Well 2019 or 2023, to my knowledge when bulk distillate is your desired finished product , cold ethanol still seems like the best method of extraction
If best means “works acceptably and is somewhat hard to fuck up” then sure.
If you know how to calculate your operating expenses it makes a lot less sense in a lot of markets. Not all, but many.
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Companies I’m familiar with and likely in general are growing more biomass than they can now sell. Automation seems to be the newer trick to allow less skilled/cheaper labor for processing. Still waiting on a biomass to distillate process, directly cartable and usable terps. Doesn’t seems like vapor static is such and little word from Go Loxley. Curious what the next wave of lower capitol/compliance/op processes will bring.
The systems and parameters required for high quality and operationally efficient terpene extraction and cannabinoid extraction are different. Trying to do both at the same time in the same vessel with the same solvent or method is always going to be a compromise.
For anyone in this position, if your system requires more hands on effort than:
- Keep the biomass hopper full
- Remove product(s) that require at most 1-2 additional finishing or refining processes
- Watch gauges and monitors
You’re way behind the curve.
Vapor static is cool and all, and I think it’s got a single potentially useful application, but to me the capex required per kg/hr of throughput is insane. Shift the decimal place on it one spot to the left and it gets worth talking about.
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So no one out there has used the Elara?
See @Lincoln20XX’s “late to market” comment.
One can pick up low mileage CUP-30’s for a less than a third of what they ran new…buying brand new in this market doesn’t strike me as a smart move unless it comes with something major in way of advancement over what can be found strewn in the rubble these days.
Many have decided that “distillate” isin’t actually the most efficient route to their end goals. See: Liquid diamonds is just distillate, change my mind
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We released the Elara because we thought cold ethanol extraction was the most effective way to make distillate at high volume. We spent a long time working on the centrifuge shaft seal, so we released it much later than we expected. By then, we were finishing the development of PureFlow N2 nitrogen assist for our BHO systems. PureFlow N2 increases the throughput of our BHO extractors so much that the Oberon extractor was pushing into the throughput range of the Elara (ethanol) system. Plus, during that time, people started isolating THCA in centrifuges. If you can make a THCA isolate from BHO at the same throughput and cost (Cap Ex plus operating costs) as ethanol distillate, then why use ethanol that limits your SKUs? We essentially made our own equipment obsolete.
For the time being, if a customer has a good reason to only consider ethanol, we will sell them an Elara. But it’s usually in their best interest to use our larger BHO extractor instead. Make a much bigger range of products and make higher quality THC distillate (from THCA isolate). It’s just a no-brainer. We will likely stop selling the Elara altogether next year. We’ll continue to support all the equipment in the field but stop producing new units.
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Just hearing the name Oberon is making me thirsty… Too bad I’ll have to wait for spring
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Does the nitrogen assist still require a double soak for decent yields. I know most people are doing that in the Luna which essentially cuts advertised throughput in half.
Make a hydrocarbon centrifuge for large capacity and quick soaks and massive trhoughput.
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I would love to make a hydrocarbon centrifuge. The shaft seal would suck even more with a 250psig pressure rating 
All of our advertised numbers with nitrogen assist include multiple soaks. Fresh frozen can get away with a single soak for “full” yield but some material, especially at low low temps, need two soaks. But with nitrogen, we can do that REALLY fast.
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Mag drive all the way
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Now everyone body will want one…
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Some of us already got one ….
You have a hydrocarbon centrifuge?
I’m gonna go patent that real quick lol
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hydrocarbon centrifuge
…
Wouldn’t you need to make the fuge your collection? How would that work? Like an air powered ATEX Rated motor to a high speed mixer? You’d also have to make sure you remove most the solvent first. You’d have to have a good sight glass for viewing and you would need to make sure you’re secured enough to handle such high rpm’s…
What about possibilities of sparks? Would it only be a post processing fuge? I’m thinking directly from extractor to fuge with recovery …or maybe have the fuge at the end of a hydrocarbon ffe?
Maybe you could make something like the CAPNA Ethos but a closed sophisticated fuge instead of the extraction unit.
Something where you extract directly into the hydrocarbon fuge but it would be a bunch of sophisticated bs that would be meant for recovery before the fuge.
Fuge would be your extraction vessel where biomass goes, it would work in theory like every other extraction fuge, just rated for butane, they make electric c1d1 motors, the air needed to spin an air powered motor would be outrageous amounts of CFM’s.
The fuge spinning would remove most of the solvent from the material, and then post fuge you would have solvent recovery.
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Not that you’ve looks at the problem…