Hydrocarbon vs CO2 Which is the best extraction method

Since the legalization of CBD, the market has been booming. There are many small- and large-scale manufacturers in the market. Most CBD producers may start making products by procuring CBD isolate or distillate. However, as their business expands, many would like to begin in-house CBD extraction.

The three most commonly used methods for CBD extraction are using ethanol, hydrocarbons, or CO2. Each of these methods has its pros and cons. Among these, hydrocarbons and CO2 are gases, whereas ethanol is a liquid. Gases are generally compressed to create a supercritical mass. It is a condition when gas is somewhere between the liquid and a gaseous state. In this state, it has very low surface tension and is an excellent solvent. Thus, this supercritical mass can readily penetrate cannabis cells and extract various compounds.

Comparing Hydrocarbon Extraction against CO2 Extraction

Handling gases is a complex art and science. Most organizations would buy a closed-loop machine produced by well-known companies. These machines either use hydrocarbons or CO2. Additionally, some equipment would allow the use of ethanol along with supercritical gases.

The major difference between hydrocarbons and CO2 is that hydrocarbons are highly flammable or even explosive. It means that there are strict regulatory needs for operating equipment using hydrocarbon extraction methods. On the other hand, CO2 is much safer.

When it comes to the quality of the end product, it does depend on the solvents, but not only. It also depends on the expertise of the organization. For example, by altering the pressure, temperature and using liquid solvents like ethanol, one may get different products. Moreover, lots would also depend on post-processing.

What is Hydrocarbon Extraction?

It is a method that uses either propane or butane as a solvent. These gases are cheaply available, as they have many industrial uses. In addition, as a supercritical mass, they form an excellent solvent, helping extract a broad range of phytocompounds from cannabis.

Many often loved them due to their low-cost and excellent ability to extract broad-spectrum cannabis extract. However, there are some issues in using these gases. They are highly flammable and explosive. It means that every country has some stringent regulations regarding its industrial use. It will include training of the personnel, specific requirements for the infrastructure. The use of hydrocarbon machines would generally require building a special room in many countries that is explosion-proof and has a specific type of ventilation.

Although, running the hydrocarbon machines is not expensive. However, due to other costs like those in personnel and infrastructure, it may ultimately become a costly business. Further, costs are also involved in various inspections, getting licenses, regulatory approvals.

Other hydrocarbon extraction side effects could be a greater number of impurities in the end product.

What is CO2 Extraction?

As the name says, it uses CO2 instead of flammable hydrocarbons. Therefore, it is among the safest gasses to handle. Not only that, CO2 is non-toxic for the human body in small amounts. This means that even if some leakage occurs, it would not be that dangerous. Carbon dioxide may only cause suffocation at very high concentrations, but that is rare.

It is pretty commonly used for CBD extraction. It is often the method of choice for companies starting with extraction. However, it produces a very crude extract that requires further processing through winterization, filtration, etc., which may ultimately add up to the costs.

CO2 is good for extracting CBD but not that good for other cannabinoids and terpenes. However, that limitation can be overcome. For example, some machines may run the same extract through multiple cycles to extract various phytocompounds. Further, adding ethanol to these machines may help extract terpenes. However, this does slow down the extraction process.

What is the Difference between BHO and CO2 extraction?

Butane hash oil (BHO) uses butane for extraction, whereas CO2 uses carbon dioxide. These are both gases, and they are compressed to create supercritical mass. In the supercritical stage, these are excellent solvents. Generally, butane is regarded as a slightly superior solvent due to its ability to penetrate natural extracts better. However, it has its downside, as it is a highly combustible gas.

Many in the industry prefer BHO over CO2 due to the lower costs of such a method. Using butane is also a faster way of extraction. The extraction cycle with CO2 is longer, which may considerably add up to the costs.

It is worth noticing that in most closed-loop machines, most of these gases are recycled. Nonetheless, about 5% of gases do escape during each cycle. Butane is harmful to the environment compared to CO2.

Hydrocarbon vs CO2: Which Provides the Best Product?

It would be pretty complex to say which methods produce the best product. Each of these ways produces a different kind of product. Hydrocarbons generally produce a superior product because it contains the most vital phytocompounds, like various cannabinoids, terpenes, and much more. Further, products created using hydrocarbons require less post-processing, making it an efficient method for industrial use.

