The Ultimate Guide To Solvent Recovery Systems | Alaqua Inc

Solvent recovery systems are the process of recovering and reusing solvents used in the extraction of cannabis. Chemical solvents are too costly, particularly in the commercial cannabis sector. Solvent recovery is a great technique to save money due to the high cost of solvents. Solvents used in cannabis extraction procedures, such as hexane, butane, propane, ethanol, and isopropyl alcohol, can be recycled and repurposed.

The solvents are collected and separated using distillery operations after they have been used. When the solvents approach boiling and condense into vapor, special distillery tanks are employed to heat and separate them. The steam vapor is collected and sent to an air-cooled condenser. The solvents cool to a pure liquid that may be reused after chilling.

Work of Solvent Recovery System

Solvent recovery systems are based on distillation, which separates volatile and nonvolatile solutions in a solvent. Similar to how a vapor degreaser works, the solution is boiled, then the vapors are condensed back into liquid in a separate tank. Different elements of the solvent and pollutants boil at different temperatures: oils and soils generally boil at considerably greater temperatures than solvents. Paint thinner, which is used to remove paint from paint guns and parts, is an excellent illustration of this; because the solvent boils at considerably lower temperatures than paint, boiling the mixture results in the pure solvent in one tank and paint sludge components in another.

Fractional vs. Simple Distillation and How to Segregate Multiple Solvents?

Simple distillation attempts to separate one solvent in solution and recover the bulk of the solvent in solution, as described above and shown by the solvent recycling example. Simple distillation is the process of condensing hot boiled vapors directly from the solvent recycler’s boiling tank. Because condensing occurs so near to the boil “sump,” only one volatile solvent can be recovered, and the purity of the solvent may contain trace amounts of non-volatile contaminants carried by the boiling, volatile vapors. Vapor degreasers employ the same technique. While the recovery of a single volatile solvent can sometimes reach 99 percent or more, greater recoveries are occasionally required.

Latest Blog: Advantages of Continuous Distillation

Fractional distillation is used when greater purity recovery or separation of two or more volatile components (such as water and isopropyl alcohol) is needed. To achieve better purity solvent recovery and separation of various volatile solvents, fractional distillation employs a reflux column between the boiling tank and condenser coils. This approach has the potential to achieve 99.9% solvent recovery and 99.9% solvent purity, which is popular in electronic/PCB production, medical device manufacturing, and aerospace applications.

Utilized solvent recovery system and recycling benefits

• Chemical waste from solvents is reduced.

• Reduce your purchasing of new solvents.

• Reduce the influence on hazardous waste producers’ permit status.

• When utilizing safer but more expensive designed solvents, you can get a quicker return on your capital equipment.

• Savings on storage

Alaqua supplies different types of processing equipment such as evaporators, crystallizers, solvent recovery systems, distillation equipment, and spray dryers to fulfill various industrial demands. Along with processing equipment, Alaqua also provides installation and commissioning services, fabrication of equipment, training of personnel, retro-fitting services, field, and troubleshooting services. Contact us today to know more! www.alaquainc.com 

Advantages of Continuous Distillation | Alaqua INC

Distillation, also known as classical distillation, is the process of selectively boiling and condensation to separate components or substances from a liquid mixture. Dry distillation is the process of heating solid materials to create gaseous products. ALAQUA is a US company that is a distillation equipment supplier along with other processing equipment suppliers.

Distillation can produce a nearly full separation or a partial separation that raises the concentration of specific components in a mixture. The method, in either scenario, takes advantage of variations in the relative volatility of the mixture’s constituents. Distillation is a unit operation with almost universal importance in industrial applications, however, it is a physical separation process rather than a chemical reaction.

However, there appears to be a lot of misunderstanding and uncertainty about the benefits of continuous distillation, how it works, how expensive it is, and so on, but it is much less complicated than one might expect. The constant tag denotes that the equipment is never turned off. That also entails working a second or third shift merely to keep the machine running. However, this is to be expected when a distillery is ramping up output.

