Equipment-Elementor - Abundant Labs

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Equipment

CENTRIFUGE OR ETHANOL EXTRACTOR

Abundant Labs makes use of a super-cryo ethanol extractor using LN2 in a specially made thermo-exchange unit to drive temperatures to the lowest point possible. Biological materials (such as hemp) are added to the large centrifuge with ethanol at low temperatures.

The hemp/ethanol mixture is spun and agitated to allow the ethanol to dissolve the desired cannabinoids from the hemp material.

The operation then purifies and isolates the desired products from the mixture and removes any impurities.

Falling Film Evaporator

A falling film evaporator is a specific type of vertically-oriented shell and tube heat exchanger. It separates two or more substances with different boiling point temperatures by dividing the material into thin films. Heat is transferred rapidly and efficiently across a shell and tube heat exchanger between the media and biological matter/ethanol mixture.

Under pressure, the mixture is spread evenly in a thin film from top to bottom for even heat distribution.

The thin layers can be heated to evaporate the ethanol from the mixture efficiently.

When the ethanol evaporates into a vapor-liquid form, it is separated by entering a condenser to cool back to liquid form.

The ethanol is then recycled back into storage for future use.

Wiped Film Distillation

When product mixtures are partially separated, a different distillation process is used. The most critical requirement of all distillation processes is the boiling point difference of the fractions that need to be isolated within the mixture.

Wiped film distillation is a thermal separation process designed for thermally sensitive products. The short residence time and low evaporation temperature cause minimal thermal stress to the distilled product, resulting in a gentle distillation.

This allows cannabinoids to remain intact and not degrade during the distillation process.

Abundant Labs uses wiped film distillation to separate CBD from other compounds in the crude oil by taking advantage of the different boiling points of the compounds within the oil.

The crude material is heated up on the internal surface of a heated tube. A unique rotating wiping system with paddles smears the crude oil inside the evaporator to increase the surface area of the oil.

This generates a very thin and turbulent film on the heated surface.

The evaporation of the components with lower boiling points occurs within the distillation column. The CBD condensate and terpenes are collected in different condensers, and the remaining materials are the compounds with higher boiling points that never evaporated.

CBD ISOLATION REACTOR

Once the distillate is purified, the oil undergoes a recrystallization process. This is done to purify the oil. The desired compound can be isolated, and any impurities can be removed.

To perform recrystallization, a solvent is added to the mixture. In this case, the solvent is CBD distillate. The mixture is then heated until all of the distillate dissolves in the solution.

Once the CBD distillate dissolves, the mixture’s temperature is significantly lowered. The mixture is allowed to cool, and the CBD molecules reassemble into a crystalline structure, separating themselves from the rest of the mix.

The isolate is tested using advanced chemistry instrumentation to determine and certify the pure CBD composition with non-detectable (ND) amounts of other cannabinoids, like THC.

This process results in isolated CBD extracts or finished products that contain no THC.

Flash Chromatography

Flash Chromatography is an analytical chemical separation technique used to purify mixtures. Although our hemp-derived products are distilled using falling film and wiped film distillation, some terpenes, cannabinoids, and solvents remain and must be remediated using analytical instrumentation.

Flash chromatography is performed by introducing a mixture into the instrument with the aid of a solvent.

Compounds in the solution will separate from each other due to polarity differences given the right conditions and technique.

The mixture is then added to the top of the column, and the solvent is added to the column using a pump.

In reverse-phase chromatography, the solvent mixture is added into a column lined with a highly polar substance. Components with a greater polarity within the mixture will pass through the column at a slower rate due to the polar compounds being attracted to the polar compounds within the lining of the column. Components with a low polarity within the mixture will pass through the column at a faster rate.

The material collected at the end of this process will be purer than when it was in the original mixture.

Flash Chromatography allows us to remediate the final product’s remaining THC, terpenes, or other undesired components.

Flash Chromatography can be used in every step of the extraction process to ensure products are extracted efficiently and to determine if parameters need to be adjusted during the distillation phase.

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is another analytical chemical separation technique that takes advantage of the varying polarity of components within a mixture. However, HPLC differs because the column is much smaller than for flash chromatography and is performed under high pressure.

The smaller column under pressure creates specific parameters allowing for greater scrutinization in removing undesired compounds within the final product.

Like flash chromatography, a mixture’s components can be separated based on their respective polarities.

If a sample contains both THC and CBD, the mixture is introduced into the instrument with the assistance of a solvent under high pressure to move the mixture through the column. Reverse-phase chromatography attracts the more polar compounds in the mix. CBD differs from THC only in the number of -OH functional groups. CBD has two, while THC contains only one.

Thus, the CBD will pass through the column more quickly and arrive at the detector before the THC, allowing our team to separate these two components and produce isolated or broad spectrum distillates with non-detectable traces of THC.

Vacuum Ovens

Vacuum ovens remove moisture, gas, and other possibly volatile chemicals from items while preventing reactions. The vacuum chamber reduces pressure which reduces the boiling point of most substances. This allows vacuum ovens to evaporate unwanted materials from their samples without burning them.

100L Jacketed Glass Reactors

Our 100L Jacketed Glass Reactors are used to control the heat of exothermic reactions to decrease the viscosity of highly viscous extractions. Our jacketed reactors enhance temperature control which in turn leads to enhancing our product quality.

Large Volume Roto Evaporators

Our Large Volume Roto Evaporators are used for the gentle and efficient removal of solvents from our biological samples.