As the cannabis market grows and matures, state of the art manufacturing operations using advanced technologies and methods will be required.

 

THC biomass is generally processed in pounds in commercial scale operations. While CBD biomass is processed in tons. The jump from pounds to tons requires industrial scale operations which have a completely different set of complex requirements. Generally, in large scale commodity manufacturing, the first 300 days cover the costs and the next 30 to 45 days make the money. Thus, every aspect of the design and operation of industrial scale cannabis processing operations must take this into consideration at all times.

 

At industrial scale, key aspects to consider are:

 

• Efficiency efficiency, efficiency- small mistakes at this scale turn into big problems and losses

 

• Safety, safety, safety- increased volumes of high hazard chemicals require expert engineering, rigorous protocols, and adherence to International Building Codes

 

• Yield- any valuable products left behind adds up to huge losses in revenue

 

• Equipment Design- industrial equipment needs to run 24/7 for 20 years. Scaled up laboratory equipment systems are not built for the long haul or constant operation

 

• Maintenance/Downtime- at any scale, things break or wear out. Industrial systems need to run 24/7 and maintenance functions must be built into the design and selection of components and systems from day 1

 

• Ease of use- every extra movement, extra processing step, lost time incident, etc. goes straight to the bottom line. Man-machine interface systems, ergonomics, process flows all need to be well thought out and designed into the complete operation long before startup

 

• Compliance and certifications- there is no wiggle room when operating at this scale

  

Successful entry at industrial scale requires state of the art manufacturing operations using advanced technologies and methods which, in my opinion, essentially preclude the use of most current cannabis processing technologies and equipment designs.

 

• CO2 operations are slow, and the selective nature of critical and subcritical CO2 leaves important active components behind.  Generally, CO2 extraction is known to extract only 10 to 12 types of cannabinoids. The feedstock must be extremely dry which imparts severe limitations on flexibility.  And almost all CO2 extractions require winterization, which negates the generally made statement that CO2 extracts are pure and don’t use solvents.  In addition, many CO2 systems are now using ethanol as a cosolvent to remedy the slow and selective throughput.  This is a band aid solution to a major problem.

 

• Cryo-ethanol operations go to great lengths and cost to provide selective extractions.  Generally, Cryo-ethanol extraction is known to extract only 18 to 20 types of cannabinoids. Again, this selectivity affects yield and composition.  Why chill to such extreme temperatures only to leave important compounds behind?  The energy cost to chill, heat, winterize, and reheat again can break the bank early on.  Ethanol is miscible in water and creates a homogenous azeotrope.  This results in solvent degradation and significant consumable costs.  Large operation will spend millions replenishing their ethanol supplies.

 

• Room temperature ethanol is not selective and works very well as an efficient solvent.  Unfortunately, the winterization and post processing steps cannot be avoided.  The current use of winterization to refine crude extracts is too expensive and cumbersome to do at industrial scale.

 

• BHO extraction can produce unique products that CO2 and Ethanol cannot. But large scale operations require significant amounts of pressurized and explosive hydrocarbon solvents that essentially are a bomb waiting to go off.  This process does not lend itself to industrial scale operations.

 

What’s the solution? 

 

Extraction and Refinement

 

How about a process that uses an organic food grade solvent similar to ethanol at room temperature that is not selective, thus achieving much higher yields?  This process has been shown to extract up to 37 types of cannabinoids. At the same time, unlike ethanol, this solvent is immiscible with water which eliminates much of the solvent degradation and consumption and allows the use of wet or dry feedstock!  Flexibility and cost savings are critical to lean operations.

 

Instead of a costly time consuming winterization process, why not use proven technologies designed to specifically target impurities and do it continuously and in line?  This is how the big boys do it and the energy costs and time required are significantly lower.

 

The science and technologies of recovering solvents from oil are well known and established.  Nothing new here, but the system designs, operating parameters, and controls must be sophisticated and designed to maximize throughput while reducing energy and losses.  The solvent chosen for this case requires far less energy than ethanol to perform the separation.

 

Purification

 

Again, the science and technologies used for distillation/purification are well known and established.  Nothing new here, except by providing a highly refined crude feedstock, these delicate operations can focus on doing their job instead of clogging and fouling.  Just as with solvent recovery operations, the system designs, operating parameters, and controls must be sophisticated and designed to maximize throughput while reducing energy and losses

 

Separation and Isolation

 

This is a huge topic. There are many ways to separate the various components of full spectrum distillates and most of them are nothing more than chemical conversions and isolation.  This works, but at the expense of sacrificing the original cannabinoid profile and requires the use of nasty chemicals.  For me this is a chemistry experiment that leads to unnatural products with potential safety issues. 

 

Industrial scale technologies for separation and isolation that do not depend on chemical conversion are extremely expensive to purchase and operate.  There are a few reputable suppliers who provide large scale flash chromatography systems, but these systems are batch operations that require a significant amount of solvent/ingredients to operate.  Not to mention, most methods require chemicals such as pentane, hexane, or other alkanes to perform the separations.  In this writers opinion, this is not an economically feasible situation.

 

The solution we propose is a continuous binary separation of select cannabinoids from each other.  The process of this solution requires significantly less technical labor and uses only organic solvents and ingredients and at much lower quantities than conventional chromatography technologies.  This technology is new, patented, validated and disruptive.

 

This technology allows for multiple separations to take place thus providing access to all the original cannabinoids in the plant.

 

• The first separation creates a high CBD, low THC fraction (Broad Spectrum Distillate) and a High TCH, High Minors fraction (Mother Liquor).

 

• The Mother Liquor can then be separated creating a high THC, high Minors fraction (Residual) and a high CBD, low THC fraction (FSO).  These create valuable products that can then be used in blending custom formulation and/or isolating minor cannabinoids.

 

• Conventional CBD Isolation operations create Mother Liquor that currently has little value.  This is the only technology that exists in the world today to turn this into value added products.

 

• Tertiary separations can be used to remediate the THC from the Residual fraction, leaving a ND THC high minors fraction.  Or, individual cannabinoids can be isolated, such as CBT.

 

For a detailed analysis of this solution versus conventional cannabis processing technologies, please refer to Peerless Canna’s Technology Feasibility Study provided upon request.

 

An added footnote regarding the FDA and cGMP operations

 

I am a huge proponent of full, broad, and THC Free cannabinoid products produced specifically under the guidance of the FDA’s cGMP guidelines 21 CFR 111 and 117 for food additives and dietary ingredients, as well as 21 CFR 11 for electronic batch records.  Doing so will ensure the identity, strength, quality, and purity of products through a rigorously controlled and documented production process, thus bringing a clean, pure, and quality product to market.