Robert Celt
New Member
WS: First of all, can you give us a brief overview of ExtraktLab's product range and business model?
JW: ExtraktLAB's mission is to supply our customers with best-in-class cannabinoid extraction, separation and purification technology. Our goal is to enable our customers to rapidly and cost-effectively startup or scale up their cannabis oil production facilities and enter the marketplace as quickly as possible with high quality, consistent end products.
WS: How has the cannabis industry developed since the drug has become legal in some US states?
JW: The cannabis market is one of the fastest growing business opportunities in the United States and Canada in 2016. The market is growing at an astounding 65% compound annual growth rate, but beyond that, the market for concentrates and extracts grew by more than 125% last year and is poised for even more growth in 2016.
What was a niche market when legalization first occurred in Colorado and Washington is very quickly evolving into a nationwide trend and gaining interest and major investments from thousands of mainstream investors and entrepreneurs. On the regulatory front, states are now passing new laws legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana and hemp production every month, while Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has promised to legalize marijuana federally in that country.
WS: Who are your typical customers, and what is the end use of the compounds they extract?
JW: Our typical customers fall into two main categories. There are experienced industry insiders, some of whom have decades of experience growing the plant, who see a new opportunity that they can quickly capitalize on. We provide these customers with the specific expertise and equipment needed to make large quantities of high quality, low cost oils and extracts for the wholesale and retail markets.
The second major category of customers are entrepreneurs and investors new to the industry. In addition to helping them setup their extraction and processing facility, we also provide processes for quality control, formulations, and general consulting needed to enter the market.
Through our partners, we also provide consulting on new license applications where necessary. This ensures that new entrants into the market can look forward to a high return on investment and reduce their risk by leveraging our core expertise in this market.
WS: What are the benefits of scCO2 extraction compared to other methods?
JW: Supercritical CO2 compares favourably with competing hydrocarbon-based extraction methods such as butane, naptha, hexane, ethanol and the like. Carbon dioxide is an intrinsically safe material with no adverse health effects from chronic exposure. The process produces no volatile flammable gases and is therefore appropriate to operate without a purged, hazardous location-rated enclosure.
Although there is a relatively large capital cost for the high pressure extraction tanks and pumps (our systems are rated to 10,000 psi for example), the extraction process is fast and efficient, and the equipment can pay for itself with a matter of weeks when operated correctly with high quality input materials.
CO2 is a commodity gas that is readily available everywhere and very inexpensive compared to, for example, food grade ethanol. Using our standard extraction process, we are able to recover >96% of available cannabinoids in under 2 hours.
In my opinion, the #1 reason to choose supercritical CO2 extraction over other methods is safety. This comprises both the safety of the finished product, which will be consumed by the patient or end user, and also the safety of the equipment and its operator. Countless instances of serious burns and major property damage have occurred due to inexperienced operators attempting butane extractions under poorly controlled conditions.
Likewise many chronic users of butane-extracted products experience health effects from ingesting volatile hydrocarbon gases. Supercritical CO2 extraction eliminates both of those risks, is scalable to high volumes and is more cost effective over time.
WS: How have you dealt with the challenges of supercritical extraction, like the safety and training issues around operating high pressure systems?
JW: All our equipment is ASME and UL listed and conforms to all applicable safety standards in the US. We provide comprehensive training to our customers on the safe operation of the machine.
Our design largely eliminates any possibility of exposure to high pressure gases, including during product recovery during which we discharge the oil into closed vessels as opposed to open vessels, or even unsafe glass containers commonly in use by other manufacturers.
WS: What sort of chromatography do your Pure99 systems employ? Why was this selected?
JW: Pure99 preparative chromatography systems eliminate producers' reliance on plant genetics and unstable clones or hybrids and gives total control over their finished product formulation. This is a unique, and essential step towards creating quality-controlled, pharmaceutical grade medicines from the cannabis plant.
It also permits the production of pure CBD extracts, which are not regulated the way that THC extracts are in terms of inter-state and international trade, and currently sell for a substantially higher value than THC extracts.
Pure 99 systems are high throughput supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) systems that can yield up to 1 kg/day each of pure cannabinoids such as THC, CBD and other cannabinoids using a 5.5" diameter packed column. These systems are fully automated and can run 24 hours/day without user intervention.
We selected supercritical CO2 as the mobile phase since we have substantial expertise in supercritical CO2 extractions and separations, and it is vastly more economical than ethanol or other common solvents, for example.
What is truly powerful about preparative chromatography, in this context, is that it permits the manufacturer to produce large quantities of tightly controlled and precisely formulated cannabis products. With this technology, the user can make pure products with controlled cannabinoid ratios (for example 1:1 THC:CBD, or 1:3 THC:CBD ratios, or simply pure THC and pure CBD extracts), regardless of the various plant strains under cultivation.
