RSO 2.0 2022 - A Revolutionary Way of Making Oil at Home
RSO 2.0 2022 has been retired in favor of a faster easier process. If you make RSO, you'll love Refined Cannabis Extract. Click 'RxCE' to go to that page.
Continue with RSO 2.0 if you need to clean up old oil.
RSO 2.0 2022 Has been replaced and is now a dedicated special cleaning procedure.
The Brine Isopropyl Degumming defined in RSO 2.0 2022 is a technically superior degumming procedure compared to the simple degumming in RxCE. When you need to clean up dirty oil, RSO 2.0 2022 fits the bill.
Here is how it is done. This older process contains two discoveries enabled through Isopropyl's Super Power and polarity.
Discovery #1 - Brine Isopropyl Degumming
By pouring fully saturated salt water into Isopropyl Alcohol, the salt ions disrupt the hydrogen bonding causing the alcohol to separate from excess water which then forms two separate layers. This is called 'Salting-Out Isopropyl' and is very well known high school chemistry experiment. Salting-Out Isopropyl removes excess water, but it also frees up all other molecules dissolved by the alcohol. Picture the molecular world freed and now dancing in a big game of Musical Chairs except when the music stops, molecules tend to bond with similar molecules creating pure crystals. This pure crystallization of phospholipids is what you are seeing as a snow blizzard in the water layer.
Now for the first time ever, damaging phospholipids can easily be separated out of the oil. Phospholipids are responsible for locking impurities into the oil. Using this technique, phospholipids can literally be shaken free of the oil.
Introducing 'Silting'
Silting is a comprehensive cleaning step that incorporates Brine Isopropyl Degumming. Being able to dividing the wash in two separate layers by Salting-Out the isopropyl is a great tool for cleaning out unwanted compounds. The water phase of the brine vacuums up all water soluble compounds, both polar and some semi-polar. Acids, sugars and other water soluble impurities are attracted to the water through polar forces. These compounds historically have been boiled into the RSO which is why RSO is considered an unrefined 'crude' oil. Trichome shells simply sink to the bottom of the water layer.
Discovery #2 - Rapid Winterization
Silting purifies the oil by removing polar and most semi-polar compounds. You can be see the improvement in lab test reports as a progressive climb in high concentration. The term 'Lipids' is simply the family name for oils, fats, phospholipids and waxes. Using Isopropyl for the bulk solvent sets up a unique condition due to it being less polar than ethanol. Once distilling is done, the waste water dumped out, ethanol is used to redissolve the oils for the final reduction. Here's where the magic happens. Ethanol's higher polarity causes the non-polar liquefied waxes to be repelled. These repelling forces cause the waxes to compress into smaller spaces starting at room temperatures as the solution cools. By placing the ethanol wash in the freezer for an hour, the waxes crystallize in the cold and are easily caught in a paper napkin. A simple folded napkin is all that is needed to catch a majority of the waxes.
Discussion
The power of Salting-Out Isopropyl alcohol used in this process is a tool to separate out unwanted compounds. Silting separates out polar and semi-polar compounds. Distilling boils out the alcohol and absorbs water soluble compounds leaving cleaner oil floating on the water. This refined oil is now ready for the upcoming Winterization.
RSO 2.0 is unique by performing Winterization after distillation rather than before. Normally winterization, a dewaxing process, is done on the large volume of alcohol used to wash the plant. Now, winterization is performed on as little as a half cup of alcohol. The refined oils are cleaned up, and ready to be dewaxed. This is where Rapid Winterization kicks in. By using two different solvents with different dissolving characteristics, a condition is created where non-polar waxes are quickly consolidated when the alcohol is cooled down. The time now needed has been reduced from 12-24 hours to under an hour.
Lab Test Summary
The table plots the Total Cannabinoids reported in each test. Test #1 was run in May 2021 on standard RSO resulting in 34% Total Cannabinoids. The four subsequent tests were run with the incorporation of process improvements. The final test shows an increase to 78% cannabinoids with Silting, Distillation, Winterization and the final reduction.
The five lab tests can be seen [here] in reverse order (Scroll down to the bottom of the page).
So, was it all worth it? The proof is in the oil! Raw crude RSO started at 34% potency and has now reached 78% Total Cannabinoids!
The objectives of faster, cleaner and cheaper RSO has been accomplished!
keep reading..
Additonal benefits
A common problem has been 'burning' the oil on high heat devices during distillation. By adding water to buffer the distillation, the oil ends up floating on top of the water rather than burning on hot metal once the alcohol boils off.
Brine enables low heat distillations thus saving terpenes and avoiding unintentional decarbing. Distillation can now be run across a wider range of temperatures starting as low as 65c/150f and upwards to 100c/212f.
The oil is deodorized during distillation. It smells and tastes more like oil.
Long room temperature soaks swell up with unwanted plant compounds and have been shown to come out cleaner using Silting and Water Distillation.
No more filtering out trichome shells through paper coffee filters as the shells sink into the water layer during Silting.
Alcohol recovery can be done with Isopropyl using a moonshine still or water distiller thus providing further cost savings.
99% Isopropyl is preferred but 91% Isopropyl works very well. This allows the solvent to be reused in future extractions.
Salt remediation is robust. Following distillation, the oils are rinsed in hot distilled water which absorbs any remaining salt.
Any traces of Isopropyl or Ethanol are completely removed in the final reduction. Think of the final reduction as a literal fire wall of protection against residual solvents.
Burning the oil in the final reduction can be avoided using recommended kitchen appliances that have stable ranges of heat.
Steps in making RSO
Overall, there are now five steps to make oil. This new technique is presented in a Quick Start guide as well as a more complete ‘RSO 2.0 Shop Manual’. The shop manual covers more issues and provides a deeper exploration of each step. RSO 2.0 oil yields may decrease by 25-50% in volume. The volume goes down, but the concentration goes up. Trading off junk for higher purity oil is a good trade.
#1 - WASH. Wash the plant material in 99% Isopropyl Alcohol.
#2 - SILTING. All the magic explained above.
#3 - DISTILL. Remove the alcohol, collect the oil.
#4 - WINTERIZE. Separate out waxes with cold temperatures.
#5 - REDUCE. Reduce one last time to final oil.
For cleaning up older RSO/FECO oil, replace step #1, the plant washing, by adding 10 parts alcohol to your 1 part oil. Mix it well so the oil is completely dissolved, then continue on with step #2.
Making RSO The New Way
Here's a demonstration video showing how to make cleaner oil in just over an hour. This demo extracts oil from 2oz of hemp trim and delivered 3.77ml of oil in the final reduction.
TIP: Download the Quick Start Guide for the latest step-by-step instructions.
Click HERE to download the Quick Start Guide.
Click HERE to view the Shop Manual online.
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WARNING: Never distill alcohol near open flame. Alcohol vapors are highly flammable so always distill in well ventilated spaces.
This oil is appropriate for oral ingesting and vaping. Due to the potential of residual salts, do not torch this oil. Torch temperatures can reach over 760c/1400f and can vaporize any residual salts.
Disclaimer: Your use of any information or materials on the C.H.S. Website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be held liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure safe use and operation of any processes, products, services or information made available through C.H.S publications and Website.
Cannabis products fall within ranges of potency. The original RSO recipe was good for 30-50% potency. Rosin presses produce Live Rosin in the range of 50-70%. RSO 2.0 can reach as high as 80%. Distillate and isolates use lab equipment such as Short Path Distillation or Chromography to separate out the cannabinoids. These processes start at 80% and go all the way to 99.999% purity.
