Hello all. I am a broker in the CO MMJ industry and I am looking to move into hemp. I notice that there are a ton of words flying around that I’ve either had to ask what it means or simply don’t know.
I was thinking that this would be a good place to start a thread that defines these terms for newcomers. Maybe if we get enough going this would be a good thread to sticky as to help others seeking knowledge on some of the basics.
Biomass - Hemp specifically falls under a fuel classification that is called biomass. Biomass is a term for the organic matter that can be converted into and used as fuel and is thus considered as a potential renewable energy source.
Blasting - Doing an extraction run on a Closed Loop System. The term describes the action of a gas rapidly soaking and then moving through plant material inside a CLS.
Bump - A sudden extreme gas formation while boiling a mixture of liquids
Cannabidoil - One of at least 85 active cannabinoids identified in cannabis. It is a major phytocannabinoid, accounting for up to 40% of the plant’s extract. CBD is considered to have a wider scope of medical applications than tetrahydrocannabinol.
Cannabinoid - Cannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds found in the Cannabis sativa plant. Of over 480 different compounds present in the plant, only around 66 are termed cannabinoids.
Cannabis - Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three different species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These species are indigenous to Central and South Asia.
Cat 2 - It stands for Category 2 and is a California thing. Someone else will have a better answer for this. The BCC website has info showing that Cat 1 and Cat 2 are screens for certain pesticides…so Cat 2 would be cleaner.
CBD Distillate - A runny, translucent oil devoid of the waxes or undesirable compounds from the original plant. Distillate is desirable due to its potency and versatility. It can be used to dab, vaporize, and as an ingredient in Edibles, Topicals, and other products. Distillate concentrates are achieved through an extensive refinement process that separates compounds found in the cannabis plant.
CBD Isolate - CBD isolate is a crystalline white powder comprised of 99 percent or higher CBD. Everything else including the THC and other cannabinoids, and plant materials like terpenes, oils, and chlorophyll has been removed.
CFM - Abbreviation for Cubic Feet per Minute - CFM is a volume rate for vacuum pumps.
CLS - Abbreviation for Closed Loop System - An apparatus that is used to extract gases from a liquid. The term refers to whether or not your process dumps to the environment or if the process is maintained within the equipment. A CLS extraction unit recovers the solvent used during extraction before the system is opened to the environment.
Crude - This normally means rough cut, unprocessed or barely winterized extract, normally processed from the cheapest bulk trim possible. Alternatively, crude can be short hand for any extract that hasn’t been processed heavily and is intended to be distilled.
Decarboxylation - is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (C02). Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain.
EtOH - This is a nerdy way of saying Ethanol due to the OH tail on the molecule (OH is a compound, which is 2 or more different elements put together, this one is called hydroxide). MetOH would be Methanol for the same reason.
*EtOH ethanol - 96% ethanol with 4% water
*EtOH absolute - 99.99% ethanol
FFE - Abbreviation for Falling Film Evaporator - Refers to an automated evaporator that is generally used in bulk distillation. During this process fluid evaporates on the outside of horizontal or vertical tubes. In all cases, the process fluid to be evaporated flows downwards by gravity as a continuous film.
Full Spectrum CBD Oil - Full spectrum CBD oil comes with all the cannabinoids present in hemp. If you see full spectrum hemp CBD oil for sale, it’ll include many cannabis compounds such as Cannabicycol (CBL), Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), Cannabinol (CBN), Cannabichromevarinic Acid (CBCVA) and more. It also contains a very small amount of THC, (.3%, as is legally allowed).
Heads - This term comes from moonshining where you have three primary fractions during the distillation of alcohol; heads(thrown out due to contamination), hearts(keep), and tails(thrown out due to contamination). With cannabinoids the head fraction or ‘volatiles’ is mostly stuff you don’t want mixed with the beginning of your THC/CBD fraction. Main body fraction is the good stuff and tails are polymerized junk with a little bit of stubborn cannabinoids.
Molecular sieves - These function as filters on a moleclular level. The sizes differ but A3,A4,A5 or x13 are standard sizes. A stands for angstrom defining the size of the pores
MtOH - This is a nerdy way of saying Methanol due to the OH tail on the molecule (OH is a compound, which is 2 or more different elements put together, this one is called hydroxide).
OH - O and H are the elements oxygen and hydrogen OH is a compound, which is 2 or more different elements put together, this one is called hydroxide. The element “OH” does not exist. OH, is otherwise known as hydroxide, and it is an ion.
Oxidization - Any chemical reaction in which a material gives up electrons, as when the material combines with oxygen. (L) ,dues/110.19%
RFE - Abbreviation for Rising Film Evaporator - refers to an automated evaporator that is generally used for bulk distillation. In this process the liquid being evaporated is fed from the bottom into long tubes and heated with steam condensing on the outside of the tube from the shell side. This is to produce steam and vapour within the tube bringing the liquid inside to a boil. The vapour produced then presses the liquid against the walls of the tubes and causes the ascending force of this liquid
SOP - Abbreviation for Standard Operating Procedures - A set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out complex routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations
SPD - Abbreviation for Short Path Distillation - A process of distillation that uses a special type of glassware with a short distillation traject. This process creates a rough compound isolation that is fairly easy and has a smaller entry cost. The other methods you would compare SPD to are Wiped Film Evaporation(WFE) and Spinning Band Distillation(SBD).
Still - A distillation apparatus that is very basic in its design.
Terps - Short for Terpenes - These are any of various isomeric hydrocarbons found present in essential oils, resins, and balsams. Terpenes are of the most abundant natural family of compounds of which there are up to 20,000 known types. Terpenes are most often associated with flavor profile.
WFE - Abbreviation for Wiped Film Evaporator - Refers to an automated evaporator that is generally used for bulk distillation. It is a form of Short Path Distillation
Winterization - also known as alcohol wash, is done after the initial extraction procedure, which can use CO2, nitrogen, butane or other solvents. All these lead to the separation of cannabinoids and terpenes from the cannabis plant, and produce minimally unwanted substances, like plant waxes, fats and chlorophyll.
QWET - Abbreviation for Quick Wash Ethanol - A technique commonly employed to extract oil from cannabis. In this process plant matter is submerged into Ethanol and then quickly removed. The speed at which the process takes place is in order to avoid picking up unwanted plant matter.
QWISO - Abbreviation for Quick Wash Isopropyl - A technique commonly employed to extract oil from cannabis. This process is very similar to QWET, but employees the use of Isopropyl alcohol instead of Ethanol.
Thanks in advance for any responses. Please dont be shy guys throw any term you think is relevent to the hemp industry in general. Once we have compiled some more I will start organizing them alphabetically and clean up the post so it can be a useful resource.
Please excuse my lack of knowledge in this area! I just wanted to get the thread started and start learning!
