Has anyone tried running cold pentane in a centrifuge designed for ethanol?

My luck has always been working in a RC lab so there are a shit load of reagents on the shelf making side projects a quicky
And learning along the way :grin:

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XD i am just playing around and reviewing all the goodies I have constant access to

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Polyester should work.

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@tetramethylsilane Nylon is very compatible with pentane/hexane/heptane.

Edit: a little bit less good with hexane.

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I’ve read somewhere here that CBD isolate crystallization is done in c1d2 control area, using a glass nutsche filter reactors with pentane.
If a pentane fitted centrifuge was run closed loop and slightly chilled wouldn’t that fall under c1d2?
After running I get that the fuge would be opened and slightly saturated biomass bag taken out but that risk seems to be similar to removing the cbd filter cake from the filter reactor?

Ive also poked around the idea of umbilical…ing the display and centrifuge control box of the fuge outside the c1d1 space and a c1d1 rated E-Stop located within the c1d1.

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I’ve gotten the seals on a CUP-30 above the auto-ignition temp of ethanol…and that was not the first time I’ve spun up fire.

I’m not convinced using pentane would be prudent.

See also: How do you make a centrifuge go WOOF?

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That’s a question for a qualified code consultant, not an internet forum. Depends on your centrifuge, jurisdiction, facility, and many other things.

It’s not just the solvent, it’s also the volume, how it’s transferred, if/when/how it is exposed to the atmosphere, etc.

Reactors stay closed and are generally only open to atmosphere at the beginning and end of long cycles.

If you have to open the centrifuge to load/unload it, it’s almost certainly not a proper closed-loop system unless the interior volume is provably inert or otherwise non-hazardous when it’s opened. Fuges are opened all the time, and operators stick their hands/heads in there.

But the short answer is: if you have to ask, you will be required to have c1d1 level protections if your AHJ isn’t a complete bobblehead.

Possible, not quite as simple as it sounds, but is one way to get around C1D1 rated controls being mucho $$$$$.

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This is the truth!

Depending on your area and how the mechanical engineer interprets building code. You can’t even do Ethanol in a C1D2 environment. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Some require fire suppression in your HVAC. Some don’t give a flying fuck and just tell you the MAQ goes up if you do use fire suppression

Moral of the story is sometimes its cheaper to just assume it’s gotta be C1D1 then the downtime involved with avoiding it. ESPECIALLY if bobbleheads are involved…

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With proper engineering controls, you can work with butane in unclassified spaces.

It’s the proper engineering controls part that’s the trick.

And always remember… no matter how many code reports and engineering controls and safeties and back ups and inerting protocols and everything else you have … the local guy can always say “nope, gotta be C1D1” … even if code suggests you’d be fine in a D2 or unclassified space … so talk to him BEFORE you get too far along.

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Amen!



Pentane (when run properly) is an amazing solvent for extraction. The isomers is what makes it fun. The neo that boils off first will carry over your volatile terps, the iso will carry the more robust ones, and what’s left?

Cannabinoids with a few more goodies.

What’s nice is in the right set up, these can be separated during the initial run itself.

You have to have a recirculating method. You can see in the pics that we are running a 100l fuge that we replaced all the gaskets (silicone :nauseated_face:) with viton. We only run about 15-20 gallons per bag, using @Lincoln20XX and @cyclopath (thanks guys!) method of just spinning and spraying using 60° sprayers with a line for any pressure build ups going back to a chilled reclaim tank. It creates a mild vacuum and no vapors escape. With the skids that @MagisterChemist has, we are seeing a 99.3% total reclaim (that’s also with a post processing procedure for the biomass).

These pics are about 2 weeks old and the condensing/reclaim line is now in place.

I can say this…

The set up is quite efficient. But, the new one I am building out is even better.

Think soxhlet :wink:

For now, looking to fully automate the valves so that the operator can run everything from the other side (our pods have a C1D2 area) where the “brains” of everything is.

I will take more pics this week of the finished and fully plumbed set up.

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How did you solve that ?
Right about to start the construction of a walk-in freezer that I want to line with epoxy to make it airtight and an atex vacuum cleaner that’s massively coldtraped as vacuum pump
On the chamber to see is it s possible to recover the solvent

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Beautifull setup by the way
What filter are you using prior to the RO skid ?

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Heated jacket tank with pneumatic stirrer is my “final product” tank. What’s not in the pic (but is installed now) is a 25ft 1 1/2” tube with the last 2 ft being a jacketed condenser before the reclaim tank taking it back to the beginning solvent tank (there’s 2 of those… one for reclaim and one for washing. Each are jacketed and have separate heat/chill controls so I can swap with just the flip of a valve).

No vac needed.

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Just a screened gasket.

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Fuckin A @HeisenbergInd . Gotta see this one.

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@HeisenbergInd This reads like you are making likker: you’ve got your Foreshots, the body (heads/hearts), and it seems like your tails are valuable moreso than just adding to the next batch (sourmash).

I can’t get the larger distillation plants that use continuous distillation processes out of my head.

Really cool to see these pics and see how far things are coming. Old techs, new uses.

“Yer a distiller 'arry(eisendburg)”

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Using dessolvation melbranes only ? Or with some evaporation step as well ?

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Honestly…

Never thought about it like that but, yes. Makes sense!

And I’ve fired down on a still or 2 in my time :wink:

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Just the desolve. With the stirring and jacketed collection tanks, it works like a dream to keep the temps lower with just more agitation to reclaim the rest of the pentane. One skid is just dewaxing, the other is just desolve.

I will say, depending on the end product I wanna achieve, I may recirculate a 2nd pass.1pass is damn near perfect for saturation to make diamonds right inside the vessel it’s self. Mesh gasket on the outlet to “catch” the diamonds as the mothers liquor is poured off and ready for re-seeding. Can chill those tanks as well. Can pressurize up to 120psi (150 is achievable but no need to go that high).

I love that with all these variables, experimentation is so easy and so versatile without ever having to have the solution leave the vessel.

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