# Cooking trash into hash ?



## bwanabud (Oct 2, 2009)

I have a very accurate temp. set up to cook leaf in 97% iso in a stainless pressure pot(no flame). Digital controlled heating element and a distillation tower dispersing to a heat exchanger ( in a ice bath) which then runs to a receiver tank with sight glass. A neat , safe set up.
  If I run the process temp up to 84 deg. C (boiling temp of iso) how long should the bath take to make hash oil ?
  Anyone with a strong background in chemical process ?


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## Budders Keeper (Oct 2, 2009)

> Anyone with a strong background in chemical process ?


 That counts me out  Sounds interesting, I'll be waiting for an answer too.


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## Tater (Oct 2, 2009)

Can you post a picture of your setup?  I was thinking of building a refraction still myself.  Not for cooking iso but for many other things hehehe.  Just interested in seeing what you got cookin.  How many runs do you plan on doing?

I did not know that 85C was the boiling point of iso as I had never bothered to look it up but you should end up with a more potent end product than doing a simple iso bath in open air as you need to heat THC to approximately 65-75 C in order to decarboxylate the inactive THC molecules in active THC molecules.  It is the main reason I use a double boil procedure in my butane extractions.  

If you have the time would you mind posting a detailed breakdown of your equipment and process and perhaps the final results?  I'm sure many here would appreciate it, plus I love learning something new and (potentially) dangerous.  Not that its dangerous so long as proper precautions are taken and all equipment is in good working order.  I do have a strong understanding of using a refraction still to produce alcohol.

As far as the time required doesn't that directly depend on the volume of ISO being used?  Do you have a temp gauge on the pressure cooker itself so that you can see how hot it is inside the device?  If so I would imagine you would just set your elements temp to 100C (boiling point of water) and watch your temp gauge.  It should maintain a steady temp of 84C give or take a couple degrees depending on your elevation until the ISO has boiled off, you would then notice the temp would begin to rise past the boiling point of ISO.  As soon as you see the temp rise above the ISO's boiling point just remove the heat.  I'm sure you know this already but I will say it for those out there that don't.  This is the basic principle behind separation of distillates, the temp will only rise to the lowest boiling point of a single liquid in the solution until that liquid evaporates off, then it will rise to the next lowest boiling point of whichever liquid is in the solution.

Say you had an ISO solution but you weren't sure of the water content or if there were other liquids in the solution.  You could seperate each by applying heat to the solution while it is contained in the device described above, when it hits 85 degrees you know that the iso will boil off and you can collect it.  As soon as you see a temp variation, remove the collection vessel and swap in a clean one.  Record the next stable temperature and find out which things boil at that temp.  Repeat the process until no liquid remains.  Toss the first few drops between each change in temp (this is called the tails in brewing) as it will be contaminated with more than just a single liquid.  The point of the refraction still is to cause the distillate to re-condense in the column and flow back into the bath below slowing the process down to achieve better results.

Very cool stuff, I hope to see more on this.


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## bwanabud (Oct 2, 2009)

I am in the chemical process industry - but in production phase. I have spoke to a number of chemical and process engineers for info (without using the word hooch). I know it will work in high production and quality. Just need to know the "recipe" to make it happen (without months of testing and wasted product).

 I am 100% confident that I can control the process temp. and cooling phases. It is very safe and a completely sealed system with emergency controls. Auxillary pressure blow downs and venting systems designed and built. It's a pretty piece of lab work for sure. All high grade stainless and pressure cert. tanks.

 I'm either going to make some great hash - or get arrested for owning a what looks like a nuke bomb.  

 Any advice ?


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## bwanabud (Oct 2, 2009)

Sorry Tater- you type faster than me.

Will be more than glad to post pics (right now I only have phone pics) but its a work of art. I will work up a detailed list of of all materials after i've proved it's worth.

 From my past extensive research I've come up with the following basic and abbreviated criteria.

 (1) Boiling temp of 97% iso approx. 85 deg C (temp over 100 deg C destroys THC at the molecular level).

 (2) First immerse product in iso bath - bring to boil - iso vaporized thru distillation collumn to heat exchanger and converted back to liquid - goes to cold reciever tank (once again pure iso - can be reused)

 (3) Open system-remove processed syrup - add new iso and replace original product-cook off again

  (4) Take both syrup batches and bake to desired end product(may need to add dry product to meld properties.

  (5) I should be able to process 3 lbs. of raw material per batch in 45 
minutes.

  (6) But if the cook is too long it could be foul tasting and derive chemical bases that I don't want.


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## Tater (Oct 3, 2009)

Once again, and I am by no means a chemist simply relying on my understanding of separating distillates in the production of "hooch" (lol), would the time required be directly related to the physical amount of ISO used?

