11. Advanced Processes and Equipment
(We spent over 250k on extraction equipment in 2015 including 2 brand new, 20L CO2 extractors.)
Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond?
While non-solvent, and organic solvent processes are generally considered to be the easiest, cheapest, safest, and most beginner-friendly ways to extract, (with the strong exception of bubble hash) processes that involve dangerous, expensive equipment, chemical solvents, and/or extreme pressure and temperature exposure, are typically more scalable, efficient, and can produce higher yields of more pure products.
While the start-up costs, training, and knowledge required for advanced extraction techniques are not insignificant, they can be helpful in gaining a competitive edge in large-scale cannabis derivative manufacturing.
That being said, with the latest and ongoing developments in manufacturing queue solutions, and the implementation of more turn-key user-friendly systems utilizing cold alcohol extraction for example, and semi-automated distillation, as well as other post-processing equipment, there are now less barriers for entry than ever for manufacturers to enter or stay in the game with a wide variety of different extracted products.
Ultimately the end-products that will resonate with the consumers in your market, is what should dictate your choices over time in selecting the right manufacturing and extraction platforms to utilize.
Breaking Bud!
We tried to poison you because you’re an insane, degenerate piece of filth, and you deserve to die.
Much like the fictional chemist Walter White in the television series Breaking Bad employs dangerous lab equipment and toxic chemicals, in order to synthesize a pure chemical version of illegal methamphetamine; you sometimes have to get real nasty and apply some unconventional, and even downright scary tactics, in order to be successful when you’re, ‘Breaking Bud’.
BHO
(Raw wax in our lab from 2016.)
I like desperate men, men with broken teeth and broken minds and broken ways. They interest me. They are full of surprises and explosions.
Butane Hash Oil (BHO) is an extract that is manufactured in a method that employs butane as a liquid chemical solvent. BHO was one of the most ubiquitous extracts in early legal cannabis markets for several reasons.
For one, you can get an inexpensive, high-volume commercial system for around thirty thousand dollars, whereas a CO2 set up at a comparable scale could set you back as much as seventy-five thousand, to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
BHO is also easier to operate for beginners and can be used to great effect by skilled makers, to capture botanical extracts that are wonderfully rich in delightful terpenes, despite the polarity of terpenes.
The downside of using BHO is that Butane is a toxic hydrocarbon solvent, and must be carefully evaporated during post-processing, using machines like a vacuum oven. Furthermore, even after a post-processing has occurred that is considered adequate to meet the rules of the marketplace, there will still be some faint traces of chemical residue left behind in the product.
Improper purging of BHO can not only lead to a potentially unsafe product but can also lead to incidents of spontaneous human combustion.
While the amount of residual, toxic hydrocarbons, is relatively minuscule, in a sample that has passed QA, and probably will have a negligible effect, many consumers prefer products that were derived by non-chemical extraction methods like CO2 or Rosin.
These same consumers, however, are oftentimes sucking down butane all day long without even realizing it, when they smoke cleaner products using a ‘Bic’ lighter.
CO2
(Winterized CO2 Oil from 2018.)
We're running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere... can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) extraction systems make use of pressure and temperature to induce different phases of carbon dioxide in the state of liquid, gas, or both when it reaches its ‘critical point’. Collectively these alternating phases of CO2 help force a physical separation of plant material at the chemical level.
The critical point, in case you were wondering, or are prepared to have your mind needlessly boggled again, is the end point of a ‘phase equilibrium curve’, which obviously is even more confusing than the beginning of this sentence. Basically, beyond a certain temperature, the critical point of the phase that matter is occupying being a solid, liquid, gas, or plasma will converge into a new unified phase of matter that contains properties and elements of some or all of the phases at once.
They all like come together man… like, far out!
Unlike BHO which uses a non-polar solvent that attracts undesirable non-polar plant materials, CO2 extraction physically rips the chemical components of the plant apart using density matching supported with a slight polarity at high pressures.
While the CO2 itself is a chemical solvent, the extraction is caused by pressure, a non-chemical force that is similar to the feeling you experience on a holiday weekend when you are snowed in with your in-laws.
High vs. Low Pressure
(2017, we used low pressure CO2 to produce PDT/Chong’s Choice oil.)
No pressure, no diamonds.
CO2 operations and the extracts they produce vary according to the pressure and temperature range that you apply. Low-pressure CO2 can have some of the richest, most well-preserved terpene profiles, of any cannabis extract. Turn down your chiller and you easily might have a connoisseur product on your hands.
