I’ve been looking into buying one of LS terpene steam distillation kits to start making my own Terps… has anyone purchased one of these kits, and also, SOP? I’m about to have an indoor grow completed and I want to pull some good Terps off the different strains. Big thanks
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Afew months back, someone posted an SOP. I’ll try to find it.
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Thanks man. I looked at the other topic on it, going against Summit and another third party… but I’ve heard different stories on how the Terps come out (smelling burnt and dark af) just trying to go the right way on this venture.
Steam distilled EO (terps) will smell like chemical dog shit for a month or more. After ageing it will smell real nice true to the cultivar. I think iit is some type of thiol that gives it a bad smell, but on the other hand that is the part that gives the skunk taste when formulated in a cart.
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-Steam Distillation- -V1-
- Standard Operating Procedure -
Department - Process and Chemistry
Department Head - ____________________ Date ______
Provider - Gemstone Essential LLC
Purpose – To achieve a high quality fragrant essential oil of biomass sample for the purposes of compound qualification, product flavor/fragrance additive, and bioactive integration. Essential Oils are collected by creating conditions to quickly remove the Lighter-Than-Air components from a botanical sample, and removing the oil from atop its co-distilled hydrosol collection.
Document Control - Document Revision & Approval History
Revision Pages Prepared By Reviewed By Approved By Date
#1 Gemstone Essential Gemstone Essential Gemstone Essential
Definitions –
Decarboxylation - Removal of the Carboxylic acids from compounds in the oleoresin
Essential Oil - Lighter-than-air and fragrant fractions of extracted oleoresin
Extraction – Treatment of organic matter with an organic or non-organic solvent for the purpose of concentrating valuable Drug and Non-Drug type molecules
Extraction Vessel- (EV) Container in which extraction protocols are conducted. An appropriate vessel that can handle required solvent, temperature, and pressure variables.
Extract Liquor – Post- extraction oil containing ethanol
Filtration – The use of filters, sieves, or separation to remove solid and semi-solid contaminates from a liquid collection
Keck clip – Plastic/ stainless steel clamp that fits snugly to specific scientific glass joint sizes to ensure separation does not occur
Oleoresin - Extracted Oil-bearing products from the Cannabis plant lineage
Terpenes – Individual Fragrant molecules that make up an Essential Oil
Volatiles - Fraction of low molecular weight compounds that have a BP below 120oc under vacuum.
Reaction - A process in which chemicals undergo a change of molecular structure
e.g. Decarboxylation of THC-Acid into THC
Equipment –
Boiling/ Liquid Trap Vessel (round bottom flask, jacketed vessel)
Heating equipment (heat mantle/ Steam generator, recirculating heater)
Material Vessel (Glass/ Stainless Steel biomass vessel)
Liquid Condenser (Glass/ Stainless)
Cold Heat Transfer Fluid Recirculator
Oil/water Separatory Funnel
Vapor Transfer Arm
Pipette
Essential Oil Storage Vessel (25-250mL)
Hydrosol Storage Vessel (1-5L)
Liquid transfer tubing
Procedure –
- Break up Biomass until a 1-2 cm particle size is achieved throughout
- Place a stainless steel mesh screen (10-25 lines per inch) at the bottom joint of the Material Vessel to ensure biomass is retained
- Load Material Vessel with desired biomass. Use only moderate packing methods: (too tight of packing will cause steam channeling and cause a detriment to overall quality and yield)
- Assemble Steam Distillation set up as shown below
- Fill Steam Generator with water
- Attach water-out line of Cold Liquid Recirculator onto bottom hose barb of condenser
- Attach water-in line of Cold Liquid Recirculator onto top hose barb of condenser
- Attach Steam Generator steam hosing to Port 1 of Liquid Trap Vessel
- Place Liquid Trap in Heat Mantle/ temp. appropriate vessel stand
- Place Material Vessel on primary ground glass joint of Liquid Trap Vessel, secure with lab stand clamp and Keck Clip
- Place large joint of Vapor Transfer Arm on top of Material Vessel joint
- Place Condenser under small joint of Vapor Transfer Arm, Secure with Keck clip and lab stand clamp
- Fill Oil/water Separatory funnel with Distilled water
- Place Oil/Water Separatory funnel under bottom joint of Condenser. Secure with Keck clip and Lab stand clamp. Ensure stopcock valve is closed
- Attach hose from hydrosol port of Oil/ Water Separatory Funnel and place in Hydrosol Collection Vessel
- Set Cold Liquid Recirculator to 2-5°c and begin recirculation. If no Cold Liquid Recirculator is available, use a bucket of ice water and an aquarium pump
- Begin Steam Distillation by initiating Steam Generator function
- Allow steam to travel from Steam Generator through setup and into condenser
- If vapor is seen to be exiting Oil/Water Separatory Funnel, or if Oil/ Water Separatory Funnel is warm or hot to the touch, stop operation and check Condenser/ Cold Liquid Recirculator is operating properly.
