Passive Butane Extractor and Reclaimer

[Gray Wolf]

This is great. Since I'm capable of doing my own tig work it really makes this a pretty reasonable project. Is there a reason not to make the material tube hold more?

No, the 12" tube is on back order, and I have a 24" for it. Not sure where the sweet spot is. The collection tank has an internal volume of about 130 cubic inches. A 24" column has an internal volume of about 35 cubic inches.

That permits about a 3X volume flush, not counting the space the material takes up.

I also just talked to Glacier tank, and they have some 6" diameter X 6" long spool pieces due in this month as well, so the bottoms could simply be another blanking plate with clamp.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Hee, hee, hee, snicker, snark, snort, awhooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!1 Ah just loves it when a plan comes together.

Here is the first cleaning run on the Lil Terp, and as you can see, it works slick! I wish I could say I pulled this one out of my nether regions, but alas, I did not. Hats off to the inventor of the Tamisium, for his insight in using passive recovery in this application!

Since this was a cleaning run, after I washed everything in denatured alcohol and then boiled it out in hot water and detergent, we ran donated mixed trim destined for topical application.

I installed the 1 1/2" X 12" column, which held approximately 2 ounces of material, after first packing in two wadded up coffee filters, against the 20 mesh screen at the end of the column, and two more on top of the material, between it and the top 20 mesh screen.

I started out by weighing the supply vessel, which weighed 15 pounds 3 ounces. I then calculated the internal capacity of the 6" diameter X 5" tall collection tank as 141 cubic inches.

I calculated that 141 cubic inches of water at .0361 lbs/inch cubed, times the .601 specific gravity of butane, would weigh about 3 pounds, so an 80% fill would weigh about 2.4 pounds. That means that 2 pounds 7 ounces is a maxim fill, to allow for hydraulics with temperature changes.

Next I pumped the supply tank down to -29.9hg and after soaking it in an ice water bath for about thirty minutes, sat it on a refrigerant scale to establish the 15 pound, 3 ounce tare.

I then connected it by hose to the dip tube of a butane supply tank and filled it to a total weight of 17.1 pounds.

Next I connected the collection vessel to the supply tank by hose, and sat the collection vessel and column in ice water. I held the supply tank upside down and opened both valves, so that the butane flowed through the material in the column, and collected in the collection vessel,

After a couple of minutes, I weighed the supply tank, and it again weighed 15 pounds, 3 ounces, so I shut all the valves and disconnected the hose. A minimal amount of butane was lost when I disconnected the hose.

Next I turned the collection tank upside down, so that the butane again saturated the material in the column, and flipped it about four or five times for about 30 minutes, including the final setting the column upright and letting it drain.

I then connected the recovery vessel and the supply tank by hose, and sat the recovery vessel in a 109.4F hot water bath in an electric soup pot, and the supply tank in an ice water bath.

I kept track of the temperature of the fittings on top of the recovery tank and the supply tank with a laser pyrometer, and when the temperature of the fitting on top of the collection tank was 98F and the fitting at the top of the supply tank was 31.1F, I again weighed the supply tank, and found it again weighed 17.1 pounds.

Except for the losses when we disconnected hoses, recovery was 100%, and the losses were not measurable by weight. I disconnected the system and opened up the collection vessel, to find the attached scene.

Even though I used trim set aside for topical and it was a cleaning run, after inspecting it for petrochemical contaminants with a black light, I still had to taste some and though the material it was extracted from was aged and dried enough to have little floral undertones, it still had a clean crisp hashy flavor.

There were no contaminants revealed under black light, so looks like the system is clean and tomorrow we will have to get serious with some bud! Hee, hee, hee..................

As far as process, you can hardly find a finer instructional than at Tamisium, which I heartily recommend watching, whether you are going to buy one of theirs or if you are planning to build a passive recovery system yourself. Here are three of their offerings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvdedWvpUiU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTn5rJ_gBWk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajDkBlw_jYs

One big difference that you may note with our design, is that a co-solvent isn't required to easily clean the collection vessel. That is one area that I perceive Tamisium can improve upon!

Taken from: http://skunkpharmresearch.com/passive-butane-extractor-and-reclaimer/

PS: Recovery time was one hour, fortyfive minutes.

 

[mendo420]

sweet!
Love it when a plan comes together!

"I calculated that 141 cubic inches of water at .0361 lbs/inch cubed, times the .601 specific gravity of butane, would weigh about 3 pounds, so an 80% fill would weigh about 2.4 pounds. That means that 2 pounds 7 ounces is a maxim fill, to allow for hydraulics with temperature changes."

