2pipe?

Edit: I missed. they’re using winterized CO2 oil…

5 Likes

Lots of people decarb biomass prior to CO2 extraction. @cyclopath you are correct that the reason is because the acidic compounds require CO2 to be further into the trans critical state to successfully extract them. So most people decarb to make the extraction “easier” for the machine as well as quicker.

The upside is, you can use lower pressure to extract cannabinoids. Downside is, you lose a vast majority of your terpenes in the decarb process. In the case of CBD meant for vape carts, you’re going to have crystallization issues from high CBD content with distillate. Other upside, you won’t have to get the CO2 to a state where it can pull acids that cause isomers.

There are pros and cons to both, but, if the crude is meant for high CBD vape carts, decarbing before the extraction isn’t an option to my knowledge. Apparently there’s such a thing as “crystal resistant distillate” but I’m inclined to think that’s only achievable via adding something non native to the plant.

However, CBDA is a bit tough to crystallize, so perhaps that’s the “resistant” part.

Edit: I recommend highly that no one put completely raw CO2 oil into anything except edibles and topicals. The amount of waxes pulled by CO2 can lead to lipid based pneumonia, so in the absolute minimum, winterized crude oil.
I’ve heard centrifugal separation of waxes works well with sub-critical runs, but, I don’t totally believe it without seeing some data to prove it.

6 Likes

I’m gonna take a wild guess here about the EtOH vs CO2 extraction capability. Perhaps frigid ethanol isn’t so great at grabbing CBDA? As in, maybe the amount of money required to get a kilo of CBDA reflects less on CO2 than -70 ethanol.

I’m wondering if you could explain this a little more.

How is extracting with CO2, then winterizing (with cold ethanol) a better route than cryo-ethanol?

You mention you took your ethanol extracts to distilate. was that because you were extracting at rm temp and getting black goo that needed cleanup before presenting to the customer?



Little late to the party but I am seeking answers and would love some feedback. This is what I believe to be CBDA crashing from a hydrocarbon extracted crude. It was several 5lb runs of fresh frozen cherry mom mixed with dried frozen trim machine dust, cold solvent without dewax, recovered to slight vacuum and pushed out the bottom drain with nitro. We have sent away samples but we’re having some strage issues with labs from it. I believe we will have a solid test result on this oil soon. I did not try to force crystallization, in fact the oil was vacuum purged after an overnight preheat to 95°F for almost a week.

My questions are: Can I wash these crystals the same as THCA with cold solvent on a buchner? If so, which solvent would allow me to recover the terp portion as well? And lastly is isolating CBDA worth the effort?

2 Likes

can confirm. have inadvertently crystallized CBDA, purified those crystals further via crushing/washing and got a white solid with a distinct melting point.

2 Likes

Sorry for the delayed response, I’ve been away from this forum for a while.

I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a “better” route, but for the product we were trying to create it made the most sense to go the CO2 route for flavor and yield. It’s a strain specific, flower sourced, oil cartridge based on the Canna-Tsu CBD strain.

And no, our ethanol extracts are some of the lightest you will see on the market (comparable to distillate at times), but crude ethanol is ready to go straight into a SPD boiling pot, whereas CO2 takes more post-processing before SPD.

I don’t think you can get distillate without SOME decarboxylation.

:wink:

1 Like

Did they crystallize?

Any tips on ratios for CBD distillate carts to keep from crystallizing?

Did you get a reply to your question here? Nice looking resin :slight_smile:

What temp was the melting point ? Just curious cbd is like 62C

1 Like

yaknow I cant remember offhand, its been some time - Ive got it written somewhere Ill see if I can find it… My highest CBD melting point was something like 67 C via painstaking recystallization to attain some insanely high potency seed crystals, but I very much trust my result. A typical CBD first crop crystallization however I see 62-65C, so I think you’re probably making pretty decent product by that measure.

1 Like