Flanged Lid Adapters: Streamlining Extraction

Flanged Lid Adapters: Streamlining Extraction 

Are you searching for a way to enhance and streamline your extraction processes? Whether you’re working in the Cannabis, Pharmaceutical, or Food and Beverage industries, using a material column to prep your organic material for solvent extraction is a critical step in keeping your processes moving smoothly.  The Flanged Lid Adapter, from Glacier Tanks, is an efficient and innovative addition to the solvent extraction process. 

What is Solvent Extraction? 

Solvent extraction is the process of diffusing a solvent into oil-bearing cells resulting in a mixed solution of oil and solvent. It is one of the most popular methods of separating oils and lipids from oil-bearing materials, primarily due to the high percentage of oil recovered. Solvent Extraction can have a successful yield of ~99%. When compared to other mechanical processes such as expellers, hydraulic press, etc. which yield an efficiency of ~85%, solvent extraction is an attractive process, especially from an efficiency standpoint. Common solvents can include hydrocarbons such as butane, hexane, and pentane, or solvents such as ethanol and CO2. Each solvent has its own list of pros and cons. Several factors will influence the best choice for a process including, but not limited to: commercial economics, low boiling point, and, in the case of a consumption-grade product, a non-toxic final product.

Typically, this process involves a large extraction vessel which is filled with the raw organic material and solvent. The solvent then strips the oils from the organic material leaving the target product in suspension. Distillation of the resulting oil mixture allows recovery of the solvent allowing it to be reused at minimal costs and leaving a safe, and pure, extracted product. 

This process can be very time consuming to set up, dismantle, and clean between each extraction run. The Flanged Lid Adapter can help simplify and speed up this process increasing the speed and efficiency of each cycle

What is a flanged lid adapter?  

A flanged lid adapts the top of a standard 4-inch Tri Clamp material column to a flange and bolt style lid that can hold a polymer felt filter bag in place during high-pressure extraction processes. 

These are a few key benefits to using this piece in your process: 

• Using the polymer felt bags, designed for the flanged lid adapter to hold plant material in the column, reduces time spent disassembling and emptying the material column. The polymer bag also acts as a primary filter, preventing unwanted particulate matter from clogging subsequent fine mesh filters. 

• The bolted flange simplifies reloading material columns by only requiring the loosening of 3 x 12mm hinge bolts and removing the lid. The lid has a 1/4-inch FNPT port in the center of the lid and is rated for 150 psi*.

• Using a Flanged Lid Adapter, in conjunction with the specially designed polymer felt bags, offers the flexibility to prefill material. Prefilled bags can be effortlessly changed out, thanks to the simple tri-clamp connection, keeping the extraction process moving smoothly.

The Glacier Tanks Flanged Lid Adapter can be found here, and the polymer filter bags here. Whichever industry is being served, these fittings are helpful tools that simplify and enhance processes, freeing up more time to be spent in other crucial areas of your business. 

If you want a more visual explanation of how our Flanged Lid Adapters work, you can check out our new Product Overview video Here. 

*bolts must be tightend to 35 in/lbs of torque