Where do you get this???

Your Da man!

 

[trichrider]

very nice presentation and your skills are exemplary.

 

[Gray Wolf]

sweet!
Love it when a plan comes together!

"I calculated that 141 cubic inches of water at .0361 lbs/inch cubed, times the .601 specific gravity of butane, would weigh about 3 pounds, so an 80% fill would weigh about 2.4 pounds. That means that 2 pounds 7 ounces is a maxim fill, to allow for hydraulics with temperature changes."

Where do you get this???

Your Da man!

I whomped them up for the occasion. I'll refine them more precisely for the final process.

Assume:

6" diameter X 5" tall column.
.7854 D squared = area of a circle
Water weighs .0361 lbs per cubic inch and has a specific gravity of 1.0
Specific gravity of liquid butane is .601
80% allowable fill for safety.

Therefore:

.7854 X 6" D squared X 5" = .7854 (36) X 5 =141.372 cubic inches

141 in3 X .0361 lbs/in3 X .601 specific gravity =3.059 lbs

3lbs X .80 (80% fill)=2.4 lbs

 

[Gray Wolf]

PS: 2.4 lbs of butane is enough to flood an empty 12" column 5.3 times, which seemed excessive, hence selecting 1.6 lbs instead of 2.4, which is closer to 3.5 times column volumn and to my discredit and shame, I over shot 0.1 lbs during transfer.

 

[Mia]

!!!!!!!!!

 

[turtle farmer]

I am very impressed Gray Wolf.
first class all the way.
subscribed and salivating.
peace

 

[abellguy]

This looks incredible. Out of curiosity does the tubing that connects between the supply tank and the material tube with collection tank collect any amount of build up of oil? Does it have to be cleaned? Or is it that once the extraction process is complete all oil is completely transferred back into collection vessel? Great job and thank you very much for the layout it really does take some of the guess work out of putting something like this together for the DIYer

 

[Gray Wolf]

This looks incredible. Out of curiosity does the tubing that connects between the supply tank and the material tube with collection tank collect any amount of build up of oil? Does it have to be cleaned? Or is it that once the extraction process is complete all oil is completely transferred back into collection vessel? Great job and thank you very much for the layout it really does take some of the guess work out of putting something like this together for the DIYer

The interconnecting hose never has anything in it besides butane liquid or vapors. The oil stays in the collection tank.

 

[abellguy]

The interconnecting hose never has anything in it besides butane liquid or vapors. The oil stays in the collection tank.

I see, I just went over your post more carefully and I missed the disconnect of the hose before the inversion of the unit.

I have one other question I was going over the parts list and checking availability and I noticed that Glacier Tank is not showing availability on the large Sanitary spool necessary. I also noticed in your previous post that you said this month they were getting 6" x 6" spools and could use a blank for the bottom. Is a Sanitary Spool a regular item, in that I could check for it at other local metal supply places and ask for that or is that a term specific to Glacier Tank?

Thanks so much for putting this together! The collection tank is so nice because the sides are straight there is no need for a transport fluid and being able to change out material tube size is great. Also to be able to say I made it myself is always a plus I will most definitely post some pics of it when I get it completed, sort of the unprofessional following the professionals plans. Much

 

[Gray Wolf]

I see, I just went over your post more carefully and I missed the disconnect of the hose before the inversion of the unit.

I have one other question I was going over the parts list and checking availability and I noticed that Glacier Tank is not showing availability on the large Sanitary spool necessary. I also noticed in your previous post that you said this month they were getting 6" x 6" spools and could use a blank for the bottom. Is a Sanitary Spool a regular item, in that I could check for it at other local metal supply places and ask for that or is that a term specific to Glacier Tank?

Thanks so much for putting this together! The collection tank is so nice because the sides are straight there is no need for a transport fluid and being able to change out material tube size is great. Also to be able to say I made it myself is always a plus I will most definitely post some pics of it when I get it completed, sort of the unprofessional following the professionals plans. Much

Glacier has the 6 X 6" spools on order and locals snatched up the last three 6" X 12" spools they had in stock, as soon as I published. I know of four more Lil Terps being built as we speak.

Give Glacier a call and ask to speak to Rochelle, to get the expected delivery date of the spool pieces. Their number is on their site.

 

[Flying High]

GreyWolf, I can't thank you enough for all of the work you have put into designing Extraction/Recovery Systems, as well as the wealth of other information you so generously and conveniently have compiled on your website.

Without you trailblazing, along with "foaf", "jump", and others, I surely wouldn't have even attempted to build the Terpenator I am hopefully finishing today. (I'll start a separate thread after I get a run or two thru the Terp)...

