Precision Team
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With the massive growth in the use and production of distillate vape pens, it’s no surprise that new distillation equipment is constantly coming to market. Before selecting equipment for your facility, you should get a basic understanding of proper distillation and the different options on the market.
What’s a Vape Pen?
A distillate pen has two parts: one part contains concentrated cannabis oil or distillate. The other has a battery to heat the oil into a gas for consumers to inhale via the vape pen’s mouthpiece. Some are disposable and some reusable.
What’s Vape Distillate?
Vape distillate is distillate for a vape pen, also called a distillate vaporizer, and is what’s being heated and consumed. If you’re wondering “What’s in a dab pen?” this is different. Dab pens are designed for use with concentrates and are both bigger and require higher temperatures.
What’s the distillation process?
Distillation is a method that can separate different liquids, such as alcohol, oil, perfume, and cannabis. As such, distillation is critical to several industries, including the cannabis industry.
No matter what’s being distilled, the first step is to heat the mixture of liquids. Because many liquids have different boiling points, once the liquids heat up and enter the gas phase, the distillation equipment used can condense them back to liquid form, separating and removing any unwanted compounds.
The result of the distillation process is the formation of distillate. Distillate is a tasteless, odorless, translucent oil that has been condensed.
What are the Benefits of Vape Pen Distillation?
First, it’s a simple way to eliminate impurities. Cannabis distillation equipment can be used to remove:
- Ethanol
- Carbon dioxide
- Fertilizers
- Lipids
- Butane solvent
- Terpenes
Another benefit of distillation is that you can decide what the product tastes or smells like since terpenes are removed through distillation.
In many states, cannabis is taxed on its weight, so if you remove plant compounds and other unwanted matter to create a purer form of cannabis, you’ll be taxed less while being able to offer a highly concentrated product to consumers. This is a win/win for both your facility and your customers.
Distillation Equipment to Know About
There are two main types of cannabis distillation equipment on the market.
Short Path Distillation Equipment
Short path distillation equipment tends to be small, which is ideal if you have limited space. It lets you easily distill cannabinoids by bringing your mixture to a boil until you can separate the unwanted compounds. The equipment will then vaporize and condense the mix for you, creating a pure, concentrated product you can use for distillate vapes, edibles, topicals, and more.
Pro: small size.
Con: you might need to run the mixture through the equipment multiple times, which can be time-consuming, especially if you have a small staff and tight deadlines.
Wiped Film Distillation Equipment
Wiped film machinery is usually larger than short paths, but typically only one or two runs of the mixture through the machine is needed to get a pure product.
People tend to consider this method of distilling cannabis more sophisticated than the short path method as it is more streamlined and easier on the compounds involved in the process. This distillation process uses wipers to put a very thin film of liquid on the interior of a heated surface, quickly separating the unwanted compounds from the cannabinoids. As a result, the cannabinoids spend the least amount of time possible under extreme heat, which benefits the resulting product.
What Cannabis Equipment is Best for Vape Distillate?
If you’re not sure which cannabis distillation equipment may be right for you, consider what volume of cannabis products you’re planning to produce, as well as how much space you have.
If you have a minor operation or you’re just getting started, short path distillation equipment may be a good idea for now. But if you have a lot of room at your facility and have a high-production operation, wiped film equipment may be the best option to meet your needs.
Precision offers both short path and wiped film distillation systems. The G3 Series Short Path Distillation Kit by Lab Society offers unparalleled throughput, potency, and system lifespan compared to other short path systems on the market and is available in three size configurations to meet your needs.
With the Cannbeast® 13 Thin Film Distillation System, Lab Society has partnered with InCon Process Systems (IPS) to bring the industry the most comprehensive, USA-made stainless steel, continuous short path distillation plants on the market.
Not sure what system is best for your operation? Precision Extraction experts are here to help!
