Hi everyone! After 3 years of obsessive R&D, designing, engineering, testing and spending way too much money, we are finally ready to introduce the new ApolloXstill® turn-key closed-loop ethanol extraction system. It works even better than we dreamt, and we can now say (and prove) that it is the way to go from every logical standpoint: speed, size, efficiency, safety, product quality, flexibility, cost, etc.
If you are in the market for an extraction machine and you love innovation (or you just want the best), give us a call at (949) 244-0281 or email at info@apolloxstill.com.
Thanks for sharing our website link! It’s a work in progress but there you can get some basics of the system. We are also working on developing some professional videos, catalogs, etc so more to come! We do have cut sheets and peer-review so all good there!
Yes we have our first system up and running and in a working facility in Long Beach, CA. Anyone can come see it with an appointment. We’re in the process of setting up 5 more systems across the country.
I can send you more info in an email if you’d like, just send me a email at info@apolloxstill.com.
We’re not using ultrasonics in the extraction system but I do love ultrasonic technology! I can say that we are also in the process of developing post-processing chromatography system and are playing around with ultrasonics there…
The ApolloXstill system does extraction at a true -80C. PLUTO is LN2 chiller with insane cooling capacity to be able to chill ethanol inline on-demand on its way from ROCKET (solvent recovery) to SONIC (the centrifuge) in a completely closed-loop process.
This system looks pretty fucking badass man. Keep up the good work! Whats a general price range for this system? Any info on throughput & capacity? Thanks a bunch man!
This system looks pretty fucking badass man. Keep up the good work! Whats a general price range for this system? Any info on throughput & capacity? Thanks a bunch man!
We offer 2 models, 50lbs/hr and 100lbs/hr. The new 100lb/hr system has an upgraded Sonic (front-loading larger capacity centrifuge) and larger chiller/heater for Rocket but the overall footprint of the system is about the same. Since price isn’t much more and we really love the new design of Apollo-100, I think we may just discontinue the Apollo-50 in the future.
PRICE
The price for Apollo-50 is 345k and Apollo-100 is 395k. Right now we are doing an early adopter 25K discount. So 320k and 370k for Q1. This is a turn-key system so we include EVERYTHING needed for complete setup including all ancillary components: pumps, chillers, heaters, tubing, hard piping, connectors/adapters, insulation, fluids, etc. We are also including free installation and training right now for Q1 early adapters, anywhere in the country. ApolloXstill systems are UL listed, C1D2 rated, peer-reviewed, GMP and FDA compliant.
Operating costs:
ETOH
There is about a 2% loss rate in the biomass. Right now I believe ethanol is around $10/L so that’s cost of $20/hr.
LN2
At full capacity, 100lbs/hr, you will consume about 50L of LN2. LN2 costs range from $0.07 to $0.25 at these volumes depending on where you are in the country. So that’s about $10/hr in LN2 costs.
ELECTRICAL
Apollo-100 requires about 100 amps. Avg kWh: $0.10 x 25kW = $2.5/hr of electricity costs.
OPERATORS
Only 1-2 operators are needed to run the system.
To answer your question about the speed:
SONIC-100: 50lbs of biomass with 80L (20gal) of ethanol per run. 2 runs can be done per hour. The time it takes to get the 80L of ethanol from room temp down to -80C is about 5-10 minutes. While this is happening, PLUTO’s LN2 exhaust vapors (-100C) are ducted into the chamber of SONIC to pre-chill the dry biomass while it slowly tumbles. Once the buffer tank is full with the 80L of ethanol at -80C, it’s pushed into SONIC for the wash cycle. This whole process happens in about 15 minutes. Then another 5min for wash/dry and then on to the next batch. The clean ethanol is recovered with ROCKET and reused for the next run in a closed-loop process.
Sputnik is just an industrial buchner style filtration system that is jacketed and closed loop that we built to work seamlessly with the Apollo system. Not sure what’s all out there to compare to but we’re not claiming to have invented anything there!
Thanks DJ! We’ve poured our hearts and souls into this project and can’t be more excited to finally show it off. Right now we offer 2 models and here’s the prices for Q1 of 2020:
Apollo-50 (50lbs/hr) price: 320k (includes install and training)
Apollo-100 (100lbs/hr) price: 370k (includes install and training)
The Apollo-100 system processes biomass to high-quality crude. We consider everything beyond that ‘post-processing’. We are developing a distillation system called R2D2 but it’s still a work in progress. We are also developing a chromatography system that I can’t talk much about yet.
AXS system will extract 95%+ of the available cannabinoids. So if you’re running trim with 10% cannabinoids, that’s 10lbs of distillate per 100lbs or 4.5kg. You can expect to get 4L/hr of distillate in this case.
Wow, let me say with all sincerity: Out of any of the manufacturers I’ve spoken with in the past two years, you by far present the most relevant information. It was like pulling teeth to get the total amperage for the system we bought, which was essential since it required an increase in amperage for the site.