What Is Solvent Recovery in Cannabis Distillation?

An extensive amount of solvent can significantly impact your ability to produce and profit. Without a way to reduce your expenses, you will struggle to maintain a healthy cannabis operation. By installing a solvent recovery system, you can save time and money while creating an eco-conscious lab.

Defining Solvent Recovery

Recovering and recycling solvents during the cannabis distillation process is the most practical way to save money and maximize yields. Unfortunately, chemical solvents are expensive, especially in commercial cannabis. A solvent pump recovers and separates the chemical compounds once they reach a boil and begin condensing into vapor.

An air-cooled condenser funnels and collects all the steam vapor that releases. After cooling, the solvents convert into pure liquid form for reuse. The cannabis recovery solvents most often used are ethanol, propane, hexane, butane, and isopropyl alcohol.

The solvents for cannabis extracts and oils are costly. Because of this, the ability to recover them for recycled use is rapidly growing for the medicinal marijuana industry and the commercial cannabis industry. The long-term costs of cannabis extraction and oils increase over time as demand skyrockets.

What Is Recovered?

A solvent splits and isolates particular compounds from cannabis biomass. The process typically uses -86C ethanol or other cryogenically cooled solvent and pulls soluble oils from organic matter. After isolation from the plant material, the oil is in crude form but still trapped within the solvent. This is where solvent-recovery comes in to separate the crude oil.

Investing in a Beaker & Wrench pump ensures you can maintain a cost-effective operation. The upfront investment can save you more on your long-term spending and increase your overall profit margins.

While you can carry on without an adequate recovery system, it’s best to consider the investment for the growth of your operation. A profitable outcome is near impossible without using a solvent pump because solvents are an integral component in the production of any cannabis oil.