Hello:
Sorry in Advance, English is not my mother Language.
My work process is usually Winterize BHO by disolving in Ethanol and then filtering through Activated Charcoal and Cellite. I use a Vacuum Filter With 7 Microns Pores Paper , I evaporate the Ethanol in a desecator and then i purge in a vacuum chamber under -25mmHG at 40ºC for 3 days (maybe is a lot but i relly want to have as little as possible ppm of solvents in the final extract)
Finally I Decarb and then i use it (Edibles, Cartridges, Topical…)
I need more clear product and I am concerned about using agents like the PVPP,Activated Silica or Florisil because I am not sure if i can use them without Distilling ( i suppose that is possible because this agents are used in CRC columns )
For now i don`t have access to a Short Path Distillation or CRC or rotovap Equipment.
I am in a Non Friendly Enviroment (Europe)
My main question is how i can use this agents safely so the final extracts is not contaminated whit them.
Ideas:
1-Use sub micron paper filter or fiberglass thick filters?
2-Use a activated carbon and cellite last filtering after use this agents?
3-usually the biggest change in colour is when i decarb (i put the extract in a lab oven) ,i am oxidizing cannabinoids a lot in this way? how i could decarb under vacuum?
All ideas are welcomed
Thanks very much, i learned a lot in this forum the last Months.
PS: I searched other topics and i didn´t found info about the safety of this method
Can you show me what you are rotovapping ethanol in? a desiccator doesn’t really make sense for this.
- if you are decarbing your extract anyway, you can completely eliminate the vacuum chamber step. Since you have to heat >100C to decarb thoroughly, this will completely remove traces of ethanol/butane. Save yourself 3 days!
- If you are extracting with butane, the colour of the extract is directly related to how old the biomass is. Freshly dried biomass will give you a nice yellow extract colour. All of your downstream headaches will be resolved if you use better input weed.
- Extracting colder will also give better extract colour, and also mitigate the extraction of waxes. If you can extract around -30C (maybe even warmer depending on soak time), you should not need to winterize BHO. If you can extract colder then you can avoid using ethanol altogether.
Welcome to the future @mrkovak!
I’ll second running colder to avoid fats and waxes in the first place, eliminating the need for an ethanol winterization. This will help your color and clarity. Removing ethanol is hard on your concentrate, and you will lose a lot of the more volatile terpenes when doing so.
If you stick with the ethanol winterization, make sure to rinse your filter cake with fresh solvent until no more fines come through before filtering your tincture. I like to use a fritted buchner with a filter paper on top of the frit. This helps keep the frit clean, and the frit serves as a backup for the filter paper. Keep your carbon on top of the celite, and the celite will trap any carbon fines from making their way into your oil.
Hi all, first thanks very much for your answers:
Can you show me what you are rotovapping ethanol in? a desiccator doesn’t really make sense for this.
I don`t have Rotovap, the lack of adecuate equipment is something that i am trying to solve.
1- if you are decarbing your extract anyway, you can completely eliminate the vacuum chamber step. Since you have to heat >100C to decarb thoroughly, this will completely remove traces of ethanol/butane. Save yourself 3 days!
** I use vacuum filtering because i can make a more thick solution ( I can spend less Ethanol and sill use Cellite or Charcoal Also I did like this other times and i have the feeling that the final product is a little more ‘‘damaged’’ i think,that is why i stop doing like that,maybe just i need to use less heat and will be fine.
also i was concerned about creating unhealthy compounds with the heat **
2- If you are extracting with butane, the colour of the extract is directly related to how old the biomass is. Freshly dried biomass will give you a nice yellow extract colour. All of your downstream headaches will be resolved if you use better input weed.
Yes, i will apply this for sure, it cost me a lot of pain but i finally learned hehe
3- Extracting colder will also give better extract colour, and also mitigate the extraction of waxes. If you can extract around -30C (maybe even warmer depending on soak time), you should not need to winterize BHO. If you can extract colder then you can avoid using ethanol altogether.
Yes, next time i will try to make a clean shatter, using the dewax sleeve (i use a open blast tube now )and cooling the butane
Thanks very much for the info guys, also i want to remove Redish colour from some extractions, that is why i want to use PVPP and Silica, definitely next time i will reduce temperature and use fresher Material, but i think that still i want to try this agents because a lot of time i Have to process some older stuff, so in your opinion, if i use for example a 2-4 Micrometres Pore paper, should be ok?
The Silica i have indicates that is 230-400 mesh, so the particles size is between 63 to 38 micrometres right?
The Polyvinylpyrrolidone dont show particles size, i still didn`t have it but i asume that particles are much bigger?
I really appreciate your help, i was kind of intimidated about my stupid question because there is a lot of knowledge here but you seem pretty helpful.