I was going to send you a PM with this question, but I figured others may benefit from the information.
-What kind of thread sealant do you use for NPT fittings, and any other fittings on the Terpenators or other systems which have solvent and oil passing thru 316 Stainless threaded fittings? The Tri-Clamps(sanitary connections?) feel like the perfect solution, if only 1/4" fittings and ball valves were readily available...

Ideally, I would prefer to run Tri-Clamp fittings(Sanitary) for everything on the Terpenator, but I feel like the smallest size, 3/4" Tri-Clamp fittings would be way to large to replace the current 1/4"and 3/8" fittings and ball valves on the inlet, upper end, overflow, and recovery sections on the Terp.

Maybe it is just me, but between Teflon Tape and/or Pipe Dope on every threaded fitting, I feel like the opportunity for thread sealant to migrate "inside" the system and into the final product is high.

Even after being careful to not have any tape or thread sealant on the first thread of any fitting, I found a piece of tape inside one of the 1/4" joints. This lead me to tear down a completed machine and thoroughly clean every single part for the second time. Now I have the machine nearly reassembled using the most compatible Rectorseal Thread Sealant I could find locally; it has no smell and the label states compatibility with every component in the Terp.

Sorry for the novel, but I figured the issue of sealing threads applied to the Lil Terp the same as the full-size unit....

Thanks again
H

 

[Flying High]

Regarding the Lil Terp, do you think using a 6" cap, gasket, and Tri-Clamp will adequately seal if used as the bottom to the main Recovery Tank?

I was thinking about how convenient it may be to remove the bottom plate of the Recovery Tank to most easily facilitate manual oil collection without solvent. Similar to how Duckmang built his custom made unit; but using the Tri-CLamps and gaskets to seal...
When Winterizing, it makes perfect sense to use alcohol to remove the oil from the pot; but for my personal vaporizing/dabbing needs, I prefer the flavor of fully vacuum purged BHO versus Absolute. (although I have never made or had what I would consider real(Winterized) Amber)

 

[Gray Wolf]

Regarding the Lil Terp, do you think using a 6" cap, gasket, and Tri-Clamp will adequately seal if used as the bottom to the main Recovery Tank?

I was thinking about how convenient it may be to remove the bottom plate of the Recovery Tank to most easily facilitate manual oil collection without solvent. Similar to how Duckmang built his custom made unit; but using the Tri-CLamps and gaskets to seal...
When Winterizing, it makes perfect sense to use alcohol to remove the oil from the pot; but for my personal vaporizing/dabbing needs, I prefer the flavor of fully vacuum purged BHO versus Absolute. (although I have never made or had what I would consider real(Winterized) Amber)

I haven't tried a bottom yet, but the top cap works fine, so I don't see why a bottom wouldn't work as well.

 

[Gray Wolf]

GreyWolf, I can't thank you enough for all of the work you have put into designing Extraction/Recovery Systems, as well as the wealth of other information you so generously and conveniently have compiled on your website.

Without you trailblazing, along with "foaf", "jump", and others, I surely wouldn't have even attempted to build the Terpenator I am hopefully finishing today. (I'll start a separate thread after I get a run or two thru the Terp)...

I was going to send you a PM with this question, but I figured others may benefit from the information.
-What kind of thread sealant do you use for NPT fittings, and any other fittings on the Terpenators or other systems which have solvent and oil passing thru 316 Stainless threaded fittings? The Tri-Clamps(sanitary connections?) feel like the perfect solution, if only 1/4" fittings and ball valves were readily available...

Ideally, I would prefer to run Tri-Clamp fittings(Sanitary) for everything on the Terpenator, but I feel like the smallest size, 3/4" Tri-Clamp fittings would be way to large to replace the current 1/4"and 3/8" fittings and ball valves on the inlet, upper end, overflow, and recovery sections on the Terp.

Maybe it is just me, but between Teflon Tape and/or Pipe Dope on every threaded fitting, I feel like the opportunity for thread sealant to migrate "inside" the system and into the final product is high.

Even after being careful to not have any tape or thread sealant on the first thread of any fitting, I found a piece of tape inside one of the 1/4" joints. This lead me to tear down a completed machine and thoroughly clean every single part for the second time. Now I have the machine nearly reassembled using the most compatible Rectorseal Thread Sealant I could find locally; it has no smell and the label states compatibility with every component in the Terp.

Sorry for the novel, but I figured the issue of sealing threads applied to the Lil Terp the same as the full-size unit....

Thanks again
H

I used PTFE Teflon tape for the NPT connections.

