I was wondering if anyone has experimented with mixing a small amount of HTE 1-5% in with their THC distillate to prevent oxidization. I know there are records here of manufactures leaving some HTE with their HCE to prevent oxidization, but I do not recall reading about anyone using HTE with distillate.
We have tried just about everything else, carbon bleaching, argon in the jar, stored under vacuum, argon in the cartridge before and after filling, storing upright, winterizing down to 1 micron in staged temperatures.
Open to more suggestions, we do not currently water wash or adjust ph and winterize in 200 proof ethanol. Distillation happens at less than 20 microns and final pass is 205C, the still does not appear to be leaking and holds vacuum well. Crude is room temperature extracted with n-butane.
The oxidization has been one of the banes of my career that I just cannot seem to shake. Thanks in advance for any help.
“Oxidation” is a blanket term that is often used to cover a lot of potential discoloration issues. Degradation would be a better term. Knowing the problem is half the battle! Argon is a great idea, can you confirm the argon is in your carts? How do you displace gas? Whats your filling SOP? Pictures? Temps? You gotta give info to get info.
You clearly identified some of your issues.
I’d love to help you out with a free spoon but this topic is well studied and understood. Consultants and even major companies in our industry offer licensing for solutions, or SOPs for sale.
I know some terpene companies spent considerable energy tackling your problems.
Eybna and Abstrax come to mind. You can read up on their patents on the topic as well.
I agree with everything @Ganjineer710 has said and I would add that unless you’re trying to SLAM (like overload) oil through your still, 205°C is pretty high of a temp, especially at 20 microns. Unless you can step that down adequately, or back purge your still with an inert gas before you pull it off your still, most of your degradation could be coming from that initial vent.
Edited oxidation to degradation in further agreement with @Ganjineer710.
Ive met people who claim this HTE antioxidation thing works (which I’m skeptical of, how does adding a bunch of low stability terpenes improve stability?) It stands to reason that it doesn’t really do anything positive, except piss off the person buying the material because it now contains 1-5% random mixture of terpenes/cannabinoids.
I went through this a while ago. I told the owners we should just add a red circle to the logo and lean into it as a mark of purity lol.
I had just starting experimenting with Vitamin C acetate and Vitamin K as antioxidants when EVALI popped up. That was awkward, and I trashed all of that ASAP.
Less intense winterization, and adding ~5% THCA-heavy midsy flavorless live resin, got us to where we wanted to be.
I actually recently found a vape cart from my oxidation experiments that I filled on 2/12/2019 and shows nearly no color change on the surface. This was just a proof of concept, I don’t know the long term health effects of vaping on benzoic acid infused distillate lol.
I have not confirmed argon to be in the cartridges, we simply blanket each one with gas. I suppose we would put them in a vacuum oven and backfill with argon to ensure but that seems excessive.
No photos of filling. We microwave distillate till liquid under an argon blanket in a beaker, introduce terpenes and homogenize for 30 seconds with a GV20. We use a cart.farmer, blanket the cartridges with argon, blanket reservoir with argon, fill with distillate, blanket again. Fill cartridges fast as possible using the cart.farm recommended temps 60C on the res and 90C on the line. Blanket cartridges with argon again, cap with press fits using leather press once again going as fast as possible. Store upright until packaged, once packaged store upright in bulk. Retail does have large windows and the cartridges are on display out there.
At 205C I am still crawling along. Head to BF connection is only 34/42. Probably less than 400g/hour when in mains. I am unsure if the used vacuum I purchased (E28) does not meet the CFM advertised, was told it should be adequate for a 5L though. I will work on back filling with argon when I am opening the system, I do crack it once after heads when cooled to below 160C.
@eyeworm we only sell through our retail locations and there is concern from the customers and owners about any degradation. If I were to include HTE as a cut I would include that information in the packaging.
@dankfrank The owner here wanted to get opaque carts where you can only see the bottom to know its empty. I am excited see how the THCa incorporation works, that is not the fraction I would have considered.
An edwards 28 should be more than enough on a 5L, whag kind of vac levels are you seeing in mains? I can start getting mains around 170c, ramping to 180-185c in the boiling flask at 200 microns, head temp reading 155c-160c ish, granted this is on a 20L system, with 45/5o joints.
This is a syringe filled with antioxidants extrcted from camnabis. A few drops will turn a clear liter light yellow. I do not make it i know the guy who does. So a product does exist. I dont use it but ive tested it and it does work. I also had sample test clean after adding this.
20 - 10 microns on first and second pass. I was pulling mains hotter before I wrapped my head and got a hot condenser set up. I start seeing mains at 190C but anything below 200C is terribly slow. Stir bar is large and in charge, typically maxes out at 1400 rpm. System is mainly AI with some Rocco parts for full bore. Baffles are longer that they need to be but getting the perfect length has been difficult.
Whats your vapor temp in the head at when your settled into mains at 205c? RPMs sound great and Your vacuum is excellent! Plenty of depth there. Are you using any packing in your head? Is your head jacketed?
Bro the answer is staring everyone in the face. I never ask anyone to pay me for my advice and I’m not going to start with you but just like everyone else if you want your solution you need to DM me.
