This is my first post and contribution to Future 4200 and the community.
I have seen a few posts in regards to running the Milestone Ethos X - Microwave Dry Heat Steam Distillation.
Tips, Best Practice, Are the Terpenes Desirable?
I had the chance to dial in this unit while working with one company as it was deemed no good, ( or did not present desirable or pleasant terpenes) after our consult/ training.
After one employee breaking the vessel lid and on both chambers, I was asked to take over.
In doing so I was able to develop a process that took a some trial and error with ratio distribution.
With this SOP the Terpenes will be desirable given the material has been stored and handled properly and processed within reasonable time… The older the material the less desirable the terpenes will be as degradation has began, again unless stored properly.
I do not recommend fresh frozen or live material.
I have had best results with dried, readily cured material (trim or flower)
I do recommend to break up the flower in small pieces not ground.
And always remove as much sticks and stem.
Also note this is not a large production yield… on average I would pull 6-12 grams per 1,000 grams processed.
Water clear, desirable and concentrated. (less needed for vape pen dilution rates)
Much Love and I hope this helps anyone looking into this unit.
I have included a downloadable file as well as written out below.
4200 milstone sop .docx (15.5 KB)
Purpose: The purpose of the SOP is to outline a step-by-step procedure to maintain a regulated process and consistent quality as well as maintain safety for the employee.
Definitions:
Milestone Parameters & Ramping Temps/Time/Fan Speed:
3 minutes – 700w – T2 100 - Fan Speed 1
7 minutes – 1,100w – T2 110 - Fan Speed 1
55 minutes – 1,500w – T2 110 - Fan Speed 1
5 minutes – 0w – T2 0 – Fan Speed 3
Cooling – 5 minutes
Reference Chart:
Material (per Gram): RO water
500G-800G < 1,600ML-2,000ML
1,000G < 2,400ML Best Results
1,000G-1,250G < 2,600ML
1,500G < 2,800ML
Supplies: PPE, Sanitary Gloves, Safety Glasses, Lab Coat, 5gal food grade buckets with Lids, Heat Gloves. 1oz/2oz collection jars, 40ml QEC vials for Final Product. Decarb Oven, panda dryer, 5gal 220-micron bag.
Procedure: Turn on chiller and Milestone.
Pre weigh bag, then weigh out material in 5-gal buckets.
Saturate material in RO water using measurements reference chart.
Mix thoroughly then compress material to bottom of the 5-gal bucket, completely submerged and pressed in RO water.
Allow bucket to sit for minimally 20 minutes to soak up RO water (prep as many buckets needed per shift capability, usually 4max)
When loading the material, loosen and mix up from being compressed and soaking.
Loosely fill the Milestone vessel (as not to pack the material down, it must stay loose)
When assembling the lid to the vessel slightly grease the seal gasket for both sides on glass contact. (not Necessary but does aid sealing)
Lightly tighten the lid clamp one at time and opposite sides until all are fastened, make sure clamp is centered before tightening all the way down, and do not over tighten.
Prep the condenser arm assembly, slightly grease the glass fitting, and fit into the lid of the vessel inside the Milestone.
Unscrew the lid to the Sep funnel, fill the Sep funnel with RO water to the 5-7ml marker, reassemble the lid to the condenser arm.
Run the preset Standard (Approximately 1hour 9minutes)
Once complete, drain waste Hydrosol.
Tare an empty jar then collect Terpenes and record weight.
Add RO water to an equal amount of weight in terpenes (i.e., 2.2g terpenes: 2.2g RO water)
Store in Cryo freezer to crash Hydrosol and separate the Terpenes for 24 hours minimum.
Then remove and empty material out of glass vessel into empty 5gal food grade bucket.
Prep Milestone now for successive runs until complete. Once milestone is prepped and running next Successive run, Continue next steps.
Using a Panda Dryer, Spin-dry the material using a 220-micron bubble bag.
Once dry, break up the material onto trays in micron mesh bags and load into the drying oven.
Rotate shelves on the first hour and mix the material up on the trays then rotate and mix again every 30 minutes until dried efficiently. (less than 1,000G takes about 90 minutes up to 2 hours for max material up to 1,500G)
Terpene Isolation: Finished Product
If Terpenes have not fully separated, then add more RO water to appropriate levels and refreeze for another 24 hours.
Tare a Storage Vial (amber or blue) and record tare weight.
Once Terpenes and Hydrosol are separated, using disposable pipette, pipe out Terpenes into tared storage vial and record weights.
Hydrosol can be collected and stored for further separation or disposed as water waste.
Store Terpenes in Cold Storage (Freezer)