Emulsion =/

[wagal5689258]

SWIM was doing a STB extraction using a ratio of 1g MHRB:1g NaOH: 15mL distilled water. Her First pull went perfectly using 100mL of VM&P naphtha. She washed this pull twice with a solution of sodium carbonate, the with water. She ended up with some crystal clear DMT infused naphtha. For her next pull she used 100mL of naphtha, she mixed it more this time than the previous by turning end over end and rolling. Emulsion was never formed, but the NPS layer seemed cloudy, she stay positive and hoped it was just packed with DMT. When she pulled this it had a slightly brown/red tint to it. She washed it once with a sodium carbonate solution but something strange happened it took about 10 minutes for it to separte into two layer (one of NPS and the other of sodium carbonate solution), she then proceeded to washed a second time with a different sodium carbonate solution, but this time the entire solution emulsified and never settled even after two day + adding light heat. She is wondering why this happened. She told me she thing she used to much sodium carbonate solution to wash it. She said that on her third pull she used as little as possible washing solution and things went fine but the naphtha stayed a clear yellow.

So she is wondering what went wrong one the second pull and also why her first pull was crystal clear and the later pulls were a bright clear yellow.

 

[E-Z]

Well the second pull might have been pulled before the solution could settle, or a little bit of plant material could have gotten in. The 3rd pull is perfectly normal, each pull takes out more of the DMT. So by the third since most of the dmt has been extracted (still a good amount left) you begin to pull plant fats and other materials. Its still safe but it looks a little different because it contains other things.

 

[Turk22]

My recommendation would be to simply add the sodium bicarbonate for the first pull and none of the second two. Roll your containment vessel to fix contents (seperatory funnel/McGiver'd device) rather than shake viscously if the problem persists. SWIM has no experience with a straight to base extraction, however SWIM cannot see any other problems if you follow the procedure properly. The comment above me is absolutely right. Add a de-fat step if you wish.. I recommend it. Good luck !

 

[wagal5689258]

Well the second pull might have been pulled before the solution could settle, or a little bit of plant material could have gotten in. The 3rd pull is perfectly normal, each pull takes out more of the DMT. So by the third since most of the dmt has been extracted (still a good amount left) you begin to pull plant fats and other materials. Its still safe but it looks a little different because it contains other things.

so your saying that a little bit of plant material in the pulled NPS caused the inseparable emulsion when washed with the sodium carb solution? I thought that was the point of the wash to remove the left over minimal amounts of plant material and lye?

 

[E-Z]

It probably didn't cause the fact it was inseparable. However it is most likely the reason the spice is brownish. Ideally the wash should have removed all the material, however since its plant material it is much harder to remove then lye (liquid). Generally speaking slightly brown dmt is safe to smoke although it's not recommended.

 

[RayOfLight]

although the 1 : 1 ratio of bark to lye is recommended I've always found it better to add more lye than bark. My last extraction I was having problems with an emulsion so I actually doubled the lye , I'm sure that was over kill but I wanted to make sure my emulsion would be gone. the longer your basified bark sits the more the plant material breaks down and more plant oils are pulled along with the dmt. clear yellow is ok and lots of people actually like a more yellow or orange spice as opposed to pure white DMT. what you want to avoid is having any basified bark particles in your naptha, this is avoided by adding sufficient lye

I think your problem with the sodium carbonate wash is from not having a high enough sodium carbonate to water ratio

my rule of thumb .. when in doubt base it right out .