The THC-A will crash out of a CXE mixture at pressures below 400psi. I generally step the pressure down twice with a filter behind each needle valve.
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The only way I use CO2 is in its’ supercritical state, and I can reliably produce crystals with just that.
Edit: The key is phase change, rapidly decrease pressure on a solution containing THCa and the phase change will cause the THCa to crash. Doing this multiple times equals larger formations.
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Makes sense!
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Would you be willing to provide information on preparation of sample, then temps and pressures you cycle?
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Not at the moment… I’m in the process of contacting a couple of engineers to try and develop an inline crystallization vessel. If that doesn’t work out I’ll dump all of my info on here.
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Will do
How did you go about getting rid of waxes?
I pull them before I pull the THCA.
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is that thc-a suspended in ethanol or what very interested in trying this . What kind of pressure vessel do you use.
I’m using a Waters SFE. No ethanol, just CO2, my Instagram has pictures.
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https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ie5046445 found this article about gas antisolvent crystalization. So @JonaaronbrayAzoth when you cause a rapid decrease in pressure does that result in the CO2 expanding the primary solvent (ethanol) resulting in selective precipitation with each expansion?
Do both of the percipitate not steps take place with the same ratio of solvent and gas antisolvent but with different pressure drops each time? Or does the ratio of solvent to gas antisolvent increase each time?
Just started running the 10L waters unit, dialing it still in but seems to be running smooth.
From what I’ve seen, THCa will have some water content in the final product, gonna try dried decarbed material next, I hear THC runs better on these units.
I’m gonna do some R&D on crystallization of THCa, will report back.
The tech that ran the waters machine at my last job only put decarbed material through it, you will get much better yields this way.
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Anything above the critical point will have to much solvent power and non targets for the precipitation of THC-a.
The subcritcal range (less than 65f) has enough selectivity to create a mixture rich enough in THC-a to precipitate.
If I explain this further I am sure Apeks would release a new Co2 precipitate module with in the year.
If your a actual extraction tech who wants to explore Co2 precipitation please DM me and I will guide you to some safe experiments for you to get your feet wet safely. Currently events are a harsh reminder of the dangers of high pressure extractions.
Stay safe guys…
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Have you had any progress with this project? I have run the waters sfe and accidently created THCa powder but am very interested in a proper method.
No reason it wouldnt be possible, would just require the parameters be properly dialed in. Though i imagine anyone who has a system that could do it probably wouldnt share the tek online…