I only have one doubt
Pentane isn t such a good solvent for cannabinoids
IT really isn t that good at. Striping cannabinoids from biomass
Rinses Need to be long and multiple
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If so, then how are large amounts of hydrocarbons refined, used and transported every day? I see how you came to your conclusion tho, I’ve seen way more cannabis extraction facilities built in F occupancy buildings, compared to H (at this stage in the game). But do know of multiple companies building out infrastructure for handling large amounts. Large scale hydrocarbon processing is not an issue with the right facility. (not in a retrofitted retail shopping centers in commercial/residential areas) Large scale hydrocarbon extraction will definitely have lotsa automation and safety interlocks.
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That’s why my systems have a continuous flow system designed to repeatedly wash the material with the same solvent and then finish a final wash of virgin solvent. It requires more mucking about but it’s worth it.
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Hexane and heptane are much more dangerous solvents to work with on a large scale than alcohols, because of the poor charge dissipation. If I remember correctly, heptane is about 1000x lower charge dissipation rate than ethanol. Ordinary grounding and bonding procedures may not be sufficient to prevent arcing. If you are going to try something like this I would recommend adding a small amount of ethanol to the hexane or heptane before using it, this will dramatically increase the charge dissipation of the liquid. Obviously, ground all tanks and bond all transfers.
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What size membranes should I order? I have a jacketed extruder that should work well for this- I wonder how big the diameter can get without compromising the filtration
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trail and error on this but check with sterlitech and go with nano filtration sizes not with the RO sizes
The conventional recommendation is 500 da for dewaxing and 200 da for desolvation.
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please remember that canabinoids are in the 315 da range that is if the lie perfictly inlined with the orifice 500 is a close call
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IIRC the ecosce guy who presented yesterday said something above 95% of cannabinoids went through from input to output, so it seems that they’re not getting caught by the 500da filter. Of course, he’s selling a product so that that as you will, but Kumar at Evonik said similar things, and he’s only selling the membranes.
My test skid will arrive within a couple of weeks so I should have good operational data to share soon. I’ll write up and distribute what I can.
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I can get water clear with just b80 clay
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And wich solvent ?
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Butane
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You done b80 or t5 against hexane yet?
B80 hexane in progress by no means close to butane as solvent
And why is that? Just wondering
The red hexane pulls b80 had a problem with
Butane Does nog pull that red so no problem there
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@MagisterChemist, thanks for tip. I found it interesting they use a screw press to get 2/3 of oil from the seed and then only use solvent on the press cake. But in the cannabis world many elect to do things cold to avoid winterization. I wonder which path is more economical at scale?
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Hexane warm with membrane winterization is the route at scale
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Followed by membrane solvent seperation 
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We can do this very well. Ecosce’s hexane and heptane SOP’s result in flow rates near 1000 L/hr with 100% rejection of waxes and concentration of CBD and CBDA. Yep, a negative rejection rate. An attraction rate, if you will.
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