Hey guys, so I’m contemplating the addition of nitrogen assistance to my active cls. After perusing hours of f4200 archives, I’ve yet to find a solid reason why nitrogen assistance is better than moving the cold solvent passively. It seems this could be accomplished by putting a condensing coil (in dry ice/denatured) in between the liquid port on the solvent tank and the material column fill, then placing the solvent tank in a warm water bath. Would a large condensing coil not get the solvent as cold as dunking the whole tank in dry ice/denatured? Or could you just push it much faster with nitrogen? I feel like I might be missing something here. Any tips would be greatly appreciated
1 Like
active or passive?
I ask because you say
and
yep. see… you did find a reason!!
what solvent (blend) are you using?
how warm does your tank need to be to provide 80PSI of push?
Is heating all your solvent up that hot, then cooling it down again before injecting better (process wise) than using nitrogen? that probably depends on exactly what you’ve got on hand. many folks heat a separate solvent tank for that “push”.
3 Likes
I would be using an active system, running (for now) %100n-butane. Upon consulting that chart, it appears I’d need to get the solvent pretty damn hot to match what could be easily accomplished with nitrogen. However, I feel I would rather keep my solvent hot than keep the entire solvent tank below boiling point so I’d be able to burp the system
Add a lil iso or propane to boost your psi
1 Like
Nitrogen assist is much better than passive movement in an active class.
-
if you’ve got a straight line type of unit (blast into a pot that sits on the floor) picking up that wobbly thing, putting it into di/iso, picking it up, placing it in hot water, etc is greatly increasing the risk you place yourself in.
-
It’s faster, as previously mentioned, but ONLY if you have the capacity to adequately vent nitrogen from your solvent tank and hopefully collection vessel.
-
Always keep the solvent tank cold—your final product will thank you.
-
Keep that recovery in warm water throughout the run. I’d suggest investing in a sousvide, a Gatorade bucket and a water circulation pump and put it into a jacketed bottom. You thank yourself after a single run of not picking up the whole system and moving it around
11 Likes
I gravely underestimated how much of a pia it would be pick that 5lb unit up and down repeatedly/swap water out to maintain constant temp. Will definitely invest in a sous vide, though considering I just bought this shiny new 12x12 non jacketed collection, I may just run two pumps (supply and return) and place the whole thing in a bucket.
Regarding n2 venting, I believe I have it all thought out on the solvent tank–just get it below boiling point and open the vapor port. Though how would I vent the collection vessel? Just by getting all built up pressure back to the solvent tank and venting from there?
2 Likes
It’s not always necessary to vent the headspace of the collection, but you have an extra valve on there you’re good.
But yes the solvent tank must be cooler than butanes BP to vent only nitrogen (although it will never be JUST nitrogen). You need a place to run that hose for venting though. It should not be vented inside, ever
3 Likes
First off, thanks for helping me out with this, I really appreciate it.
But even with an extra vent on the collection, is it really possible to vent the n2 without cooling it below bp?
Wouldn’t the fastest process be to push all n2 into collection vessel>isolate tank from collection>vent n2 from tank>pull vac on tank (not sure if recovery pump or vac pump would be right for this)>begin recovery?
1 Like
Yeah that’s the idea, scratch the collection vessel vent. I have one on my setup for an “oh shit” type situation. It doesn’t really get used.
Just be able to vent solvent and invest in a prv for collection
3 Likes
Your suggesting he keep his collection in hot water during extraction?
I’d suggest leaving it in a bucket, and adding the hot water via a pump when he is ready for recovery.
7 Likes
this is actually a better idea.
If you don’t have a pump just dump in water.
Sorry folks, it was late and I haven’t run a cls like that in a long time.
4 Likes
Here’s a good start
3 Likes
Why not just hot loop?
I use a coil to cool my solvent my tank is always warm.
When im done injecting i take the coil out of the slurry put it in warm water and that creates a vapor push into the column pushing out more then half of the payload.
I then turn on the hotloop to get the remainder out of the column. Only thing i ever get cold is my coil unless im dewaxing
4 Likes
This is somewhat what I do. I have two solvent tanks, a primary and secondary. My secondary tank has an interior coil in the center that heats up with hot water and provides pressure to the primary tank to push (or wherever I want to push)
Ive used nitro, I just find this easier. Plus I doubled my solvent storage capacity at the same time. I do keep a bottle of nitro on hand just in case but haven’t used it in over a year generally only use it to pressure test the system.
8 Likes
I like this idea. Any chance you happen to know the model # of the tank that has a submerged coil inside of it?
Custom built around 8k outfitted, many suppliers have them though. I believe the Xtractor Depot infinity tanks have internal coils, or you can have someone make you one for your current tank.
Even just a jacketed tank will achieve the same thing
Or super budget… drop a regular tank in a garbage can full of hot water.
2 Likes
Is the coil attached to the lid or attached inside the solvent tank? Cause I think having a coil attached to the lid would be easier to fabricate.
1 Like
Yeah its a 4" lid coil.
My collection vessel has one as well
That’s such a horrible demonstration of how to get rid of nitrogen from your system.
4 Likes
You can find such kind of lid with a coil at BVV for instance.