Patent US10780442

Cannabis trichome separation using chilled water
[+] Show Details

US10780442

1. A process for separating trichomes from raw cannabis plant material comprising: (11) (6)

grinding the raw cannabis plant material using a mesh size between 1 cm and 2.5 cm to result in ground raw cannabis plant material;

adding water at a temperature below 10° C. to the ground raw cannabis plant material to form a mixture;

agitating the mixture to separate trichomes from the ground raw cannabis plant material;

straining the mixture using a coarse mesh with a pore size of 200-1000 μm to separate the mixture into a trichome filtrate and unwanted cannabis plant matter;

filtering the trichome filtrate to retain a residue of trichome-rich cannabis plant matter; and

drying the trichome-rich cannabis plant matter to form a powder.

2. The process of claim 1, wherein the temperature of the water is 0-5° C., the process comprising maintaining the water at a temperature between 0-5° C. (0)

3. The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture is agitated by feeding bubbles of gas through the mixture. (0)

4. The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture is agitated for a duration between 5 and 120 min. (0)

5. The process of claim 1, wherein the powder has a higher percentage content in trichomes than the raw cannabis plant material. (0)

6. The process of claim 1, comprising drying the raw cannabis plant material to a moisture content of ≤10% before the grinding step. (0)

7. The process of claim 1, wherein the mixing is done in a mixing vessel that has a jacket at a temperature of ≤10° C. (4) (0)

8. The process of claim 7, wherein the filtering comprises filtering the trichome filtrate, in order, through: (0) (7)

a first filter with a pore size of 180-212 μm;

a second filter with a pore size of 150-180 μm;

a third filter with a pore size of 106-150 μm;

a fourth filter with a pore size of 75-90 μm;

a fifth filter with a pore size of 63-75 μm;

a sixth filter with a pore size of 32-53 μm; and

a seventh filter with a pore size of 15-32 μm.

9. The process of claim 7 comprising pressurizing the trichome filtrate while filtering. (0)

10. The process of claim 7 comprising collecting separately from each filter a portion of the residue of trichome-rich cannabis plant matter. (0)

11. The process of claim 7, wherein the filtering comprises filtering the trichome filtrate, in order, through a series of filters of increasing mesh number, starting with a first filter with a mesh number of 60 and ending with a final filter with a mesh number of 230. (0)

12. The process of claim 1 comprising drying the trichome-rich cannabis plant matter in an oven set at a temperature between 30-40° C. (1) (0)

14. The process of claim 1 comprising decarboxylating the powder in an oven set at a temperature of 115-120° C. for 30 min. (0)

15. The process of claim 1, wherein the mixture is agitated with a blunt agitator that rotates at a speed of 50-500 rpm. (0)

16. The process of claim 1, wherein the ground raw cannabis plant material is frozen. (0)

17. The process of claim 1, comprising: (1) (2)

View Abstract and Specification Size

PDF with Images and Document Face >

Full Text Publication >

Patent US10780442

Cannabis trichome separation using chilled water

Patent Matrix® Search