The present invention is a process for producing various types of cannabis extract from harvested cannabis. A quantity of harvested cannabis, which typically includes the inflorescence, floral leaves, and small stems of a flowering cannabis plants, is pre-frozen and is first subjected to cryogenic grinding to produce pulverized cannabis. The pulverized cannabis is then subjected to butane extraction at a low temperature to produce an initial cannabis extract. The butane in the initial cannabis extract is removed by evaporating it from the mixture in a cold vacuum chamber. The process preserves desirable waxes and lipids and removes the butane from the extract without subjecting the extract to heating in order to preserve the integrity of the terpenoids and flavonoids in the extract.

An extraction system for obtaining oils and other constituents from raw botanical materials includes an array of separation chambers for fractionalized recovery of dissolved constituents in a supercritical solvent fluid. Collection of the dissolved constituents is facilitated with a pressure-stable collection vessel that is adaptable to sequentially collect precipitate from the array of separation chambers.

A method for extracting and isolating terpenes and aromatic compounds from Cannabis plant material by the steps of grinding the cannabis plant material to obtain a ground cannabis, performing a CO2 supercritical extraction upon a first portion of the ground cannabis, wherein said supercritical extraction is performed at temperature below freezing, between −30 to 0 centigrade, for a period of 3 to 5 hours, at between 1000-1300 psi, performing a steam distillation upon a second portion of the ground cannabis, performing a butane extraction upon a third portion of the ground cannabis, wherein the butane extraction is performed at a temperature between −30 to 0 centigrade, performing an alcohol extraction upon a fourth portion of the ground cannabis, wherein the alcohol extraction is performed at a temperature between −30 to 0 centigrade, performing a maceration upon a fifth portion of the ground cannabis, wherein the maceration is performed with coconut oil at a temperature of between 40-70 centigrade, combining at least a portion of each of the resultant extracts from the CO2 supercritical extraction step, the steam distillation step, the butane extraction step, the alcohol extraction step and the maceration step to create a combined extract, and then fractionally distilling the combined extract to separate terpenes and other aromatic compounds from the combined extract.

The present invention is directed to an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly process for the production of chemical target compounds from cellulosic material. In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for conducting the process according to the inventive process.

A plurality of collection surfaces for use in an aqueous slurry has a polymeric coating to provide a compliant and sticky surface. The polymer coating has a chemical to render the surface hydrophobic so as to attract hydrophobic or hydrophobized mineral particles in the slurry. The substrate can take the form of a conveyor belt, a bead, a mesh, an impeller, a filter or a flat surface. The substrate can also be an open-cell foam. The collection surfaces having the mineral particles attached thereon are caused to interact with liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide so that the mineral particles can be stripped from the collection surfaces.

The present invention relates to a process for producing an oil and a defatted cake by solid/liquid extraction. The process comprises a step of solid/liquid extraction using a solvent comprising 2-methyloxolane and water.

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and devices for phytochemical extraction. One example extraction system includes two solvent columns, a material column, and a dewaxing column. The solvent columns store and provide solvent for stripping target chemicals from plant material in the material column. The solvent mixed with target chemicals passes into the dewaxing column, where the target chemicals are separated from waxes and lipids. Cooling is applied to elements of the system by way of an open-loop CO2 refrigeration method. Solvent is moved from the solvent columns to the material column by creating a pressure differential between the two solvent columns.

Methods for creating concentrated plant material solution are disclosed. Some examples include combining at least a concentrated plant material, at least one terpenoid compound, and a solvent to define a mixture; heating the mixture, wherein a temperature of the mixture is heated above a boiling point of the solvent and wherein the temperature of the heated mixture does not exceed a lower one of a boiling point of the concentrated plant material and a boiling point of the at least one terpenoid compound; and maintaining the temperature of the mixture above the boiling point of the solvent and below the lower one of the boiling point of the concentrated plant material and the boiling point of the at least one terpenoid compound until the amount of solvent remaining in the mixture reaches a predetermined concentration level.

An apparatus for the extraction of compounds from botanical material using a condensable gas solvent includes sequential extraction and separation stages.

A method for extracting compounds, including stable natural cannabinoid acids, from plant material, utilizing terpenes as a saturant is described. The invention includes the excitation of the plant material and terpene solvent with microwave, ultrasound, sonication, heat input, and physical agitation or combinations thereof. The invention particularly covers the process as it relates to the extraction of THC-A, CBG-A, and CBD-A and their derivatives from cannabis and hemp for the use in products for medical and recreational use. The combinations of terpene saturant, plant material strain and process variables can be tuned in order to dial in the final resultant product for several variables including but not limited to terpene content, THC-A, CBG-A or CBD-A potency, ratios of THC-A, CBD-A, CBG-A and their derivatives, or flavor profile.