Extracting with CO2, on the other hand, requires greater post-processing. Therefore, it is more challenging to get broad-spectrum extract with CO2. However, it is possible with the right kind of expertise and equipment. Moreover, using ethanol along with CO2 is a common practice to get the broad-spectrum extract.

It is true that hydrocarbons may readily produce a better end product. However, those are also more likely to introduce toxic impurities. Further, some residual solvents may also remain in the product. Hydrocarbons are harmful to the human body, even in traces. Thus, if in CO2 extract, extensive post-processing is needed to get pure product. In the case of hydrocarbons, the challenge remains in removing the traces of solvents.

It would be correct to say that both these methods may produce an excellent product. However, it would lot depend on the expertise of the organization.

How Essentia Pura Extract Hemp, Medicinal Plants & More

Essential Pura mainly produces CBD isolate and CBD distillate. It prefers using the supercritical CO2 method of extraction. It may be a slow and lengthy process, but then the company has the expertise in it. Moreover, it produces some excellent CO2 extraction machines.

Essential Pura has experience in creating a pharma-grade pure extract. Thus, it understands how vital is it to ensure that CBD isolate or distillate is free from impurities and solvents.

We believe CO2 extraction is the technology that should be used when maximizing the purity and safety profile of a product. If you would like to give our CO2 extracted products a try, head over to our contact page.

Butane vs. CO2 Which is the best extraction method?

Using water, alcohol, or even oils as solvents is one of the oldest methods of extraction. However, these methods result in very poor-quality crude products with numerous impurities. Although these methods are still widely used, industries prefer more efficient methods that help get purer products with the fuller extract.

One such way of getting high-quality natural extracts is using supercritical gases. Under high pressure and yet maintaining high temperature, it is possible to convert any gas into a cloud-like state. It is something in between the liquid and gaseous state. Supercritical solvents have much greater solubility, and they can readily penetrate natural raw materials, helping extract the most beneficial compounds. Moreover, this method allows altering the solvency of supercritical gas by altering the temperature and pressure, thus getting very different types of extracts.

Two of the most common supercritical gases used in the industrial extraction of CBD are hydrocarbon gases like butane or propane or using CO2. However, both these methods have their advantages and drawbacks.

Comparing BHO Extraction against CO2 Extraction

BHO stands for butane hash oil or CBD extracted using butane as a solvent. Butane and carbon dioxide are very different kinds of gases with entirely different physical properties. It also means that their properties as supercritical gas and solvent differ. It essentially means that CBD extract using these gases would differ considerably. Before looking deeper into the differences, let us understand more about these two ways of extraction.

What is BHO Extraction?

It uses butane gas for extraction. Supercritical butane is an excellent solvent; thus, it has a fantastic ability to penetrate cannabis and strip not only cannabinoids but also terpenes, lipids, waxes. It creates quite a potent and full-spectrum end product.

Using butane for CBD extraction is one of the fastest and efficient methods. By altering the pressure and temperature, one can get different types of resins fit for various uses.

Many professionals like butane as it helps preserve various active compounds, textures, and aroma of the CBD. It is especially good for creating CBD distillate. The end result of such extraction is a high-terpene and broad-spectrum extract.

Since this method is among the faster methods, it results in time-saving and cost savings.

Once the extraction is complete, most modern machines would recycle the butane by removing it from the extract by heating or reducing the pressure. As most modern types of equipment are closed-loop, very little butane would escape along with the end product.

However, critics of butane may not like that some traces of solvent are still left in the final product. In addition, butane is toxic to the human body. Nonetheless, experience shows that it is left in minimal amounts to pose any health hazards. Another worry regarding its use is that butane is a highly inflammable gas, thus issues in handling it. 

Further, it is worth knowing that no closed-loop machine can recycle 100% of the gases. For most, 95% would be a limit. It means that about 5% butane is still released into the environment during each cycle. Thus, butane extraction has its environmental costs.

What is CO2 Extraction?

Supercritical CO2 extraction is the most common way of extraction these days. It is good in the way that CO2 is a highly safe gas. CO2 is present in the air and is also produced as a byproduct of the metabolic activity of the human body. 

