Super Critical Fluid Extraction (S.F.E.)

Working fluid? Temps? Pressures? How manage the super/subcritical transition? I see no hardware for that ... cn

The technic is simple the Fluid is butane, get this from a good tobbaconist, calibri is the best. Temps are not an issue do to the fact it is the cold fluid that disgorges the tricrome from the material, pressure not an issue, the two screens in the unit controls the back pressure. Simply use one of the attachments supplied with the can of butane in the hose barb at the top. This creates the orifice to insert the can, then press down on the can slowly to release the gas. don't try to force it all in at once. After the can emptys wait a few for it to run down in the collection beaker.

380 $ hash bags. thats outrageous

Very much so,I bought a 5 bag system a couple of years ago. I seldom ever use them anymore,

Originally Posted by cannabineer

Working fluid? Temps? Pressures? How manage the super/subcritical transition? I see no hardware for that ... cn

I was also interested in how you were achieving this?
There are two basic types of CO2 extraction. Low pressure cold extraction involves chilling CO2 to between 35-55 degrees F and pumping it through the plant material at between 800-1,500 psi. Supercritical Fluid extraction involves heating the CO2 to above 87F and pumping it above 1,100 psi. Usually this work is done between 6,000-10,000 psi. Supercritical Fluid CO2 can best be described as a dense fog whereas the first method described uses the CO2 in a dense liquid state.

Low pressure CO2 is often the best method for producing high quality botanical extracts. CO2 has a high loading rate in this state meaning that you will have to pump many volumes of CO2 through a given volume of botanical. The loading rate is typically 10-40 volumes. For this reason, it is important to have a high flow pump and a CO2 recycle system unless wasting high volumes of CO2 is not a concern.

Propane- There is a little known school of thought in the natural products industry which believes that propane is the ultimate solvent for extracting botanicals. Eden Labs has tested this theory thoroughly and we have come to the conclusion that there is something to it. Although propane cannot be as widely manipulated through temp. and pressure as CO2, it produces very similar results, sometimes better. It has an amazingly small loading ratio 1-4 volumes and it can be recovered quickly. This means much faster production times. It leaves no toxic residues and it is an all natural, organic solvent. The material data safety sheet, MSDS, says it is harmless except for the fact that is flammable. Because it works at relatively low pressures, 80-150 psi, the technology costs much less than a full supercritical CO2 system and can be very competitive in terms of quality and speed of production.

The downsides to propane is that it is highly flammable so precautions such as sparkless rooms with powerful ventilation are a must. The fact that is is not widely understood or accepted can also be an issue.

Butane/IsoButane- In some cases where propane doesn't do the job, butane works better. It has all the pros and cons of propane and requires identical equipment for utilization.

Dimethyl Ether- This is the ultimate extraction solvent. It strips everything out of plant material almost instantly. All of the same equipment and precautions as propane should be used as it is also highly flammable. Has a vapor pressure slightly above propane.

R134a and other refrigerant gases- There has been a lot of talk in recent years about using R134a and related gases in natural product isolation. Our experience has shown that R134a has similar extraction properties to low pressure CO2. It works better than anything for isolating fragrance and perfume essences.

The downsides are that it becomes highly toxic if overheated and there a number of conflicting patent and intellectual property claims regarding its use.

I have a friend that blows glass he made me a butane extractor tube for ten bucks. You can also use a ball jar just poke a hole in the lid shoot the butane in the jar. remove the lid put a filter over the top and screw the ring back on. flip the jar over and it gets washed twice once when you shoot it in and once when you flip it over.

So I'm interested, but is this sub-critical or are you hitting super critical pressure? I'm guessing the butane reaches super critical mass at a round 80-150psi?

I looked it up ... butane goes critical at 150ºc and 38 bar ... about 560 psig. That temp is just too high imo. cn