The green rush Leybold pumps are at the heart of cannabis processing
December 4, 2019
3 MIN READ
The CBD industry is projected to reach at least $22 billion in the next two to three years. So there's no wonder why it's being called the Green Rush. What part will you play in this booming industry?
Any consumable in the hemp and cannabis industries, if it's not a raw flour or a ground up plant material, has to go through an extraction and refining process.
Meet APTIA engineering, a cannabis equipment manufacturer
Our customer, APTIA Engineering, doesn't actually make any consumable cannabis product for end users. However, they play a pivotal role as an equipment manufacturer for the extraction of plant and cannabis flower oils. Watch the video below and find out more about APTIA Engineering, and how Leybold vacuum pumps helped them increase their client profit margins by 10–20%.
The demand is so great in this industry, that processes need to be running for 24 hours a day just to meet regular production. APTIA actively supports clients who are racing towards 10 to 20 tons a day! A manufacturer may be moving $50–$75,000 worth of product through the extraction process every hour.
To put it simply, downtime is not an option.
Vacuum pumps are the most critical component in the wiped-film distillation equipment. Vacuum is the beating heart of the system, and it must be a highly reliable pump. When you're working with deep vacuum distillation, it's critical to not only hit, but also hold your target. This immediately disqualifies a lot of pumps that will fluctuate in performance due to factors like maintenance, general upkeep, and unreliability. With all of this in mind, APTIA selected Leybold as their vacuum pump provider.
Why APTIA prefers working with leybold
TAPTIA knew Leybold as a recognized brand that builds reliable products. Leadership from APTIA shared that Leybold does a great job when it comes to product support and technical product information. Through an ongoing working relationship with Leybold, APTIA has developed a system that not only works very well, but also a system they are confident in.
The Leybold pumps that are critical to the process are the VARODRY vacuum pump as well as a Leybold turbo molecular pump. The turbo pump requires additional cold traps and other hardware. This combination is the basis of the wiped-film distillation skid. APTIA works with Leybold because they are able to reach out to an engineering product manager for any type of vacuum pump or product. What’s more, they also receive technical support from an expert who's not only been on the Leybold engineering team and engineering design team for that particular equipment, but has also worked with that product in the field for a number of years.
There is a lot of excitement about being in this space, specifically the "Green Rush" hemp CBD space. As an engineering firm, APTIA can provide huge efficiency increases through the implementation of Leybold equipment. There are not many sectors in which an engineering firm can come in and provide a one to two hundred percent improvement on processes.
Profits increase 10–20%. It's a huge opportunity across the board for APTIA to provide equipment and for our equipment purchasers to have a more profitable business.
How you can take advantage of the green rush
If you are processing cannabis sativa in marijuana grade or in hemp grade, you are sure to encounter a number of steps that require vacuum in order to get a good product. In some cases, you want to keep the terpene cocktail that your strain of cannabis has, in other cases, you want all aromatics removed. In both scenarios, you will be using vacuum pumps as a critical component to your production of oils.