- If liquid is trapped at the bottom of the Material Vessel, and appears to be soaking/ refluxing over material, momentarily pause Steam Generator operation and allow liquid to drain.
- Collect Essential Oil by removing Oil/ Water Separatory Funnel and using a pipette to transfer Oil into suitable Essential Oil Collection Vessel; Draining via Stopcock will cause loss of yield due to transfer loss on glass walls.
- Place air-tight cap on Essential Oil Collection Vessel and place in a freezer to freeze any remaining water/hydrosol. Filter through small glass funnel with clean a cotton ball into a new, clean Essential Oil Collection Vessel
- FOR BEST RESULTS:
- Load only Distilled water into Steam Generator
- After 20 minutes of operation: Collect multiple fractions of essential oil. (Earlier fractions will be of higher quality)
- Momentarily stop Steam Generator
- Remove Oil/ Water Separatory Funnel
- Use a pipette to drain off oil level which collects on top of the hydrosol collected within the Oil/ Water Separatory funnel
- Re-connect Oil/Water Separatory Funnel, ensure secure connection with Lab stand Clamp and Keck Clip
- Resume operation
- Use fresh, high quality biomass
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You da man
I have one, we use it to extract essential oils from herbs.
The glass is great, the steam generator trash. The prv (little black rubber stooper) is such that the steam would almost always rather exit the prv than pass through the plant material.
I, being a caveman, put a little weight and some towels on the prv to force the steam through the material.
Naturally this is a factor of material grind size and packing, but trust when I say I’ve tried everything and it’s that damn steam generator causing the problems.
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I was wondering the effectiveness of the steam generator than using the boiling mantle to boiling water for steam. Thanks for that tip!
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Have you heard of people putting the EO in molecular Sieve 4A to get color and help smell? I read that off another topic. Wondering if that really helped him, I’ll try to find the topic again and scroll down. I have a few big buckets left of 3A and 4A.
Lol, thanks for reposting, but its supposed to be a downloadable file you can print out and keep with youre records
Steam Distillation SOP.pdf (172 KB)
You can check out my list of free SOPS at General SOP Lists — Gemstone Botanicals
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I tried to search for the original post, but couldnt find it.
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I have not tried Mol sieves. Just kept in a refrigerator and opened up the vials a couple times a week. You can experiment with more or less head-space in the vials. So far all the oils come out water clear, sometimes a slight yellowing after ageing. Possibilly from oxidation.
I was thinking helium sparged thru the oil might chase that compound out, but not tried it.
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Try dehydrating it with a little magnesium sulfate. You will immediately see an improvement in flavor.
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I have the kit. The glassware is all high quality. Like @Future said, the steam generator isn’t great. But is quicker than boiling water. I just press on the valve every few seconds to increase the steam output.
I personally haven’t had any problems with the kit. I’ve used it several times with 1-3month old trim and its performed well each time. I usually run steam for about 45 min each time or until there’s no more oil coming over. If you’re using nugs you’re gonna want to run a little longer because there is some channeling in the biomass flask.
The kit itself costs the same amount as the individual parts pieced together so I’d recommend you piece it together yourself and don’t buy whatever components you can live without. You could buy cheaper Laboy glass wherever possible to cut down the cost (Graham condenser, vacuum adapter, distillation arm/head, steam generator). I like the look of Summit’s biomass flask. Probably less channeling due to the shape. You could potentially do a Summit biomass flask with the rest LS. That’s what I would have done if I could go back in time.
All of the runs I’ve done with the kit have yielded water clear terps and I haven’t been using vacuum, just atmospheric pressure. I put the terps in the freezer after I collect them which solidifies water and then pipette the liquid into a separate dry container. I then let them cure in vials at room temp for several weeks, burping them every day for the first week.
They smell like vaped weed right after the distillation but after two weeks they smell incredibly dank. I usually will add MgSO4 to the hydrosol to help increase separation and get a little extra out since the yield is small. I haven’t added any to the finished product since freezing usually does the trick.
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Exactly how are you dehydrating it with MGSO4?
If putting together a setup what better steam generator is on the market?
It’s super easy. Take your terpenes (no visible water). Add a small amount of anhydrous mgso4 and shake. It will expand as it absorbs water into a glob. Add more until the added mgso4 no longer expands. You then filter out the solids and your terpenes are now dehydrated.
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Shoot, i still had a hard time finding it with your link. Me not so good computer.
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Throw some water in the bottom flask and boil it through the plant material above it. Use a vacuum take off adapter to pull vac on the whole system and keep it below 60c. It will work like a charm.
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