Is a reactor the best way to decarb say 100L at a time or is it better to break it up in smaller batches and oven it or any other method. We would like to go the way of more volume per batch because our daily output will increase so more small batches would not be ideal.
Thanks in advance
I think most people do it in smaller batches because its easier to deal with the expanding “muffin” of crude and CO2 gases, doubly so if your decarbing SOP is done under vacuum.
For now I decarb in 50L rotos and that seems to be able to knock down the muffin/bubble front pretty well, I have some ideas about building a decarb reactor for the long term but haven’t got it fully built out yet. Rotos work well because they’re constantly exposing new material to the vacuum and also knocking down/popping bubbles, which means you don’t have to use a terribly long residence time at temperature to get it fully decarbed.
I suspect you need to have some kind of active mixer to decarb in a reactor as well as a way to knock down bubbles in case your muffin exceeds the volume of your reactor, otherwise you’re sending valuable crude straight into your vacuum pump or trap.
Do you mind sharing you roto sop. Vac pulled, temp, time. Post here or pm. Your above response was great.
I should ask first what your end product is. I’m decarbing winterized hemp crude prior to distillation with CBD isolate being final goal. SOP needs to be catered to your end product goal and whether you want to keep your terps intact.
Our end product is a high quality winterized decarbed crude ready for distillation. Pretty close to what you’re doing except we sell off the crude. Our niche is large volume on an industrial scale after our first year. Thats why large volume options are preferred. Our first year a 50L roto or 2 or 3 would work perfect. After that we would experiment with large agitated reactors.
Silicone oil (or avacodo oil, or so I hear. Wanting to experiment with avocado oil myself) in the bath, 125c, <150 torr vacuum, 30 minutes or until bubbles stop. Some say to crank it to 145 for 10 minutes, but others seem to cringe at that temp with such a weak vac, so best to play it safe in my book. I don’t think anyone can give you a precise SOP without knowing other variables, but those guidelines are a good place to start experimenting.
Just remember, vacuum does not speed up the process or lower the decarb temp. Most just use vacuum to limit air exposure at those vulnerable temps. I myself am trying to find a way to run the exhaust vac through some charcoal given the pungent terp smell decarbing can release. Last thing I want to be doing is attracting thieves who happen to be walking by and getting ideas for later on that night.
Vacuum might not speed up decarbing, but it helps remove terpenes that would be in your heads fraction which will give you better vacuum. Also, decarbing out in the open stinks… in a reactor you wont have to worry about your neighbors complaining about the smell. I decarb till all bubbles are gone under vac at 150c. If i do not do this i cannot run the VTA at full speed as the terpenes from the heads fraction mess with my vacuum levels. Youre not going to isomerize delta 9 at that temp.
Once solvent recovery is done we ramp to 100+C for over an hour depending on input product and run until the decarb bubbles stop forming.
If you are going to be in the market for 50L rotos we may have some for sale in a month or two once our FFE arrives from BZB. We’re near Denver.
We use a huge forced air oven and a bunch of 5L beakers with 1L or so in em. Ovens vented to outside
Do you Rotovap prior to Reactor or ?
I think with the reactor that also evaps ethanol. Youre at 300 degrees for 2 hours pulling vacuum. I assume that is high enough to evap etoh.
If anyone out there can correct me please do. Its just a guess.
Yea, i roto up to 70c since im using water in the bath and then i go into the reactor up to 150c on the crude. This pulls out residual alcohol and terpenes you would get out in your heads fraction.
How long does it typically take to do your decarb runs in your forced air oven?
Here is a COA of CO2 oil that I have to process for a client. What do you all think? No THCA content but about 6% CDBA. I’ll be feeding this into a WFE and want to make sure that we have consistency across the board. Would any of you guys further decarb the oil before adding to distillation with only 6% CBDA?
Also what kind of reactors are people using? Im about to opt for a 20L A.I. reactor, or would anyone go with a 50L?
EVPTGLG.pdf (207.4 KB)
I take it you’re tolling for them correct? If so and they are handing you crude that isn’t fully decarbed I wouldn’t do it for free. Have you had a conversation with them about it? If they don’t care about it then no biggie. If they do care then charge them for the extra work.
I run a B/R SBD rig though so I can decarb during the volatiles distillation phase vs. a separate step. It gives me the latitude to pick up a lot of clean up work like this without extra effort.
Correct, Im tolling and charging per gram of output. I have already discussed with the client that further processing on the crude would need to be entertained. They don’t care either way but I’ll push for additional decarb just for quality sake.
While we’re on the subject I’m charging per gram output, and $0.15 for additional decarb and cleanup. Would you guys say that this a fair rate? I’ve heard of labs charging for INPUT per gram into the systems instead of OUTPUT?
Heres a free Decarb SOP Gemstone Decarboxylation SOP
For those interested I am building out decarb reactors, Shoot me a message and I can give you some more info. 50-160L capacity, will eliminate the need for a second pass on wiped films or SPD.
Hey @Psilisophical, we are currently waiting on our WFE and FFE to come in this week and have a few questions pertaining decarboxylation. Can you DM me? I’m new on here
If your goal is scalability, a continuous process run 24/7 is more capital efficient than a batch process.
Could you do this in a multi tube, falling film operation?
In a process complex, most everything is heated with steam or direct fired.
I use canola oil which is good to 200+C and dirt cheap.
When I decarbed in the roto it turned to glass and wouldn’t come out, had to redissolve. What did I do wrong?
