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Recycling high proof alcohol from RSO process

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    Recycling high proof alcohol from RSO process

    My plan all along was to make high CBD, low THC RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) for my wife who has Parkinson's, but I was irked at the idea of letting a couple of liters of 190 proof grain alcohol just evaporate away. So, I built this admittedly crude apparatus. Basically it's a still, but the it has two end products, The re-condensed alcohol and the residual RSO in the boiling flask.

    A glass 1 liter 'boiling flask' sets on a steaming rack inside an electric rice cooker in a water bath that comes up about to the level of the cannabis tincture in the flask, or a little higher. The 1/2" OD copper tubing is attached to the flask's 1.5" neck via a #22 cork with a 1/2" hole drilled through it. The pipe insulation on the uphill portion of the tubing helps to minimize the amount of alcohol vapor that condenses where it will just drip back into the flask. The tubing is coiled inside a 5 gallon bucket filled with ice, and exits at the bottom where the alcohol drips into a recycled tequila bottle.

    It's important that every part of the tubing past the high point is sloped downward so that none of the condensate can 'pool' up in a low spot, and thus inhibit the flow of vapor out of the flask. Before I began processing cannabis tincture, did a 'dry run' with just alcohol to make sure it was working properly.

    As the level of the tincture in the flask gets lower, the process becomes less efficient, because there is less area of the tincture in contact with the glass, so less heat is transferred to boil off the alcohol. I started with the flask about 3/4 full, then paused the process when it was about 1/3 full and added more tincture, repeating until there was none left. Then continued to cook it down until there were only a couple of ounces (~60 ml) left. At that point, it was barely bubbling, so I poured the remainder into a 2 oz. shot glass while still warm, and let any remaining alcohol evaporate naturally. A little oil wound up on the inside surface of the flask. I just left it there where it will be joined by the extraction from the next crop.

    I recovered about 6 cups of pure clear alcohol, which tested at 190 proof. Same proof as what I started with, but did lose some volume.

    Click on the thumbnail to watch short movie of the process in action. The small measuring cup next to the alcohol receiving bottle is just catching the ice melt that leaks out around where the copper tubing exits the bucket, to keep the area a little bit tidier. I'll address that 'cosmetic' issue in Rev 2.

    Last edited by jalapeno; 12-21-2017, 04:46 PM.

    #2
    Necessity IS the mother of all invention...
    I built a crude condenser with some tubing and a tupperware container-still have the 190 I recovered. I decided to switch to CCO for my pain meds-less hassle to brew up.
    WHAT???
    5x5 grow space
    900w of Vero's and F-strips
    4-17gal totes self-made UC system.

    Comment


      #3
      jalapeno What a great inventor you are! My question is, How much heat did you have to use, and what was the final product like? In making medicines, I'm always concerned about how much good stuff gets evaporated with the use of heat.

      Here's something I still have to do: I made tincture using a Nova decarb machine to decarb the bud without losing any terpenes. Added Everclear 190, put in freezer for a week, shaking twice daily. Etc., etc. Now I want to put some of the tincture into a shallow pan with a fan blowing over it in a cool room (and cheesecloth over the pan to keep out dust, cat hair, etc.) And eventually evaporate all the everclear and be left with the RSO.
      Anyone can grow schwag. If you want to grow top shelf bud, study hard: https://www.growweedeasy.com

      Growing since July 21, 2016; pothead since 1967
      2 BCNL Roommate hydroponic grow boxes w/ 400w COB LEDs, Future Harvest nutes
      Grow # 18, Aug. 2023: Anesia Seeds: Imperium X, Future 1, Sleepy Joe, Slurricane

      Comment


      • alltatup
        alltatup commented
        Editing a comment
        One of the big things that the Ardent people promote is just putting decarbed bud under your tongue and taking your "medicine" that way. And yeah, one of my buddies loves to smoke the ABV I keep for him, which always still smells really good.
        Tinctures are great for real stealth use.

      • D.A.A.S.69
        D.A.A.S.69 commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks Alltatup, I'm ordering one first of the month,

      • jalapeno
        jalapeno commented
        Editing a comment
        allatup: the hot water bath was kept at a boil, so 100C (212F) near sea level, as we are. The temperature of the tincture probably stayed lower than that as the 190 proof alcohol boils at 180 something F. Having previously decarboxylated the weed at 110C in my oven, I doubt that much else could have been lost at these temperatures. The cannabinoids take over 300F to evaporate. The alcohol condensate was perfectly clear, and of equal proof to what I started, and tastes the same as well.

        Many RSO recipes on this site, and elsewhere use hot water bath, and rice cookers. Only difference, here is reclaiming the alcohol using a crude condenser.

        The RSO is dark, and strong tasting. That might be improved by freezing next time. As it is, my wife says that she's getting the same relief she was getting from what we've been buying at the local dispensary (Chronic High CBD CO2 extracted) She enjoys feeling free to take as much as she wants without worrying about the expense. I do plan on bringing a sample into the lab for testing, partly, so that Gayle can know what she's dosing at, and partly so that I can realistically calculate what I'm saving, and how quickly I'm amortizing my investment of time and money in the whole project.

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