Impurities in propane

Oh well waz an idea

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It is not likely for propylene to polymerize in propane without intentional addition of special catalysts, along with serious heat and pressure.

Propene (just another name for propylene) could possibly react with water (in the presence of acid) to form propyl and isopropyl alcohols. Although propene is a nice reagent for many reactions in organic chemistry, that’s about the only reaction I could see as possible to happen spontaneously under somewhat abnormal extraction conditions.

It’s a stretch, but it may be possible to form a bit of Δ9-THC-2-isopropyl ester from the carboxylic acid on THCa with the right catalyst(s)… but I think that would involve a relatively impossible situation during a simple propane/propene extraction.

Interesting thought experiment, if nothing else.

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Good to hear, now I can continue reading into this.

Pretty sure I am shooting low of the bullseye when I say my presumption of using copper is to pull the sulfur ions tied to the mercaptan content, @Photon_noir is this worth time or feasible for efficacy? And are there any hazards of concern in packing a spool with copper and altering or playing with these molecules in operation, main concern I would assume is residual contents after the reaction with the copper. I’ve looked at it but I still feel major holes in my understandings on that level of dynamics, so it has kind of kept me from packing a spool.

Does it require processes like the Merox process to implement a proper scrubbing and breakdown?

Water needs to be present along with the copper if you want it to react the mercaptans.

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@ScoobyDoobie

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:rofl::joy: Yer all good! Thanks, @ScoobyDoobie!

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I know you already answered the question but just to drive it on home in my mind, would a copper reduction of the mercaptans/thiols present in a propane/propene mixture have any potential to induce polymerization of the propene?

Would any acids or clays that may be encountered in the average processing lab have potential to induce polymerization of propene without some other catalyst being present?

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What about products like sulfurtrap? Fumbled into it and it is advertised as a hydrocarbon scrubbing agent, could you use that type of material when distilling new gas?

Sorry about the run on questions, just seeing if there are viable methods the average extractor could cross into in order to insure of efficacy.

That company looks like they might have a hard time justifying doing business on such a small scale.

Looks like they supply petrochemical refineries, may have to convince them to do business with you.

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350

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Just make sure u get to talking about pilot plants and compare process efficiency. Otherwise they might think ur :lion:

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Even if so, would it be even viable in small scale application, and effective, but I guess these would be questions for a rep.

I would think so, pilot plants are meant to test parameters before implementing the process in an industrial application.

I see no reason why their product wouldn’t work for what your asking, but the scale of the process is an important factor for the folks who supply you with you materials.

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It’s worth gander in my minds eye, anything that could help ensure mercaptans don’t effect your profiles would be the bee’s knee’s, if you could throw them in your CRC column or honeypot during distillation, and it be remotely viable, could be a valuable product to have in the lab if gas is sus.

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Most of them are slightly alkaline and ridiculously volatile. I’m sure you could remove them if you really wanted to. Usually we want to try and retain the mercaptans, but those are the ones natural to cannabis. Not the ones added as odorants

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If their product can absorb mercaptans without having you having to worry about desorbing your solvent from the media after you’ve reacted the mercaptans then its worth looking into.

The reason I say this is because 13x mol sieve can deal with hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans, but you need to desorb your hydrocarbon from the media afterwards.

Although to be honest high surface area copper will always be around to deal with that problem at smaller scale.

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Thats precisely my concern, if there was an extra step I could take to ensure the gas is clean and clear I would implement that with the quickness.

I have a hunch there is some unscrupulous gas passed around, and even then, if I could take that one extra step for my own peace of mind I would.

Plus it be a shame to have batchs fudged by improperly managed solvents.

I like the idea of using copper, but since the oil and gas industry and all of the service industry behind it are there, there must be a good product already manufactured for that purpose.