Selecting the proper distillation method is very important. Making this decision without adequate information can be challenging if you are unfamiliar with the two types of distillation procedures. Usually, there are two types of distillation equipment to select between batch and continuous distillation techniques. Because both of these approaches have their own set of advantages and disadvantages, it’s critical to learn more about each one before deciding which is best for you.

Basically, Batch and continuous distillation vary as batch distillation is done in batches, whereas continuous distillation is done continuously.

What is Batch Distillation?

Batch distillation is a technique for separating components from a mixture in small batches. The distillation procedure is used repeatedly in this method. It is simple to carry out batch distillation. The separated chemical is extremely pure, and the process is extremely flexible, thanks to this method.

A single distillation column can handle batch distillation. Multiple components can be divided into separate receiver tanks in this location. When the distillation of one batch is finished, the column can be swiftly and efficiently employed for a completely new component mixture. This can also be a fully automated process.

Batch distillation is extremely susceptible to contamination. That’s because, after one distillation, a trace quantity of the previous batch can linger in the system, contaminating the next batch.

What is Continuous Distillation?

Continuous distillation is a continuous technique for separating components in a mixture. Until the distillation is finished, there will be no disruptions in this process. For separation, this method is quite efficient as with batch distillation, there are no limits to the volume of mixture utilized for separation.

When compared to batch distillation, continuous distillation is a more expensive procedure. Continuous distillation necessitates more distillation columns than batch distillation; the number of columns necessary for continuous distillation is N-1, where N is the number of components removed from the distillation.

Advantages of Continuous Distillation

Efficiency and quantity are the two key benefits of a continuous distillation process. The batch size is determined by the still pot size when batch distillation is used. This is not a limitation of continuous processes. Only the amount of upstream feed storage limits the processing capacity.

It’s always been about economies of scale when it comes to distillation. Stop squandering your potential earnings and start living a better life: the benefits and advantages of continuous distillation are well worth the investment.

A Continuous Distiller may be scaled up or down according to your present demands, giving you more flexibility as your distillery grows and finds popularity. Why restrict yourself to a batch kettle that will require more man-hours to run in order to achieve the same yield?

Batch and Continuous Distillation

The quality of the alcohol will be enhanced by using a still configuration. Because there is a bigger surface area for the vapour to form, a fractionating column on top of the distillation flask improves the alcohol significantly. Small subsystems in certain distillation apparatus will hold boiling liquid mixtures in separate plates.

The process of steam distillation is used to make heat-sensitive chemicals. Thanks to the steam control valve, the temperature of the steam allow for a fast rate of heat transfer without a high heat transfer. Some of the target compounds will vaporize, and the resulting vapour will be cooled and condensed. Steam distillation is a common method for those who want to make their own essential oils because the vapour usually has a coating of water and oil in it.

ALAQUA provides made in USA distillation equipment along with other processing equipment such as evaporator, crystallizer, solvent recovery among others. We have over 25 years of experience in supplying food grade, sanitary and ASME code to crystallizer, evaporator, distillation, spray dryer, and solvent recovery systems for environmental, food, chemical, beverages, food and pharmaceutical industries. Contact us today to know more about this processing equipment!

For more info please visit on site - https://www.alaquainc.com/

Spray Drying Process: Application and Feature | Alaqua Inc

Spray drying is a process that uses hot gas to quickly dry a liquid or slurry into a dry powder. Many thermally sensitive products, such as foods and pharmaceuticals, as well as those requiring extremely constant, tiny particle sizes, favor this type of drying. The heated drying medium is air; however, nitrogen is used instead of the liquid that is flammable, such as ethanol, or if the product is oxygen-sensitive. Alaqua is a spray dryer supplier as well as other processing equipment suppliers like evaporators, crystallizers, heat exchangers, distillation equipment, and solvent recovery systems.