It appears that supercritical CO2 is an excellent solvent. However, it is not very good for extracting terpenes. That is why many machines using CO2 may use other solvents like ethyl alcohol to get full spectrum extract, but this can add up to the costs. Nonetheless, solvents like ethyl alcohol are safe for humans and the environment.

Additionally, CO2 extraction results in a resin that must still be processed before use. Thus, it must be winterized and go through fractional distillation to get the usable product.

Despite some hassles, CO2 is relatively safe to handle. Moreover, its leakage does not pose much threat to health.

What is the Difference between BHO and CO2 extraction?

Generally, butane (BHO) helps get CBD resin faster, more efficiently. BHO resins are also rich in the aroma as it preserves terpenes. Therefore, it is an excellent way of producing full-spectrum CBD. When used at an industrial scale, it is also cheaper than supercritical CO2 extraction.

However, things are not so simple as they may sound. Butane still leaves some residue in the end product, and CO2 does not. Further, handling butane requires additional licenses, and investment in the infrastructure, as it poses a threat. Butane comes under highly flammable and hazardous substances.

Every country would have some strict fire safety requirements for using butane. This means high expenses on ventilation. It also requires building an explosion-proof room, considerably adding to the setup costs.

Modern closed loop machines using butane are indeed highly safe. Nonetheless, each year tens of incidences of explosions and injuries caused by butane extraction machines are reported.

BHO vs. CO2: Which Provides the Best Product?

BHO extract is generally of higher quality, with better texture and aroma, and requires less post-processing. However, full-spectrum is not always required as it also means a more significant amount of impurities and residual solvent. Thus, CO2 extracts may have fewer terpenes, but it also has no toxic residual solvent. Thus, BHO may be good, but CO2 appears to be safer.

Further, it would be wrong to say that one cannot get full spectrum or broad-spectrum extract by using supercritical CO2. It is also a matter of expertise. To get various extracts, one can run the extract through multiple cycles, using different temperature and pressure settings. As far as terpenes are concerned, greater amounts of them may be extracted by adding ethyl alcohol as a solvent. Moreover, both CO2 and ethyl alcohol are absolutely safe.

How Essentia Pura Extract Hemp, Medicinal Plants & More

For Essentia Pura focus is on the quality and safety of the products. Supercritical CO2 extraction using solvent helps get either CBD isolate or broad-spectrum CBD distillate. Both these products are free from impurities. Moreover, equipment like MoSES used by Essentia Pura is safe for the environment. Additionally, Essentia Pura produces both oil-soluble and water-soluble CBD isolate and distillate. As a result, Essentia Pura produces almost pharma-grade pure products for CBD businesses and consumers. 

Do you have any further questions about extracts? Send us an e-mail! For inquiries about our extraction system, please fill out our contact form.

Terpene Retention Through CO2 Extraction

Public interest in cannabis compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes continues to rise, as ongoing scientific research shows their therapeutic potential for a range of common neurophysiological conditions. These range from chronic inflammatory conditions like arthritis and bursitis to mood disorders like depression and insomnia. But how can consumers ensure their terpene extracts are of high quality, particularly if they aren’t especially well-educated on cannabis compounds and their benefits?

Consumers looking to buy weed-extracted terps, CBD and other cannabis isolates with a mind on quality are best served to select products processed via CO2 extraction, rather than solvent or cold pressure extraction. This post goes over different kinds of CO2 extraction, their respective advantages and disadvantages, and Essentia Pura’s CO2 extraction method and system of choice.

Extracting Terpenes with CO2

As its name suggests, CO2 terpene extraction is done using carbon dioxide as the solvent. The carbon dioxide is dried and then condensed for use in the extraction process. This process can be used to extract terpenes, cannabinoids or even flavonoids from plants, leaves, flowers, roots, and bark. This is obviously much more efficient than most other extraction techniques, where plant matter is simply decarboxylated before making oil.

As of this writing, CO2 extraction is commonly used within the food, fragrance, cannabis, sports medicine and vaping industries. It has proven to be a game-changer in the utilization of medicinal plants and their inherent beneficial properties. The next section briefly explores the differences between different CO2 extraction methods.

Processes of CO2 Extraction

There are essentially two types of CO2 extraction: wet and dry. Each of these come with different costs, ranges of equipment and advantages.

