Denatured 95% Ethanol with 5% Heptane ok for extraction?

Seems like a tripel azeotrope so once heptane is depleted your temp must change

Chemist to be get ready for sulfer smells :rofl:

Why do you want to simulate 190 proof?

The reason I purchase denatured is simply because it is cheaper due to the no tax on the solvent because it would not make a very good spirit. So i still want my ethanol as close to 200 proof as possible.

My question is… why add water

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I assumed it improved the hydrophilic properties as well as helping fats and lipids crash out when I winterize with it

Best Value Vac is good supplier too. https://www.bestvaluevacs.com/bvv-ultra-high-purity-710-extraction-solvent-55-gallon.html

It will make the ethanol solution more hydrophillic, however this will not help your extraction process. If experimentally you find it helps with your winterization process I would add the water after you extract. Only, only, if you have experiemental evidence of it aiding in the process. I would not be able to predict the outcome of this dilution and how it would affect winterization but I do not think it will help during extraction at all, if anything it will pull more unwanted water-soluable compounds. This is just my two cents and I have not experimented with this just thinking.

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Aren’t you in the upper northeast? You’re better off just letting the alcohol pick up water from the humidity in the air. It happens inevitably regardless, so if you’re adding it intentionally, it’s picking up even more water afterwards.

Edit: Fixed an autocorrect.

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I add it once upon opening a fresh bottle then that’s it. I’m not continuously adding more water to it after each round or anything

Sorry, what I mean is, if you dilute it to 190 proof, over time it picks up more water from the air. Being in the northeast it’s likely pretty humid on average. That means that after x amount of time, you have 180 proof, then 170, and so on.

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And after this extraction is done with this is it better to go straight into winterization?

Ethanol extraction > winterization

or

Ethanol extraction > roto > winterization?

winterize before roto, you could use a 10:1 ethanol:crude ratio when winterizing for optimal results

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I do need to get a proof guage asap but ideally I’ll reproof every few runs back to 190

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Ebay
I got mine there for 10.00 or less. Grab a graduated cylinder to test it. Makes it easier

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When I do the bucket tek im using 10 gallons of ethanol for around 20 pounds of trim.

I get back around lets say 8 gallons of ethanol that is dirty. Winterizing those 8 gallons would be alot more than a 10:1 correct?

It would also be a lot to buchner funnel those 8 gallons. Wouldn’t it be easier to roto all that ethanol out after the wash then do the 10:1 ratio and then winterize? Im also limited on freezer space.

I just did a 13lb biomass wash with 20gal of 200 proof. It took me 2 days to rotovap it back out. I’m rotovaping mu last 2 gallons of filtered recovered etoh from the panda now.

If you did a cryo etoh wash, no need to winterize, as cryo winterizes while you work. As long as its kept cold.

This is a 40 minute soak with 200 proof with food grade dry ice to keep cold! Then I use 3x 600ml buchner setups with fritted disc, and a bed of celite 545.

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Is that tax included?

To answer your question in a straightforward manner:
Yes, it is fine. Ethanol and heptane will both dissolve cannabinoids fairly well, and the heptane won’t interfere very much with the ethanol. Ethanol is better for dewaxing than heptane, however you should be able to get out enough of the waxes to adequately process with a shortpath. During the decarbing process and/or heads portion of your shortpath operation you will remove all solvent content, ethanol or heptane.

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Looks good, how many liters is your roto?

5 liter

I’d assume that would be because the ATF needs to approve any denaturing methods in order to be sold without the tax and they typically only approve methods which are difficult to reverse via distillation and/or are toxic for human consumption. I know isopropyl can be removed relatively easily with a reflux column since it is a minor byproduct of sugar fermentation and found in the tails. But so can methanol, and that’s also sometimes used as a denaturing agent. So… :man_shrugging: The easiest way to find out if that would be a legal way to denature ethanol would be to call the ATF and ask about it for fuel purposes.

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