Could a centrifuge produce a "solventless" THC extract?

Kaptan

Well-Known Member
No, I think he means something like this, but I don't think a centrifuge can produce a solventless extract. It can however separate white and red blood cells.
centrifuge-500x500.jpg
 

Delta3DStudios

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
Dunno at all (Biology and Chemistry are my weak sciences), but if anyone thinks they're willing to experiment and can't afford a true centrifuge, check this out - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1483

This discussion made me think of that part. When it was first uploaded to thingiverse, there was a LOT of talk about it (good for 3rd world countries who can't afford those expensive machines)

I'd be willing to print that part at-cost for anyone who need's one for testing.......
 

h3rbalist

I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too
I have seen a documentary 5 or 6 years ago showing a large government grow in the UK. It was being used to conduct medical experiments.

I'm sure they were dropping whole 6 foot + plants (stems and stalks) into a large centrifuge machine which was being used to make a THC/CBN tincture.

I will try and find a link, but I really can't remember much more about it at the moment.
 
Last edited:

djonkoman

Well-Known Member
well a centrifuge works because it can differentiate material with different density, so you would still need to use solvent first to create a solution, not really going to work for solid matter.
and for purifying the solution, my guess would be it doesn't make that much of a difference if you use a difference in density(centrifuge) or a difference in vaporisation point(boiling the solkvent away) to purify it, although maybe with a centrifuge you're not boiling off volatile smells
 

Tranquility

Well-Known Member
I have seen a documentary 5 or 6 years ago showing a large government grow in the UK. It was being used to conduct medical experiments.

I'm sure they were dropping whole 6 foot + plants (stems and stalks) into a large centrifuge machine which was being used to make a THC/CBN tincture.

I will try and find a link, but I really can't remember much more about it at the moment.
I suspect it was some video describing Sativex. If you really want to science the hell out of cannabis, see the thesis of one of the principals. http://www.gwpharm.com/uploads/finalfullthesisdjpotter.pdf

In Chap. 4, he described, i-n d-e-t-a-i-l, how he wanted to utilize the plant. If you read the whole thing, you will know exactly how to make bubble hash. Not just how, but why you take each step and things you can do to affect the results. (Both good and bad.) In the appendix, he described how he determined the cannabinoid content of the material:
The botanical raw material was thoroughly mixed. Five small samples are normally taken at random from the mixture and blended. From this, a single sample 50 mg was taken and prepared for analysis. The samples were then prepared and analysed as developed by de Meijer et al 2003. I ml of ethanol (>99.7%) was added to the filtration tube and the sample sonicated for 15 minutes and the extract then centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 minutes. This procedure was then repeated a further three times and the resultant 4 ml of ethanol containing the cannabinoid extracts then transferred to a five ml volumetric flask. 0.25 ml of a phenanthrene stock solution (10mg/ml) in ethanol was added as an internal standard and adjusted to 5 ml with ethanol. Extracts were homogenised and transferred to GC vials. Gas-chromatographic analyses were performed on a Hewlett Packard 6890 GC equipped with an autoanalyser, a flame ionization detector and an HP-5 320 μm x 30 m column with a 0.25 μm film.​
 

bdmonkeyj3w

Well-Known Member
Aiight, so update time! Totally forgot about you guys here and busted outta town for a lil... anyways, SMALL SUCCESS! I can spin out the lipids and waxes from winterization, thats about it. I have to freeze the entire carousel for 24 hours and run it once then freeze it again and repeat. Each time, ive poured off the solution and removed the wax pellets. Ill take a pic and remember to come back here after the next time, but with the old ass centrifuge we got maxing out at 3500 rpm, it takes a lot longer than the pros- got talking to one guy whos lab spins down their eth washes, but much more at a time and at 14000 rpm or some shit.
 

Tranquility

Well-Known Member
- got talking to one guy whos lab spins down their eth washes, but much more at a time and at 14000 rpm or some shit.
14,000? I don't work with centrifuges at all but that seemed like there is a lot of force involved so I looked up the formula:

http://clinfield.com/2012/07/how-to-convert-centrifuge-rpm-to-rcf-or-g-force/
RCF or G-force= 1.12 x R x (RPM/1000)²

That gives us a chart of:
nomogram.gif


Get your ruler out and find that you are talking a specially built machine (outside of normal centrifuges) if you want to spin "much more at a time" at 14,000 rpm. I'm not saying it is impossible to do, it just suggests that 14K results in a LOT of force. Even in fairly small centrifuges.
 
Tranquility,
Top Bottom