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 CBD. The amount of this substance in the cannabis plant depends on the specific type.
Oil extraction is the cheapest and easiest way to produce CBD oil on a small scale. In this method, dried cannabis plants are first heated to a temperature that activates the cannabinoids. Once done, the plant material is added to the oil and heated to extract the CBD. Coconut or olive oil is usually used in this process. This extraction method is more common among producers of homemade CBD oil.
Once the CBD oil has been extracted, it can be further distilled to remove any undesirable components such as waxes, other cannabinoids and lipids.
Crude extraction - common industrial hemp CBD 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 CBD product flows out of the separator and is collected into the storage tank.
2. Solvent extraction method
(1) Ethanol solvent: Unlike CO2 extraction methods, it is very easy and cheap to extract CBD oil from cannabis plants using ethanol. Cannabis plants are usually soaked in an ethanol solvent. This will dissolve the CBD and other compounds in the plant. The ethanol is then evaporated, leaving behind the CBD oil. The disadvantage of this method is that other materials, such as chlorophyll, are extracted. CBD oil extracted in this way is known to have a grassy, bitter taste. Heat also destroys cannabinoids and activates THC. In addition, traces of solvent may remain in the extract. You need a secondary treatment to remove unwanted substances from CBD oil.
(2) Hydrocarbon solvent: In this method, a low-boiling light hydrocarbon solvent such as acetone, isopropanol, hexane, propane, pentane and butane is used. CBD extracted in this way has a high potency level and is ideal for making spreadable CBD products such as CBD crumbles, crumbles and honeycombs. Extraction is also very fast. However, there is a lot of residue left in the CBD oil when using this method. The terpene concentration in CBD oil will also be greatly reduced, but the method is very dangerous.
Refining - If pure CBD 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 the solvent in the extract, and play the role of decolorization, remove chemical residues and harmful metal components, and the purity of the crude CBD product after the molecular distillation device can be increased to more than 70%.
4. Resin adsorption
(1) Column chromatography. The characteristics of this method are that there are many columns used for chromatography, and the sample loading time is long. If you want to obtain high-purity CBD, you need to repeatedly load samples. crystallization.
(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.
FBL 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, FBL 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 FBL 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, FBL will offer you the best price for 20l CBD short-path distillation kits.
