this is my first post. I hope it is in the right category.
I’ve been a quiet reader for months
Forgive me for my not so good english.
I´m going to start a CBD bussines in Austria. I build my extraction / destillation machine and filter myself. Cold ethanol extractor with centrifuge and so on. The process will take place at temperatures about -40°C, which is done by dry ice for the first few times. The destill is about 100l and can be driven under “absolute” vacuum.
My question is if it is possible to do the winterisation process after the extraction.
The ethanol-cannabinoid liquid is still at -40°C. I´m going to build myself a filter which has 6 “floors”. Each floor have a smaller mesh. The last floor- bottomfloor (liquid goes from top to down). The top filter have about 50microns and the last is with celite 545. The whole thing does have an diameter of 270mm. The liquid gets pulled trough by vakuum. More or less it is a bigger buchner funnel.
Or must the winterisation done with less ethanol in it !?
Is there any way to test for myself if all waxes are out ?
Would the extract be completely winterised after i run my 200l fresh -40°C cold extracted fluid trough it?
Maybe i have to switch the filter a few times. I will find out.
After that the ethanol is going to be recovered by a 100l weak vacuum destill. This thing is heated by a water bath. Now i tought if it is possibel to let the crude oil in it, increse the vacuum to 1mbar an temp to 95°C, and decarb it. Do i need a stirrer, or could it be done with the unmoving crude?
at -40C you will pull some waxes, but not a ton. if your biomass is shredded, you will have more wax. if you soak your biomass for a long time, you will pull more waxes.
as for decarb, you wont be able to pull a deep vacuum during that process because the process itself generates co2 gas which kills your vacuum. also, 95C is okay but on the low end for sure. at 95C, assuming good agitation and contact time, youre looking at several hours. if you kick the temp up to ~130C itll finish in an hour or so. depending on final product/consumption you may pick low n slow or hot and fast.
oh and yes youre gonna wanna be stirring that big ole pot.
The biomass is shredded to a particle size of about 2-3mm.
The material is soaking and centrifuged for 10 mins.
Then how is a vacuum oven bzw. a decarb “machine” designed?
Does it pull as much vacuum as it can or there are some other tricks?
I think i will build a small Vessel which can be used for decarb and cristallisation. With stirer an the right temperatures.
If i decarb at lower temps. It will take longer but my terps wont be affected that much if i´m right ?
Or are most of them already out by ethanol recovery?
Does anybody know if the above mentiond filter would work that way?
Should I also add activated carbon to the filter/ to the liquid?
The most of the oil is for normal CBD oil drops (5%-25%) but i want to do a lot of products of the processed crude like crystalls, pastes , destillates and vape liquids.
Thanks! For the pics you have to wait a few months. All our machines are currently under cunstruction by me.
Hey! With the flower size and soak time in consideration I’d try dropping from -40C to maybe -50C if possible just to try to save yourself from pulling too many waxes. When it comes to trying to save terps you should look into decarbing your flower and collecting your terps through a cold trap connected to your vacuum oven. As far as the filter, it should work well although you may want to adjust as you test and check the CRC posts to ensure you are doing things to the best of your abilities!