Preparative chromatography also helps purify the extracted oil, eliminating many pesticides, fungicides and other contaminants that may have been carried over from the input cannabis material. The use of preparative chromatography, in combination with supercritical CO2 extractions to create controlled, precisely formulated medicines represents the pinnacle of medical cannabis product manufacturing.
WS: Could your technology be applied to other natural product extractions?
JW: Absolutely. Any compound that is soluble in supercritical CO2 could in principle be extracted by this technique. However in terms of addressable market size and growth rate, the cannabis extraction market far exceeds other available markets at this time.
Supercritical CO2 extractions are used industrially for extraction of caffeine from coffee beans, flavouring agents and scents for perfumes, and many diverse applications.
WS: How do you see the future of this industry developing in the future, and how do ExtraktLab's plans fit into that?
JW: We envision significant growth in the cannabis market as two key trends take root over the next five years:
First, continued legalization at both the state and federal levels in North America will grow the market from its current $2.7B size to an estimated $35B overall by 2020. This is the fastest growing new market in North America at this time.
Second, a continued trend away from smoking flower as the main delivery mechanism for cannabis, and towards extracts and concentrates. These products are typically vaporized in vape pens and e-cigarettes, or mixed into edibles, creams, lotions, tinctures and myriad other forms.
Just as smoking cigarettes has, in general, diminished in popularity among young people, smokable marijuana is being replaced by vapes and edibles that are more appealing and accessible to the 21-35 year old consumer.
Last, medical users, in particular cancer patients and pediatric patients, are understandably averse to smoking. For this patient cohort, high quality, safe and consistent extracts and concentrates can sometimes be truly life changing.
For more information, please visit ExtraktLAB's website.
About James White
James White brings more than a decade of entrepreneurial and scientific expertise earned in the process instrumentation and scientific instrument industries.
Dr. White received his Ph.D in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003. After graduation, he was a National Research Council fellow and postdoc at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD.
Since then, he has been a technology entrepreneur, specializing in the scientific instrument industry, with several innovative new products in use worldwide in the petrochemicals and biomedical research markets.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis Oil Extraction — An Interview With James White
Author: Will Soutter
Photo Credit: None found
Website: AZO Materials
JW: ExtraktLAB's mission is to supply our customers with best-in-class cannabinoid extraction, separation and purification technology. Our goal is to enable our customers to rapidly and cost-effectively startup or scale up their cannabis oil production facilities and enter the marketplace as quickly as possible with high quality, consistent end products.
WS: How has the cannabis industry developed since the drug has become legal in some US states?
JW: The cannabis market is one of the fastest growing business opportunities in the United States and Canada in 2016. The market is growing at an astounding 65% compound annual growth rate, but beyond that, the market for concentrates and extracts grew by more than 125% last year and is poised for even more growth in 2016.
What was a niche market when legalization first occurred in Colorado and Washington is very quickly evolving into a nationwide trend and gaining interest and major investments from thousands of mainstream investors and entrepreneurs. On the regulatory front, states are now passing new laws legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana and hemp production every month, while Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has promised to legalize marijuana federally in that country.
WS: Who are your typical customers, and what is the end use of the compounds they extract?
JW: Our typical customers fall into two main categories. There are experienced industry insiders, some of whom have decades of experience growing the plant, who see a new opportunity that they can quickly capitalize on. We provide these customers with the specific expertise and equipment needed to make large quantities of high quality, low cost oils and extracts for the wholesale and retail markets.
The second major category of customers are entrepreneurs and investors new to the industry. In addition to helping them setup their extraction and processing facility, we also provide processes for quality control, formulations, and general consulting needed to enter the market.
Through our partners, we also provide consulting on new license applications where necessary. This ensures that new entrants into the market can look forward to a high return on investment and reduce their risk by leveraging our core expertise in this market.
WS: What are the benefits of scCO2 extraction compared to other methods?
JW: Supercritical CO2 compares favourably with competing hydrocarbon-based extraction methods such as butane, naptha, hexane, ethanol and the like. Carbon dioxide is an intrinsically safe material with no adverse health effects from chronic exposure. The process produces no volatile flammable gases and is therefore appropriate to operate without a purged, hazardous location-rated enclosure.
Although there is a relatively large capital cost for the high pressure extraction tanks and pumps (our systems are rated to 10,000 psi for example), the extraction process is fast and efficient, and the equipment can pay for itself with a matter of weeks when operated correctly with high quality input materials.