• Wet CO2 extraction

  is cheaper, but it’s generally less environmentally friendly. The machine process for wet extraction basically works like a supercharged coffee machine, pushing CO2 through plant material with enough pressure for the CO2 to dissolve everything that’s soluble into the gas. This draws and isolates cannabinoids (e.g. THC, CBD) as well as other potentially beneficial components (e.g. terpenes, flavonoids) out of everything from cannabis to herbs and spices.

Wet CO2 extraction requires lower pressure (5-16 bar) to run smoothly; excessive pressure (>16 bar) can irreversibly damage lipids in the plant cell membranes to turn them into free fatty acids. This is obviously undesirable, as it can have a negative impact on terpene structure, cannabinoid potency and the overall quality of the final product.

Too much pressure causes less desirable compounds to dissolve into the gas phase making it harder to remove, and giving the resulting solution a more pungent smell. On the other hand, if pressure is too low, not all desirable components may be properly extracted. Low pressure may even cause some degradation due to the lower temperature used for extraction, as higher temperature causes higher solubility.

• Wet extraction has been used for over 50 years to extract CBD from hemp plants, using a process called supercritical fluid extraction. During the 1980s, scientists discovered that exposing CBD-saturated solvent to extreme heat and pressure separated the compound into layers. This process beca me known as subcritical extraction.

• Dry CO2 extraction

  can be used for both solventless and solvent-based extractions, but the latter requires higher pressures and temperatures. Dry ice is placed in a closed container filled with product at atmospheric pressure, which causes carbon dioxide to evaporate from solid CO2 (dry ice) into gaseous CO2 (CO). The pressure difference forces liquid molecules through the plant material, extracting desirable oils and leaving behind undesirable solids such as chlorophylls, lipids, waxes and terpenoids.

The dry ice CO2 extraction method was pioneered by Dave Watson in 2007, but its use didn’t become widespread until 2010. The equipment required for this process consists of a closed system which is filled with liquid nitrogen and plant materials. Other than that, there are no special tools or equipment required.

Due to its low risk profile and cost efficiency, dry CO2 extraction is becoming more popular than wet methods for many industries, such as food processing plants where cleanliness is most important.

Do Terpenes Degrade in the Extraction Process?

Compared to conventional solvent extraction, much less terpene degradation takes place in CO2 extraction. This is due to two primary factors: low process temperature, and the preservation of terpene structure due to pressurised CO2 passing through plant matter like gas, while simultaneously being able to dissolve desirable plant material like a liquid.

Retaining Terpenes through CO2 Extraction

An added advantage of CO2 extraction that leads to increased terpene retention is the lack of a decarboxylation step in the process. The cold separation procedure further aids in protecting fragile plant compounds. For even greater terpene retention, shorter, lighter CO2 runs (i.e. subcritical extraction) can be utilised to afford maximum protection and selectivity between desirable plant components.

Finally, the use of CO2 produces the “cleanest” possible terpene extracts as of this writing, with next to no leftover residue whether from plant matter or solvents — many of which can harm the quality of the final product. This is true for the extraction of terpenes from everything from hemp to herbs and spices.

How Essentia Pura Extract Hemp, Medicinal Plants & More

Essentia Pura prefers to use supercritical extraction (SCE) to extract cannabinoids from hemp and other medicinal plants, using Škrlj MoSES SCE systems. These systems are designed for bulk-scale, fully automated operations, and come with a number of advantages including:

1. High selectivity, extracting maximal yields of target compounds while simultaneously filtering out undesirable components like chlorophyll.
2. Utilisation of inert, non-toxic supercritical fluids for optimal extraction with no leftover residue carried over.
3. Closed CO2 loop, allowing for supercritical solvent recirculation without contamination and with minimal solvent loss.
4. Full software integration for efficient monitoring, management and date logging via connected computer systems.
5. A low temperature process, protecting desirable extracts from degradation or wastage.
6. User-friendly and high throughput system with multiple quickly opening closures.

Whether for the manufacture of cannabinoid, terpene, broad- or full-spectrum products, CO2 extractors stand as the superior choice in a burgeoning cannabis industry. Despite the high initial investment required for acquisition, the low risk profile, cost effectiveness and high selectivity of CO2 extractor machine processes make them a no-brainer for any cannabis company who can afford them.

To know more about our extraction system, send us an e-mail. For inquiries and quotes, complete our web form here.