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A/B extraction questions

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Honzi

Honzi

Rising Star
Hi guys

I've got a couple of questions if someone can help me please..? I've done about 20 extractions from Acacia Confusa and have had some great success with the quality and purity but I never quite get the yield others are talking about. For example, I typically get 0.7g from 6 pulls of 100g of ACRB. I usually do another few pulls later so let's say 1g before I call the bark depleted and get rid of the basic soup. I use Earthwalkers A/B tek with the backsalting step and I follow it to the letter so I I'd say the problem is in my source of bark (bought online in Australia).
Even with my no so great yield I'd like to make a larger extraction so that I don't have to do this every month (1g usually lasts me a month). I'm also considering using using phosphoric acid instead of vinegar..

I like the purity of the Earthwalkers tek but do you think it is practical for larger amount of bark like 500g or 1kg? It could be done I guess if one has large enough glass bottles but I can already foresee the pitfalls of it.
Would it be better to do a simple extraction, say CYB's tek and then reX to clean up the spice?

Do you think that using phosphoric acid is much better then vinegar? I'm only considering this because my yield is about 1/2 of what it should be based on the reports from others and I thought that maybe a more powerful acid could produce better results breaking up the root bark.

Earthwalkers tek is written with 100g ACRB. If I want to use more, say 200g do I just scale up the ingredients (ACRB, lye, naphta, salt, water, acid) or am i missing something?

Thanks a lot for any comments.
 
Yes you can scale up most teks.
Sometimes you can get away with using more concentrated solutions as you scale up, ie smaller relative volumes. But you run the risk of problems such as emulsions. Only one way to find out.....
With regard to acids, I doubt that will make much difference. I wouldn't bother pursuing his variable.

If you are wondering where the rest of the yield is, can I suggest an experiment.
After you have done your extractions with your usual non polar (I imagine you're using shellite), then do three more with toluene or xylene. Work this up separately and see if there was much in the xylene extracts. If there is very little, then the culprit is likely the bark.

Happy experimenting!
 
Hey leratiomyces, thanks for your reply. OK, won't bother with phosphoric acid atm. Yes, I have made the mistake of scaling up once and ended up with an emulsion I couldn't break. To make things worse I invented a mixer made of a drill and a wooden spoon held in the vice with the glass bottle below. I thought it was the best invention ever until the soup became so thick the Shellite wouldn't separate:)))

I have tried a Xylene pull once in the end and ended up with some extra 300mg or so of goo which was a good product but I didn't repeat it as Xylene stinks like a serious chemical and took ages to evaporate.

Ordered some bark today and will extract using Eartwalkers tek with 2 glass bottles at the same time to double the yield. The online source is my only option at the moment until I crack the Acacia code and find A. Longifolia or A.Floribunda locally and harvest a bit of bark.
 
Hey leratiomyces, thanks for your reply. OK, won't bother with phosphoric acid atm. Yes, I have made the mistake of scaling up once and ended up with an emulsion I couldn't break. To make things worse I invented a mixer made of a drill and a wooden spoon held in the vice with the glass bottle below. I thought it was the best invention ever until the soup became so thick the Shellite wouldn't separate:)))

I have tried a Xylene pull once in the end and ended up with some extra 300mg or so of goo which was a good product but I didn't repeat it as Xylene stinks like a serious chemical and took ages to evaporate.

Ordered some bark today and will extract using Eartwalkers tek with 2 glass bottles at the same time to double the yield. The online source is my only option at the moment until I crack the Acacia code and find A. Longifolia or A.Floribunda locally and harvest a bit of bark.

By any chance, could someone identify the tree in the pic?
 

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When scaling up, increase the volumes accordingly, and you shouldn't have a problem with emulsions.
Acrb has good alkaloid content, and I doubt very much you will find any longifolia or floribunda that is higher.

Cracking the code - plant your own trees yesterday. Investigate growing narrow phyllode acuminata, simplex or courtii.
In the meantime look for obtusifolia that gets uprooted in wild weather.

Big difference in the solubility of dmt in xylene vs shellite.
So using xylene removes the uncertainty of leaving alkaloids behind in the extraction.
Just a suggestion.
 
Alright then, I will give Xylene another go in a few days when the bark arrives. Thanks for the info on the trees. There is a lot to learn. I joined a bush regeneration group recently and one of the older guys there knows a lot about acacias so I'm getting closer to cracking the code I think;-)
 
Yeah, i have seen it, thanks. It is very detailed and helpful. I’ve got no excuses but I haven’t been yet able to identify the trees when outside in the bush. I’m still relatively new to this and will get better in time. We’ve even moved to be completely surrounded by the trees so I have every chance for more exploration. That’s why I joined the bush restoration group too. To give something back while I follow my sneaky agenda learning about the wattles:))
Once shown in the nature I will be able to recognise them but If I have to identify them myself it will take a little more time possibly waiting for them to flower etc.
 
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