CO2 is a commodity gas that is readily available everywhere and very inexpensive compared to, for example, food grade ethanol. Using our standard extraction process, we are able to recover >96% of available cannabinoids in under 2 hours.
In my opinion, the #1 reason to choose supercritical CO2 extraction over other methods is safety. This comprises both the safety of the finished product, which will be consumed by the patient or end user, and also the safety of the equipment and its operator. Countless instances of serious burns and major property damage have occurred due to inexperienced operators attempting butane extractions under poorly controlled conditions.
Likewise many chronic users of butane-extracted products experience health effects from ingesting volatile hydrocarbon gases. Supercritical CO2 extraction eliminates both of those risks, is scalable to high volumes and is more cost effective over time.
WS: How have you dealt with the challenges of supercritical extraction, like the safety and training issues around operating high pressure systems?
JW: All our equipment is ASME and UL listed and conforms to all applicable safety standards in the US. We provide comprehensive training to our customers on the safe operation of the machine.
Our design largely eliminates any possibility of exposure to high pressure gases, including during product recovery during which we discharge the oil into closed vessels as opposed to open vessels, or even unsafe glass containers commonly in use by other manufacturers.
WS: What sort of chromatography do your Pure99 systems employ? Why was this selected?
JW: Pure99 preparative chromatography systems eliminate producers' reliance on plant genetics and unstable clones or hybrids and gives total control over their finished product formulation. This is a unique, and essential step towards creating quality-controlled, pharmaceutical grade medicines from the cannabis plant.
It also permits the production of pure CBD extracts, which are not regulated the way that THC extracts are in terms of inter-state and international trade, and currently sell for a substantially higher value than THC extracts.
Pure 99 systems are high throughput supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) systems that can yield up to 1 kg/day each of pure cannabinoids such as THC, CBD and other cannabinoids using a 5.5" diameter packed column. These systems are fully automated and can run 24 hours/day without user intervention.
We selected supercritical CO2 as the mobile phase since we have substantial expertise in supercritical CO2 extractions and separations, and it is vastly more economical than ethanol or other common solvents, for example.
What is truly powerful about preparative chromatography, in this context, is that it permits the manufacturer to produce large quantities of tightly controlled and precisely formulated cannabis products. With this technology, the user can make pure products with controlled cannabinoid ratios (for example 1:1 THC:CBD, or 1:3 THC:CBD ratios, or simply pure THC and pure CBD extracts), regardless of the various plant strains under cultivation.
Preparative chromatography also helps purify the extracted oil, eliminating many pesticides, fungicides and other contaminants that may have been carried over from the input cannabis material. The use of preparative chromatography, in combination with supercritical CO2 extractions to create controlled, precisely formulated medicines represents the pinnacle of medical cannabis product manufacturing.
WS: Could your technology be applied to other natural product extractions?
JW: Absolutely. Any compound that is soluble in supercritical CO2 could in principle be extracted by this technique. However in terms of addressable market size and growth rate, the cannabis extraction market far exceeds other available markets at this time.
Supercritical CO2 extractions are used industrially for extraction of caffeine from coffee beans, flavouring agents and scents for perfumes, and many diverse applications.
WS: How do you see the future of this industry developing in the future, and how do ExtraktLab's plans fit into that?
JW: We envision significant growth in the cannabis market as two key trends take root over the next five years:
First, continued legalization at both the state and federal levels in North America will grow the market from its current $2.7B size to an estimated $35B overall by 2020. This is the fastest growing new market in North America at this time.
Second, a continued trend away from smoking flower as the main delivery mechanism for cannabis, and towards extracts and concentrates. These products are typically vaporized in vape pens and e-cigarettes, or mixed into edibles, creams, lotions, tinctures and myriad other forms.
Just as smoking cigarettes has, in general, diminished in popularity among young people, smokable marijuana is being replaced by vapes and edibles that are more appealing and accessible to the 21-35 year old consumer.
Last, medical users, in particular cancer patients and pediatric patients, are understandably averse to smoking. For this patient cohort, high quality, safe and consistent extracts and concentrates can sometimes be truly life changing.
For more information, please visit ExtraktLAB's website.
About James White
James White brings more than a decade of entrepreneurial and scientific expertise earned in the process instrumentation and scientific instrument industries.
Dr. White received his Ph.D in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003. After graduation, he was a National Research Council fellow and postdoc at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD.
Since then, he has been a technology entrepreneur, specializing in the scientific instrument industry, with several innovative new products in use worldwide in the petrochemicals and biomedical research markets.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis Oil Extraction — An Interview With James White
Author: Will Soutter
Photo Credit: None found
Website: AZO Materials
