Little info before I start:
4”x24” crc column
5 micron sintered disk
12-15 lbs of material
.7-1kg preform, .2kg silica, .2kg alumina
Approx 90-120psi nitrogen
Load procedure:
Mix all media uniformly and start vacuum from the bottom of the column. Pour media into the column and tap firm with a rubber maul. Close up, let it vacuum the rest of the way, and we’re ready to rock.
I’m looking for some guidance/tips/tricks to increase my flow. In the past we’ve used Media Bros without any flow problems whatsoever but we came into a large amount of preform 6000 and we love the color it gives us but the flow is god awful. We’ve tried baking without any success. The column will frost over and we won’t do much more than a small stream. Once the column warms up it will increase but that sometimes takes hours.
Now this helps set the baseline, but different medias have different flow rates.
This is from:
the particle size range (finer particles)
% of moisture in the media (which will turn into an ice block when cold solvent hits it)
B80 and preform 6000 are really “affordable” clays but the flow is very poor and like most clays they have that 13+ % water content. The preform is “preforming” better because its an activated low pH adsorbent media. Think of it having more surface area and a stronger magnetic pull.
I recommend trying a box of ALPHA from LusterMax.com I can guarantee you see the strength you want, keep the terpene profile, and see faster flow. The strength will also help reduce the expensive silica you’re adding in as well.
My suggestion to him was more of an sop change than a powder issue. How do I know? Been there done that. We can wait to see if @Kaieul confirms that it helped.
I have mixed feelings about freely open sourcing on your sons website after he echo chambered my donation thread. I’m not too salty about it but it’s just a weird vibe ya know?
This is great for providing back pressure, and I do indeed run like this. My main suggestion is to allow the collection to build up pressure. The freezing over is caused by evaporative cooling. If you allow the pressure to drop near 0 psi, then the solution may evaporate as it comes through a sintered disk, leaving a potentially clogged filter plate.
With the way I run my system, I don’t use a pump to pull a vac on collection. Too many times I’ve found this creates problems such as this one. If I use a pump, then I use it briefly for a few minutes to drop the pressure on my solvent tank. I’ll take the outlet of the recovery pump and push on that pre crc tank. The solution runs through the crc with adequate pressure to flow without evaporative cooling and as it hits the collection it begins to evaporate passively and wants to travel to the low pressure solvent tank.
Stop doing “CRC” inline. Do all your runs straight to the collection, recover most of the solvent, then send to a wet “CRC” then finally into a second collection. This mimics a column chromatography SOP and makes your powders extra efficient. Your concentrated “analyte” or butane solution will enter the filter a bit warmer and will rarely ever clog. Your runs will take minutes, and it shouldn’t take more than 30min and a 6x6 “CRC” column to remediate up to 3000 grams. We do 200lbs in an 8hr shift this way. Check us out on @xtractorpros IG.
There are a few factors at play in terms of what your best choice is for media and how much you need. I have years of experience running the exact set up you mentioned (MEP 30 w/ 3” ETS CRC). Shoot me a DM and I’d be happy to discuss some options to get you all of the answers you’re seeking.
Here’s a freebie: T-5 has a tendency to strip a lot of terps, and can make a lot of your extracts end up tasting bland and similar. I generally save the T-5 for material going to disty.
