|
Wrightii
Stranger Danger



Registered: 05/15/20
Posts: 216
|
Steam distilling cannabis (with pics)
#28426682 - 08/09/23 05:43 AM (5 months, 17 days ago) |
|
|
A friend of mine always grows a couple of plants outdoors in summer. He has quite a talent, producing bigger trees each year. I kid you not the largest one last year must have been over 4 meters tall, a complete unit.
It's always nice trimming sessions late summer, and as it is so much everyone just takes home whatever. Since I hardly smoke I always tend to go for what is considered "trash". The following experiment is done with the following trimmings:

Please note that steam distilling cannabis is very inefficient. I was aware of this going in. It is just an experiment to see what Í can achieve without solvents (except water). If you look for good returns, try i.e. soxhletextraction with Eth instead. Or even better hexane or CO2.
I used about 80 grams, most of it being small buds. Its a mix of CBD and haze all grown outdoor. I ground it to the consistency as if you would for a spliff. A steam distillation set-up was prepared, using "dry" steam distillation. This means Í injected the steam (from a boiling flask) via a glass tube into the plant material, instead of boiling all material in water.
 Steam goes in on the left, and leaves at the top towards a condenser.
In total 600ml of distillate was collected. At first cloudy but after 24h clear. The water and oil layer were then separated. As expected the resulting product was minimal (although I still expected a bit more tbh)

With amounts like this its hard not to lose it all to your glassware as residue. Anyway, it does look pretty good. I have no clue what the products might be present in the oil. Nor do I have a clue on what to do with it/how. Do you think you could just paint a little on a long paper?
|
Argyreia
Grafting cacti is awesome



Registered: 11/19/14
Posts: 1,100
Loc: France
Last seen: 1 month, 19 days
|
Re: Steam distilling cannabis (with pics) [Re: Wrightii]
#28426698 - 08/09/23 06:06 AM (5 months, 17 days ago) |
|
|
Nice experiment.
You stopped the steam distillation because the oil layer wasn't growing anymore or just because of time or whatever ?
I guess vape or paint on a roll paper yeah.
|
Wrightii
Stranger Danger



Registered: 05/15/20
Posts: 216
|
Re: Steam distilling cannabis (with pics) [Re: Argyreia]
#28426741 - 08/09/23 07:04 AM (5 months, 17 days ago) |
|
|
I did the whole process in two runs. First 400 ml, then 200. I saw during the second run the distilate stopped being cloudy so I decided to halt it.
Also, my current yield is (estimated very roughly) 0.037% of the starting product. Does someone know the general yield with solvent extraction or critical co2?
|
hummingbird

Registered: 06/29/14
Posts: 2,134
|
Re: Steam distilling cannabis (with pics) [Re: Wrightii]
#28440078 - 08/20/23 02:33 AM (5 months, 6 days ago) |
|
|
With steam distillation you are getting essential oil which mostly terpenes and other volatile compounds. I don't think you'll get much if any cannabinoids out that way. I've honestly wondered about this before though, I bet it smells awesome. I'm not sure if you would get high but there would definitely be medicinal value in cannabis essential oil and hydrosol.
Typical yield for cannabis oil extraction is about 10-30% depending on starting material quality and method used.
|
|