I do actually prefer welded joints without sealants, because eventually threaded connections are subject to leakage.

I used the threaded connections because most people can do them and picked Teflon sealant, because it is not readily attacked by butane or the terpenes.

I would think that tape is less prone to migration than pipe dope and our filtration would ostensibly take it out should that happen. I do agree that a sealant free joint would be a better choice.

Thanks for the heads up, I will check out Rectorseal! Which of their products names did you use?

 

[Gray Wolf]

duplicate

 

[Flying High]

GreyWolf,

Thank you for the response... In my simple mind, PTFE tape seemed like the best solution. When you say ""your Filtration", are you refering to the Winterization process, or the syringe fiilter? In your opinion, would a syringe filter be an effective means of filtering non winterized oil?

Like mmany of us, I am fortunate to have friends in many industries; what surprises me is the differences in thread sealing protocol between the HVAC and Aerospace industries.

The ten year plus Journeyman Hvac Mechanic's first response was to use PTFE tape with pipe dope on male threads only. He did follow that up by saying certain sprinkler piping applications require Sealant only, no tape. What he says he was taught in school was that PTFE tape acts as a lubricant to account for burs/imperfections on the threads, while the Pipe Dope is the sealant.

Then we have my good friend who is notorious for overdoing everything and anything; he also has an A&P liscence to go along with his overbuilt airplanes and other toys.
His take on thread sealant was to throw the PTFE tape into the garbage and stick with Pipe Dope. He brought up scenarios in oil lines where the tape may possibly migrate into the oil lines causing catostrophic engine failure due to lack of cooling.

While I don't have to worry about landing my Terpenator dead stick; I am concerened about getting remnants of thread sealant into my oil; especially because I do not normally Winterize my oil yet...


To answer your question, I am using Rectorseal Tplus2; with that said, I am suspicious of it's ultimate compatibility... After reading the MSDS and Rectorseals literature, it seems compatible but I would hate to recommend this and have it turn out to be bad....


Thank you again for all of your hard work
H

 

[Gray Wolf]

Lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu lu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Hee, hee, hee, snicker, snark, snort................

Here are pictures of the completed unit, along side the Tamisium Te-175, whose owners just challenged us to a side by side runoff.

Alas our first encounter ended in a reschedule, as they forgot their loading adapter and even with whomped up adapters, I was unable to fill the Tami tank from our bulk tank.

The second and third reasons were that it was Memorial Day, which limited our resources an unexpected new exigency in their schedule, limited our time to resolve the issue.

I was impressed by the general workmanship of the Tamisium, and the only disadvantage I can see in our runoff, is removal of the oil afterwards, which is only an issue when co-solvents are not used.

It is obviously much smaller than the Lil Terp and has Dixon quick disconnects making it easier to drain the holding tank, because you don't have to stand and hold it. We will see if their added resistance to flow over the open flare fittings affects process time, but they obviously work for the application.

Other than that, I also don't see that it has any real advantages either, so it should be a fair comparison. Lil Terp is capable of larger interchangeable columns than the Te-175, which will make it faster to load and unload, as well as produce more product than the Te-175, but we will not be testing it in those higher capacity configurations.

Attached is also the final parts and source list that I used to whomp up the Lil Terp, for those of ya'll hankering to build one yourself.

For those of ya'll thinking of building them for sale or to produce a product for sale, ya'll should consider that the Tamisium owner has applied for a patent, and if it is granted, he will have legal recourse against you.

Avoiding unreasonable prices for personal use is one thing and stealing a man's patent is an altogether different one, so do pay attention to details.

For those of ya'll who do build a Lil Terp for personal use, watch for conversions to the basic unit, such as the Enabler compound fractionating still, and others I have dreamed up, while still buried in the new shack project for the last year.

The Lil Terp is a base unit and passive extraction and recovery is only one thing it is capable of when it goes into its Transformer acts.

Wait to you see its Rotovape conversion and its Vacuum Oven configurations.

Hee, hee, hee, awhoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Flying High]

Wow!!! I am never short of amazed by your work Grey Wolf, the Lil Terp is no exception...

Even though I am extremely happy with my Terpenator, I forsee myself building a Lil Terp for use in the "Enabler" configuration to supply alcohol for my Terp; not to mention having a unit perfectly suited for those preciously small "nug runs" not large enough to run the Terp.

I can't thank you enough for another great design GW; I feel like I should be sweeping up your shop floor and scrubbing toilets to get an apprenticeship like you have provided here...


Last and certainly least, I am a little confused by the area of a circle formula above; I thought Radius squared x pie = Area