What is Ethanol?
Ethanol is a plant-based solvent that has long been the popular choice for hemp and cannabis extraction for a number of reasons including effectiveness, versatility, simplicity, and scalability. Ethanol is a well-known safe solvent used in extraction that is easy to use and is versatile in producing widely diverse end-products.
Ethanol Extraction is Popular Process Used Throughout History
Ethanol is one of the oldest solvents known, and using Ethanol for extraction is simple because it requires no manipulation of the solvent for the extraction process. Ethanol has been used in various forms of botanical extraction dating back thousands of years. Since Ethanol has been used for extraction for so long, it means this solvent is very well known and predictable, which makes Ethanol safe to use. The industry knows how Ethanol works in extraction, the benefits, the drawbacks, and more.
Ethanol is Safe and Easy
Compared to the other popular solvents used to extract cannabis, Ethanol is regarded as the safest solvent and the easiest solvent to use in the extraction process. Hydrocarbon solvents, such as Butane, are significantly more explosive and toxic than Ethanol. In CO2 extraction, expensive machinery is necessary to keep the extraction process remotely safe due to the high amounts of pressured created, causing another level of hazards. The explosiveness and toxicity of Butane, and the large amounts of pressure required for CO2 extraction further proves the relative ease and safeness of Ethanol.
Ethanol is Highly Efficient
Ethanol is both polar and non-polar meaning it has both positively and negatively charged ends. With Ethanol being both polar and non-polar it further depicts the versatility it has in the extraction process and shows why Ethanol is so efficient. Essentially Ethanol is extremely good at picking up and dissolving a large variety of different molecules in the extraction process. This is ideal for creating a large yield of pure cannabis extract however this doesn’t come without its flaws as Ethanol can also pick up Chlorophyll from the raw plant material which is dangerous. A further purifying process is necessary when using Ethanol as a solvent in extraction to ensure safety. Overall, Ethanol pulls the most cannabis extract and dissolves the most non-needed molecules in the raw plant material, like a hemp plant, in the extraction process compared to the CO2 and Hydrocarbons.
Ethanol Use in Small and Large-Scale Operations
Due to the simplicity and relative ease of the Ethanol extraction process, it makes this process extremely versatile and allows for Ethanol to scale up or down. The safety of Ethanol makes this extraction process easy enough to be completed by an individual on the stovetop at home in a small-scale operation. But this ease and efficiency also translate to success with mass production.
The great news about using Ethanol as your primary extraction grade solvent is that it is an extremely versatile solvent that is relatively safe and easy to use making it an ideal choice for small-scale and large-scale operations.
Ready to Shop Ethanol for Solvent Extraction?
If you’re looking to purchase Ethanol, you can check out online here, or if you have more questions regarding Ethanol, contact Extraction Grade Solvents and our reputable team of solvent experts will answer all your questions and concerns.