You would think then, that everyone that extracts CO2, would primarily use low pressure, and low temperatures to make their products, right?
Contrary to that logic, the majority of CO2 extractors use exclusively high pressure and in many cases, have CO2 extraction machines that don’t even come with a low-pressure range!
While low pressure, without a doubt, will produce a better product, there are several advantages to high-pressure CO2, the most important ones being- speed, volume, and yield.
High-pressure CO2, like it sounds, has more force behind it than a lower pressure extraction. Think of the difference between an attendant at Macy’s and a used car salesman on the last day of the month.
At higher pressures, it takes far less time to extract. In fact, the greater the pressure you apply, the less time it takes to physically force a separation of the plant material to occur.
High-pressure systems also extract more THC and are made on larger commercial scales with greater throughput, or processing capacity.
High heat and high temps will be better for yields and potency, while low pressure and low temps will be great for flavor and aroma.
Another option is to get a machine with a wide pressure range that can perform both high and low-pressure extraction.
With this flexibility, you can choose to run one or the other or even both at the same time. For instance, you can start a low-pressure run, then pause your machine, empty your collection cup, replace it, and then fire the machine back up.
Depending on your machine, it might take too long to start back up or create a loss of efficiency in the extraction process. In some cases, you can get a pressured collection cup, that will allow you to close the cup off from the collection vessel, and collect your first ‘cut’ without stopping the machine or interrupting the extraction process.
From there you could incrementally increase the pressure, eventually pulling a ‘high-cut’ that has more cannabinoids and fewer terpenes than the ‘low-cut’.
These can be reformulated back together, however, it would make more sense to send your high-cut over for distillation, and if anything, add the low-cut back into your distillate later.
DME
Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.
Dimethyl Ether (DME) is another good acronym and solvent alternative to BHO. While still quite dangerous, DME is less flammable than BHO and has a higher purity level. While there is less residual toxicity with DME, it still needs to be purged in a vacuum oven or rotary evaporator and is also made out of toxic poison. This can add to additional operating costs, like a monthly hazardous waste removal service.
EHO
I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
Ethanol Hash Oil (EHO) can be one of the most effective and easiest to use solvents for extracting cannabinoids, recapturing oil cling, and livening up a party. It also happens to be polar, unlike butane, which gives more opportunity to capture terpenes.
With alcohol extraction methods, the resulting products can vary greatly depending primarily on the factors of temperature and contact time applied. Alcohol can be an effective extractor in the extreme cold, at high heat, or even at room temperature!
A quick wash or soak of the feedstock in ethanol, with an exposure or contact time of under a minute, will produce a light oil with mostly cannabinoids, although your yield will be relatively low. This method will often require several passes to extract the most cannabis from your feedstock.
Heating the ethanol, and/or adding contact time, will lead to a greater yield of cannabinoids in a single pass but will also result in the alcohol leaching out more chlorophyll and other undesirable phytochemicals. However, this might be a moot point, if your goal is a full spectrum product like Rick Simpson Oil because in that case, there wouldn’t be any undesirable plant chemicals.
Ethanol extraction can be great for a business because there are many relatively inexpensive, super-efficient extraction systems on the market that have high volume throughput and money-saving ethanol recovery features.
No pressure, it’s just your business and dreams on the line.
Give us a shout to see if we can help.
Ultrasonic
When someone hands you a flyer, it's like they're saying, 'here, you throw this away'.
Much like the loud party next door can extract your irritation while lowering the boiling point for your nervous breakdown, sound can be used as a catalyst to induce chemical changes. Ultrasonic extraction uses the physical force of sound waves, ultrasonic pressure, and amplification to cause separation of the cannabinoids and terpenes from plant material that is suspended in a liquid solvent.
This method is reported to be a quick, clean, safe, and effective way to produce high-quality essential oils. This technology can also be adapted to use as a supplemental force in conjunction with other extraction methods such as CO2.
Key Chapter Takeaways
The Do’s and Don’ts of the Dope Industry
- Do– Make sure you brought your checkbook.
- Do– Your homework and decide which extraction method is right for you.
- Do– Understand the difference between producing for cannabinoids and producing for terpenes.
- Don’t– Overlook ethanol as the obvious solution!
- Don’t– Blow yourself up!
- Don’t– Try this at home!