Question regarding the ethyl acetate washing for reuse in CIELO TEK

[BlackRose]

Hey everyone,

I recently did my first two attempts on the CIELO TEK and used up all my ethyl acetate. I know wanted to wash it to perform another extraction.

I followed the TEK instructions and washed it with 1/5 volume saturated sodium carbonate water.

Some questions came up during this process. It is mentioned that I can check the pH to verify the success of the wash. What pH am I aiming for? I am currently somewhere around 6. Is this too acidic and should I do another wash?

The separated water layer has some precipitate in it. I did two separate washes. One was frozen and then decanted through a coffee filter. The water looks slimy and has some sort of needle like crystals in it. Is this left over carbonate/citrate?
The second wash was not frozen and the water layer is clear but with lots of crystal precipitate looking like citric acid. Is this normal?

Also my washed ethyl acetate has become very cloudy and I can't see through it at all. I tried filtering through a coffee filter but nothing gets filtered out. It does not seem like I could reuse that ethyl acetate for another extraction. Should I do more washes?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Loveall]

Congrats BlackRose ️

Your work and reports are a great contribution. I think it confirms that when pulling in a warm environment EA may pick up too much water and subsequently goo forms. Also, temperature fluctuations where xtalization is colder than pulling could cause water to drop out of EA and form goo.

This temperature sensitivity could be one of the reasons why some people would get goo. The rest of us working with a colder/more controlled temperarure could not reproduce it.

Other issues could arise of course (e.g. squeezing to hard and pushing water out with the french press, innactive starting material, starting paste too whet, etc).

Bottom line: the fridge rest step should make the TEK more robust. It is now part of the standard TEK. Thanks again for your contributions and enjoy the fruits of your labor

 

[BlackRose]

Congrats BlackRose ️

Your work and reports are a great contribution. I think it confirms that when pulling in a warm environment EA may pick up too much water and subsequently goo forms. Also, temperature fluctuations where xtalization is colder than pulling could cause water to drop out of EA and form goo.

This temperature sensitivity could be one of the reasons why some people would get goo. The rest of us working on a colder/more controlled temperarure could not reproduce it.

Other issues could arise of course (e.g. squeezing to hard and pushing water out with the french press, innactive starting material, starting paste too whet, etc).

Bottom line: the fridge rest step should make the TEK more robust. It is now part of the standard TEK. Thanks again for your contributions and enjoy the fruits of your labor

Thank you very much. I am happy to have helped.

I think your theory makes very much sense. My second jar that I salted at room temperature now started crystallising too. I will also salt the last jar now and not dry with K2CO3.

I will most certainly enjoy my crystals soon.
Thank you for the amazing TEK and the great help.