A spray dryer takes a liquid stream and turns the solute or suspension into a solid while vaporizing the solvent. A drum or cyclone is commonly used to gather the solid. A nozzle sprays the liquid input stream into a hot vapor stream, which is then vaporized. As the moisture from the droplets evaporates, solids form. To maximize heat transfer and the rate of water vaporization, a nozzle is typically utilized to make the droplets as tiny as feasible. Depending on the nozzle, droplet sizes can vary from 20 to 180 m. There are two types of nozzles: single-fluid high-pressure nozzles and two-fluid nozzles, with one fluid being the liquid to dry and the other being compressed gas.

When compared to other drying technologies, spray dryers can dry a product quite quickly. They also convert a solution (or slurry) to a dried powder in one step, simplifying the process and increasing profit margins.

Spray drying is used in pharmaceutical manufacturing to uniformly disperse Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients into a polymer matrix, resulting in Amorphous Solid Dispensation. This state will raise the energy level of the active chemicals (drug), allowing for easier drug spice dispersion in the patient’s body.

Principle of Spray Drying Method

There are a variety of drying processes available, but spray drying is the most popular. It entails atomizing the liquid to be dried into tiny droplets in the drying chamber, allowing the droplets to come into direct contact with and mix with the hot gas of the drying medium to evaporate the water, and then collecting the water via gas-solid separation to obtain a powder or granular product. A solution, an emulsion, or a suspension, as well as a molten liquid or a paste, may be used as the raw material liquid. Air, nitrogen, or superheated steam can all be used for drying.

Applications of Spray Drying Method

The spray drying method is particularly popular among customers in the pharmaceutical and food industries because spray drying machines can meet the GMP criteria in both fields and provide superior results. It works well for drying and granulating Chinese and Western medications and foods. Granules made for tableting, capsule filling, granules, and solid drinks have strong disintegration, good fluidity, and fast solubility, and can be used directly for tableting, capsule filling, granules, and solid beverages.

In dye drying, the spray drying process is also used. Fine powder, super-fine powder, dust-free powder, and hollow granules can all be drily dyed using it. This procedure is divided into three groups:

• Airflow Atomization, which uses compressed air or water vapor to atomize the material liquid;
• Pressure Atomization, which uses a high-pressure pump to force the material liquid out of the nozzle at a high rate, resulting in a mist;
• Rotary Atomization, where the liquid material is introduced to the atomizer’s high-speed spinning disc (7000–28000r / min), then swiftly flung out and atomized. The dyestuff business prefers the third type, rotational atomization, because it has a good effect, takes little time, and has high labor productivity. However, it necessitates a significant capital investment and substantial energy usage.

Spray drying is an example of material drying technology that has been implemented in a systematic way. The moisture swiftly evaporates in contact with the heated air once the material is atomized in the drying chamber, resulting in the dried product. Evaporation and crushing can be avoided with this strategy. Quick heat transfer, short water evaporation, and quick drying time are all advantages of spray drying. It can speed up the dissolution of some formulations, making it ideal for heat-sensitive medications. Microcapsules can also be made by spray drying. FOr more info please visit on Site - www.alaquainc.com

Advantages of Spray Drying Method

• Process of rapid drying
• Drying materials directly into powder is possible.
• It’s simple to tweak product quality criteria and vary drying conditions.
• In the drying chamber, there is a slight negative pressure, which ensures hygienic conditions in the manufacturing process, prevents dust from blowing around the workshop and increases product purity.
• There are fewer operators and higher manufacturing efficiency.

High-quality products with a large production capacity Several hundred tonnes of spray can be applied in an hour.

Disadvantages of Spray Drying Method

• The machinery is complicated, covers a wide area, and demands a significant financial investment.
• A spray dryer and powder recovery system costs a lot of money.
• The heat consumption is significant and the thermal efficiency is low.