A vertically-integrated Cannabis-related product production method is described, the method comprises, producing a distilled cannabinoid and/or a crystallized cannabinoid from Cannabis plants, comprising: in a farming system, growing the Cannabis plants, the Cannabis plants comprise a cannabinoid; in an extraction system, extracting the cannabinoid from the Cannabis plants; in a purification system, purifying the cannabinoid to produce a purified cannabinoid; and in a distillation and/or a crystallization system, distilling and/or crystallizing the purified cannabinoid to produce the distilled cannabinoid and/or the crystallized cannabinoid. Various ways to purify, distill, and process the cannabinoids are described. An insect pest management system may be integrated with the farming system to grow the Cannabis plants in the presence of predatory mites which feed on insects and/or spider mites.

Methods and systems for separating a desublimatable compound from hydrocarbons is disclosed. A feed fluid stream, consisting of a hydrocarbon and a desublimatable compound, is passed into an upper chamber of a vessel. The feed fluid stream is cooled in the upper chamber, thereby desublimating a portion of the desublimatable compound out of the feed liquid stream to form a product gas stream and a desublimatable compound snow which is collected in the lower chamber of the vessel. A lower portion of the desublimatable compound snow is melted to form a liquid desublimatable compound stream such that an upper portion of the solid desublimatable compound snow remains as an insulative barrier between the upper chamber and the liquid desublimatable compound stream. The liquid desublimatable compound stream is removed at a rate that matches a production rate of the solid desublimatable compound snow, thereby maintaining the insulative barrier.

A method for refining lithium from a crude brine includes charging a crude brine into a feeder tank held at a temperature T.sub.1 and containing a sufficient carbonate source to precipitate all carbonate-forming solids in the crude brine to form a precipitate mixture and a crystal free supernatant; pumping the crystal free supernatant from the feeder tank to a first crystallization reactor that is held at a temperature T.sub.2 to crystallize a lithium carbonate salt out of the crystal free supernatant; wherein the temperature T.sub.1 is lower than the temperature T.sub.2; and controlling a flow rate to maintain a steady state concentration of the lithium carbonate salt in the solution phase of the crystallization reactor.

A method of generating a refined a sugar stream that comprises xylose from a biomass hydrolysis solution, including contacting a biomass hydrolysis solution that includes a population of mixed sugars comprising xylose, an acid, and impurities, with a thermally-phase separable solvent such as a glycol solvent to form an extraction mixture; and separating from said extraction mixture a first stream including the thermally-phase separable solvent, acid, and impurities and a second, refined sugar stream that comprises xylose.

A process for dry fractionization of a soft palm oil mid fraction (SPMF) into a final hard palm oil mid fraction (fHPMF-A) is disclosed. The process comprises: providing the solf palm oil mid fraction (SPMF), using the soft palm oil mid fraction (SPMF) as an input (IN1) to a first dry fractionation (FDF) to obtain an intermediate olein fraction (SPMF-O) and an intermediate stearin fraction (SPMF-S), using the intermediate olein fraction (SPMF-O) as an input (IN2) to an ultrasound assisted second dry fractionation (SDF) to obtain the final hard palm oil mid fraction (fHPMF-A) and a palm oil olein fraction (POO), wherein the ultrasound assisted second dry fractionation (SPF) comprises subjecting at least a part of the input (IN2) to ultrasonic treatment (US2). Also disclosed is a final hard palm oil mid fraction (fHPMF-A), a second hard palm oil mid fraction (sHPMF-B), a hard palm oil mid fraction mixture, and uses of these.

A process for the separation of a substance from a liquid feed mixture and for the purification of the substance by fractional layer crystallization, wherein the liquid feed mixture comprises the substance to be separated and purified in a concentration of less than 50% by weight, which comprises the subsequent steps in the given order: (a) feeding the liquid feed mixture into a crystallization zone, in which at least one surface is provided, so that at least a part of the surface contacts the liquid feed mixture, (b) cooling the at least one surface of the crystallization zone to a temperature below the equilibrium freezing temperature of the liquid feed mixture so that a crystal layer enriched in the substance to be separated and purified is deposited on the at least one cooled surface, whereby a mother liquid having a lower concentration of the substance to be separated and purified than the liquid feed mixture is formed from the liquid feed mixture, (c) removing at least a portion of the mother liquid from the crystallization zone, (d) adding a further portion of liquid feed mixture into the crystallization zone, (e) allowing further deposition of a crystal layer enriched in the substance to be separated and purified to take place on the at least one cooled surface, (f) optionally carrying out a sweating stage and removing a sweating residue and (g) melting the crystal layer to obtain the separated and purified substance.

The present invention is a method for purifying an NCA, including the steps of: a) dissolving an NCA contaminated with impurities into a solvent which is a good solvent and is not a chlorinated solvent followed by stirring to precipitate an undissolved impurity to afford a suspension, b) adding an acidic filter aid having ability to trap a basic impurity to the obtained suspension followed by filtration and/or forming a fixed bed of the acidic filter aid having ability to trap a basic impurity followed by filtering the suspension to bring the suspension to be in contact with the acidic filter aid having ability to trap a basic impurity, and c) adding the obtained filtrate dropwise to a poor solvent for NCA to crystallize out the NCA in which the impurities are removed. This makes it possible to purify a low-purity NCA conveniently to afford a high-purity NCA.

The invention relates to the use of a column with a separating wall as a purification/finishing column in a (meth)acrylic acid recovery method based on the use of two distillation columns in the absence of external organic solvent. The method according to the invention improves the energy balance for the method while improving the technical quality of the (meth)acrylic acid recovered. The method according to the invention further produces polymer-grade (or glacial) (meth)acrylic acid compatible with the production of high-molecular weight acrylic acid polymers.

Digestion of impure alumina with sulfuric acid dissolves all constituents except silica. Resulting sulfates, produced from contaminants in the impure alumina, remain in solution at approximately 90 C. Hot filtration separates silica. Solution flow over metallic iron reduces ferric sulfate to ferrous sulfate. Controlled ammonia addition promotes hydrolysis and precipitation of hydrated titania from titanyl sulfate that is removed by filtration. Addition of ammonium sulfate forms ferrous ammonium sulfate and ammonium aluminum sulfate solutions. Alum is preferentially separated by crystallization. Addition of ammonium bicarbonate to ammonium alum solution precipitates ammonium aluminum carbonate which may be heated to produce alumina, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. The remaining iron rich liquor also contains magnesium sulfate. Addition of oxalic acid generates insoluble ferrous oxalate which is thermally decomposed to ferrous oxide. Carbon monoxide reduces the ferrous oxide to metallic iron. Further oxalic acid addition precipitates magnesium oxalate which is thermally decomposed to magnesium oxide.

A process for obtaining a wax fraction from a feed wax, the process comprising: (a) providing a molten feed wax in a container; (b) solidifying the feed wax by cooling; (c) increasing the temperature of the feed wax to a temperature at which a first fraction of the feed wax melts, said first fraction having a congealing point which is lower than the congealing point of the feed wax; (d) recovering the first fraction of the feed wax; (e) increasing the temperature of the remaining feed wax to a temperature at which a further fraction of the feed wax melts; and (f) recovering the further fraction of the feed wax. The feed wax comprises at least 75 wt.-% of linear alkanes and each recovered fraction comprises at least 19 wt.-% of the feed wax.