WFE Dialing in parameters

quick question yall. For a WFE using ETHO extracted crude. What temp do you recommend running your evaporator and condenser at? I have narrowed it down to 145-170 range, but I would like to narrow it down further. Any more info would help a lot. I have been talking with chatgpt and looking through past post but there seems to be a lot of debate about this topic

This will vary depending on your vacuum depth, feed rate, and wiper speed (to some extent) I would say, you want to find where your vacuum sits while you are running. Try to hold the vacuum level constant as best you can. Some slight changes are okay, but the more constant the better. Your wiper will probably be between 250 and 450 rpms, this is less important. Your other two parameters now, the feed rate and evaporator temperature can be adjusted. I would choose a feed rate that seems reasonable, maybe based on the size/ advertised distillation speed. From there, you want to adjust the temperature until 1. The color is what you desire, and 2. the ratio between distillate and residue production is about 90:10. As long as your other parameters are held the same, your temperature number should be based on those 2 properties.

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Well with the help of chatGPT I was able to generate a process, but I am a little nervous using it. this being my first experience with chatgpt. So if you and anyone else seeing this wants to look it over and give another opinion, I would appreciate the advice

WTMD-06Master_Parameters_Pass2TitleFix.pdf (21.7 KB)

If the pdf doesn’t work or you don’t feel comfortable clicking an unknown link let me know. I just want to be safe and happy producing the best product I can. the community has been super supportive in the past and I always appreciate you all taking the time to help. Thank you! :smiley:

Depends on how your ethanol crude was processed.
was it extracted cold? if not, winterize first
did you decarb under vacuum? if yes, how deep was the vacuum and at what temperature were you processing? Was there stirring involved?
The answers to the second set of questions will determine if you need to run a terp strip

Really? asking chat gpt??? when there is a wealth of information here? :stuck_out_tongue:

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I terp strip at 175c @800um adjusting feed rate until vacuum starts climbing then let er rip.
1st true pass at 162c deepest vacuum machine can get
2nd pass if needed is at 155c deepest vacuum
This works well for cbd great color decent yields depending on how clean the crude was prior to distillation.
If thc then run a tad cooler ime.

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LMFAO :rofl: It helped me narrow down my search and create the pdf from scratch. Definitely worth it but it 100% has its flaws. So that is why I came here :smiley:. Now, to answer your questions, we do a cold wash extraction at about -40, filter, and evaporate the majority of ethanol out. Then decarb it. This process is done by using our vacuum that gets down to -25psi, under constant agitation. While boiling the ethanol off the vacuum will reach as low as -5psi but is under constant vacuum pressure. This is done till the decarb reaches 120c with -25psi. Then this pressure and temp is maintained for 45min-1.5hours. Until the crude looks nice and silky. then it is filtered as it comes out of the decarb. Again, there is constant agitation, and it is increased once the desired temp and pressure are reached.

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Do you have any pictures of your distillation setup? Or do you know the equipment brand/specs? If you do, we may be able to hone in on good starting parameters that you can adjust from until you are happy with the results. It sounds like your crude oil is in great shape for distillation, which is a great place to start from.

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WTMD-06Master (Steel, 3-Phase) is the model. It’s created by WESTTUNE. I put the info in the PDF. I am about to start a test run as we speak with the new parameters I have found. I asked another contact, and they recommend I run my first pass at 170c for the evap and 115c for the feed. which currently I have seen the most discrepancy because it is dependent on what you want to pull. I just want yellow to clear 90%+ disty. that is the goal. ASAP. and of course, safely :slight_smile:

You’ll get yellow distillate unless you do some colour remediation.

Your extraction and decarb set-up sound good. Though I think you mean inHg and psi when referring to your pressures.

I would consider keeping your first pass evaporator column temp below 160 and keep vacuum between 1-7 x 10-1 mbar.
Then rerun the residue (stuff that doesn’t distill) at 180 C at < 9 x 10^-2 mbar.
Adjust your feed speed so that you stay between these vacuum parameters.

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ooooo~ That would make sense to maximize your yield as well. start gentle to evap the low boil point terps and volatiles then crank it up later to squeeze out the rest

You should always be doing two passes through the wiped film. First one with just your normal vacuum pump, second pass using both that same vacuum pump with the diffusion/turbo pump as well.

I agree. no turbo=terp strip, turbo= pulling distillate. we typically run 2-3 passes. 1)terpstrip 2)the main pass 3) to polish or squeeze out more.
Is the procedure I follow

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question. why do you distil at 162 instead of 160 or 165? is it your goldilocks zone. I am curious so I can start fine tuning. after about a week and a half of issues I am producing distillate again and my issue seemed to be my feed was not hot enough.

Just an average temp between 160-165 works for us. Nothing too fancy.
Yes feed temp is important. I run mine at 120c.
I distill cbd so my temps will be a tad hotter than others distilling thc.
Glad to hear you are making good disty again
Best of luck continuing dialing her in.

Guessing your feed reservoirs under vac?
For fresh material I feed at 60-65C all day, but I always prep my material the night before and let it get to temp.

After looking at your rig online, I would guess that vertical feed tube is clogging with residue if it’s not jacketed/heated and that running the feed so hot is flushing the lines. I would probably put extra focus on making sure that feed line is drained during shutdown so residue doesn’t buildup.

I would add heat tape.
And maybe a sight glass to the feed if possible so you can monitor the flow there as well as vac levels.