Since countries released cannabis as a remedy, economic interest in this natural product has grown. Cannabis has also been available as a medicine in Germany since March 2017. Therefore, the ingredient of interest is the cannabinoid compound Vegetable oil. The amount of this substance in the cannabis plant depends on the specific type.
The cheapest and simplest method for small-scale production of vegetable oil is the oil infusion method. This method involves first heating the dried plant material to a certain temperature to activate the plant compounds. Then, the plant material is added to oil and heated to extract the vegetable oil. Coconut oil or olive oil are commonly used for this process. This extraction method is more common among producers of homemade vegetable oil.
After the vegetable oil is extracted, it can be further distilled to remove any unwanted components, such as waxes, other plant compounds, and lipids.
Crude extraction - common industrial hemp Vegetable oil extraction techniques include carbon dioxide extraction and solvent extraction:
1. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method
Carbon dioxide supercritical extraction is the most commonly used plant extraction method.
The temperature of the carbon dioxide is lowered to below -56.1 °C and the pressure is increased to above 0.52 MPa by means of a compression device, at which time the carbon dioxide gas is converted into a liquid. Increase the temperature and pressure until the liquid becomes "supercritical".
(2) Put high-quality cannabis in the extractor, and supercritical carbon dioxide dissolves in the extractor and collects the plant extract. The carbon dioxide, which becomes a liquid, is fed into a low-pressure separator, and the cannabis extract is automatically separated from the carbon dioxide.
(3) After the carbon dioxide reaches the supercritical state after the compression device, it continues to return to the extraction tank for cannabis extraction until the end of the extraction, the carbon dioxide returns to the storage tank, and the crude Vegetable oil product flows out of the separator and is collected into the storage tank.
2. Solvent extraction method
(1) Ethanol Solvent Extraction Method: Unlike carbon dioxide extraction, using ethanol to extract plant oils from plants is very simple and inexpensive. Typically, the plant material is soaked in ethanol solvent, which dissolves the plant oils and other compounds. The ethanol is then evaporated, leaving behind the plant oil. The disadvantage of this method is that it extracts other substances, such as chlorophyll. Plant oils extracted in this way often have a bitter, herbaceous taste. Furthermore, heating can degrade plant compounds and activate tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Also, trace amounts of the solvent may remain in the extract. Therefore, secondary processing is required to remove harmful substances from the plant oil.
(2) Hydrocarbon Solvent Method: This method uses low-boiling point light hydrocarbon solvents, such as acetone, isopropanol, hexane, propane, pentane, and butane. Plant oils extracted in this way are highly potent and ideal for making topical plant oil products such as crumbles, crystals, and honeycomb-like products. The extraction speed is also very fast. However, this method leaves a large amount of residue in the plant oil. The terpene concentration in the plant oil is also significantly reduced, and this method is very dangerous.
Refining - If pure isolate is to be obtained, another process usually needs to be done: short path distillation or resin adsorption.
3. Molecular distillation
Molecular distillation can effectively remove solvents from the extract, provide decolorization, and remove chemical residues and harmful metal components. After processing with a molecular distillation device, the purity of crude vegetable oil products can be increased to over 70%.
4. Resin adsorption
(1) Column chromatography. This method is characterized by the use of multiple chromatography columns and a longer sample loading time. Repeated sample loading is necessary to obtain high-purity vegetable oil. Crystallization method.
(2) Ion exchange method: macroporous resin is used for enrichment and purification. This method requires repeated crystallization and concentration. The loss of each crystallization is about 5%, which is very serious for products with high added value.
ZZKD is a professional manufacturing unit of short-path distiller (molecular distillation). While digesting and absorbing the latest technology, combined with the company's professional and technical personnel's understanding of molecular distillation, we have designed and manufactured a precise and accurate short-path distiller (molecular distillation) , Choose different scraping film forms for different materials to adapt to different process requirements, and at the same time, there are a variety of built-in condensers in different forms to choose from to meet the materials of different molecular mean free paths, reasonable configuration and precise and accurate processing , to ensure the distance between the evaporation surface and the condensation surface, and the polished evaporation surface makes the material flow more smoothly.
Compared with ordinary distillation, ZZKD short path distiller (molecular distillation) has the following characteristics:
1: The separation operation can be realized at the temperature of the material's boiling point, as long as the system pressure is lower than the saturated vapor pressure of the light component of the material and the distance between the heating surface and the condensation surface is less than or equal to the molecular mean free path of the light component, separation can be achieved.
2: Ordinary distillation operates above the boiling temperature of the material, so evaporation and condensation are a reversible process, and the separation operation of the short-path still (molecular distillation) can be realized below the boiling temperature, so the evaporation of the short-path still (molecular distillation) And condensation is an irreversible process.
3: Ordinary distillation has the phenomenon of bubbling and boiling. The separation operation of the short-path distiller (molecular distillation) is realized below the boiling temperature, so there is no bubbling and boiling phenomenon, which is conducive to maintaining a high degree of vacuum in the whole system.
The short-path distillation kit produced by ZZKD has stable performance and easy operation. In addition, we also have rotary evaporators, electric heating mantles, and other distillation and extraction equipment. 13 years of production and export experience and a series of ISO9001 and CE certificates, with warehouses in the United States, Spain and Thailand.
If you want to know about our products, or want to buy our equipment, please feel free to contact us, ZZKD will offer you the best price for 20l short-path distillation kits.