As far as post processing goes I would not recommend adding adulterants unless this is something you are after.  Mint, parsley, and other smokable herbs are all definitely an option and will impart a pleasant taste.  If you simply remove the syrup that results and leave it to the open air for a while the water will evap on its own (as you should be left with the 3% per iso volume of water in your syrup) OR you could utilize an open air double boil technique to speed the process.  Then slam it in the freezer to return it to a glass like consistency and package accordingly.  

Set your freezer to "holy crap thats cold" to extend the period of time you have to work with the product as even the heat from your hands will be enough to turn the product viscous and extremely sticky.  Personally I wear gloves for the vialing process and store it all in the freezer until it is ready to be used.

I've been keeping my eyes open for stainless steal fittings and pipe at work (I'm a welding apprentice) that I can scoff to make a recycler for butane extractions and possibly experimenting with CO2 supercritical extractions.

I went and did some digging because I remembered reading something about this and found this book for you.  I grabbed it off a torrent site and uploaded it to a file sharing site, hope this helps.

hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=ee1a0dd419717bf70dec85adfe0a530ae04e75f6e8ebb871


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## bwanabud (Oct 4, 2009)

That info was exactly what I was looking for. You are the man. I will get back to you with test results after indepth review of the info you sent.

I can certainly help you out with stainless pipe or tubing if ya need it - have lots of Swagelok fittings too !!! Send me a private message if interested. I have built some killer butane tubes also-will post pics later.

THANK YOU AGAIN


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## bwanabud (Jan 22, 2010)

bump - still in the mfg. mode - results and pics very soon


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## DonJones (Jan 24, 2010)

Tater,

I just tried the mediafire link twice (once by copy & paste then change xx to tt and once by copy & pasting just he www part)and both times I got No files to share message.

Do you have the torrent info so I can download it myself?

Also do you know how to build & use a vacuum still? I was thinking that with a vacuum still I could use grain/potato alcohol to extract the THC/cannaboids and then recover the alcohol to reuse it without using heat, thereby significantly decreasing the fire or explosion danger.

Doesn't the heating of the mash in your process increase the risk of extracting the chlorophyll too?

Not only that, I though the whole principle behind distilling was that dissolved solid got left behind in the pot and only the pure liquid was recovered from the tower.  I've read several articles on distilling grain alcohol and that has been my understanding of how it worked. 

I remember using distilling in chem to extract caffeine from ground coffee by first boiling the heck out of the coffee to first dissolve as much caffeine as possible, then distilling the water away leaving the dissolved solids behind.  Then we repeated the process with another solvent (I don't remember what it was)that dissolved only the caffeine.  In both cases, the purpose of distilling versus open air vaporization was 2 speed up the separation process and to recover the solvent.

What I don't understand is how boiling off the alcohol from the mash will carry the THC/cannaboids with it?  I'm pretty sure I'm missing something but I obviously don't know what.

Thanks for helping clarify my understanding of what you are talking aobut doing.

Great smoking.


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## fellowsped (Jan 26, 2010)

The thc stays with the "mash".  You use the alcohol, grain or iso shouldn't make that much of a differance to dissolve the thc from the bud.  You then strain out the solids and distill the liquid.  Alcohol will evaporate first because of it's lower boiling temp.  When the temp starts rising the alcohol has been evaporated and what you're left with will be the good stuff.  At least that's my understanding of the whole thing.  Very interesting stuff though always wanted to try it myself but haven't had the chance to yet.  Good luck stay safe peace out.


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## bwanabud (Feb 2, 2010)

fellowsped said:
			
		

> The thc stays with the "mash". You use the alcohol, grain or iso shouldn't make that much of a differance to dissolve the thc from the bud. You then strain out the solids and distill the liquid. Alcohol will evaporate first because of it's lower boiling temp. When the temp starts rising the alcohol has been evaporated and what you're left with will be the good stuff. At least that's my understanding of the whole thing. Very interesting stuff though always wanted to try it myself but haven't had the chance to yet. Good luck stay safe peace out.


 
:yeahthat:  Once you bring the mixture to temp. the alcohol disipates thru a distilation tower (refractory) of sorts, and into a cooled heat exchanger. What is left is pure oils, resins, in a THC laden sauce. The process is run twice thru each batch with clean 97% iso. The solids remain in a hopper and are disposed of. The alcohol is "clean" when distilled off - thus can be reused indefinately.

The sauce is then mixed with a quality grind (to a peanut butter consistancy) then lightly baked or air dried. Wha laaa - hash. If used without a grind mix - great oil.

It's sounds complicated - but it's really not.  :woohoo:


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