I’ve been experiencing some issues while toll processing Fresh Frozen material. Once the material has crystalized I notice a rainbow slick like oil that floats on top of the HTE fraction of the concentrate. At first I thought this might be some type of foliar spray or fats and lipids, but I have yet to run into anything like this in the past. I’ve included some of our processing procedures below for reference. Has anyone else seen anything like this while processing Fresh Frozen? All theories all welcome.
Material Temp: approximately -40°c (Stored at -86°c in ultra low before processing)
Injection Temp: -70°c or lower
Material Column Exit Temp: -56°c or lower
Soak Time: None (Typically use a slow wash)
Solvent Amount: 35lb-40lb per 6kg of Fresh Frozen (6.6lb per kg of FF)
We have not, unfortunately this is a toll project so the oil does not get used in house. The only remediation technique that has worked so far is separating the HTE from THCa and running a pentane wash over the crystals. We are actively running a dexwax and winterization experiment on the HTE to see if fats and lipids could be the issue. They mentioned that they use a block spray through the flower cycle, but nothing hits the plant or flowers. They also mentioned that the IPM regimen uses non systemic oils/sprays.
Hmm, maybe residual water drops from Condensation, that may be falling into your hte while filtering the hte from thca… ive seen it happen when my techs won’t whipe off the moisture around the cold jars, once i check out the hte after it purges ive seen tgis “rainbow” effect. But who knows, we’ll let one of the pros chime in.
Id ask them which non systemic oils they are using(in a nice way), that kind of paraphrasing specifying non systemic is a great way to beat around the bush that systemic oils are being used.
Replied to the wrong person whoops.
Besides that i have gone thru this rabbit hole many times, you may end up spending a lot of time on something your not going to be able to get to the bottom of. A lot of people gladly put black market product and overhype their total weight harvested so they can… gl.
Unless you got a vacuum leaking oil you may run into some nightmares ahead of people pointing the issue out. Run another column do it hella proper make sure its not your process and talk to them if they wanna keep running or not. Some people may pay you some others may blame you and you know the rest.
Appreciate everyones feedback! So after reading the comments the team did clarify that SufOilx was one of the oils used during their block spray process. Have you seen this pop up in your extract? If so, what is the best way to avoid having this end up in the extract? I am hopeful to avoid the use of any media if possible. If media is the only route, is there a way to remediate the issue before running the FF without changing their internal process?
This is where I’d start first, by getting them to loosen up and tell you exactly what oils had been used so then you may find a proper way of remediating them post extraction if and when possible. Secondly, maybe find a supplier whom doesn’t use said oils or have them dedicate a specific amount/room for your needs and better practices of ipm solutions.
Ive been using suff oil for a long time, have sprayed several weeks into flower but never the final weeks. Havnt had an issue but obviously if sprayed close to harvest will have a diff result.
Nothing ive tried per say, but since its suffoil and it is pre emulsified before sale one MAY be able to remove it with LLE. Non polar solvent and water obviously but i cant say indefinitely which layer itll attract to with a emulsifier id bet on it going to the non polar solvent but im not educated enough to say so indefinitely.
If it does gravitiate towards the water great, but considering its fresh frozen your going to lose some fragrances to the water likely. Theres alot more “flavored” alcohols in wet material. Still better than nothing IF it works but again it is an oil by nature so .
If no luck id shoot for thca personally. While suffoil is 80% mineral oil, 100% oil boils at 310C. Might be able to throw the terp fraction in distiller and seperate the lighter compounds while the oil stays.
They were at least open to sharing that they did use this solution during block sprays. Luckily our in house material processes fine, and the team providing the material is being patient so we are not at a complete loss here. Oven are all dry scroll pumps so I do see any issues on that end.
I plan on having them purposely spray a batch with the block spray solution to see if it pops up in higher quantities in the final extract. This would definitely have me leaning more toward the SuffOilX being the main culprit I appreciate all of the thoughts for remediation. I will certainly give this a go if it issue persist.
@TasteTheRainbow : We utilize 200 proof ethanol, and use a heat gun on the glassware to ensure there is no residual solvent. No denatured or Iso is allowed on anything that touches oil at our facility.
This thought did came across my mind as well, but I figured if it was the cleaning process we would have seen it pop up in our oil as well.
@TasteTheRainbow - The oil has been tested along with a sample of the SuffOilX and it provided inconclusive data. @Swet254k - We typically crash out the THCa at around 75°f, then centrifuge at similar temps so I don’t believe it’s moisture content. @FicklePickle - They use it once in veg, and then at week 1 of flower. After gathering additional info, they mentioned the use of Zerotol during the remaining block sprays through the flower cycle. Zerotol is Hyrdogen Peroxide so I am wondering if that is somehow making it’s way onto the plant material or if that is systemic? @Griffin.Labs - Our goal is to avoid any CRC on Live Resin if possible.
This tends to pop up intermittently, only some runs will have this issue. We’ve experienced 1 good run, 1 bad run, and 1 good run all in one day. The only thing that happens in between runs is a system clean to ensure there is no oil transfer between runs. There have been instances of 1 bad run and 2 good ones back to back as well.
If your getting it tested an any cannabis testing lab they likely dont even have a sample to compare suff oil with. ( even than if what they say its true nooooooo way are you getting it in your extract spraying 2 months before harvest)
Its definitely not moisture content its oil and water it’ll separate and purge off at below room temp in a oven.
Zeritol is more than hydrogen peroxide… W Peracetic acid (C2H4O3) is a mixture of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in a watery solution. It is a bright, colorless liquid that has a piercing odor and a low pH value (2,8). Peracetic acid is produced by a reaction between hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid:
When peracetic acid dissolves in water, it disintegrates to hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid
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