Equipment and method for continuously processing plant material

Abstract

Cannabinoids can be separated or extracted from plant material. Versions can include a process for separating trichomes from plant material, including mixing plant material with a fluid in a metered feed system and forming a slurry; pumping the slurry into a turbulent processor, agitating the slurry between rotating and static teeth and shearing trichomes from the plant material to form a mixture of fluid, trichomes and plant material; coarse filtering the mixture and removing portions of the plant material to form an interim mixture; and then second filtering the interim mixture and removing other plant material and some trichomes to form a resulting mixture comprising other trichomes and fluid.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for separating plant subcomponents from plant material, the system comprising:
 a feed system configured to mix the plant material with a fluid to form a slurry;   a turbulent processor including a pump configured to pump the slurry while providing a shear mixing environment; and   the turbulent processor including a shear blender downstream from the pump and configured to receive and agitate the slurry between rotating and static teeth and shear the plant subcomponents from the plant material to form a mixture of the fluid, the plant subcomponents and the plant material.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the pump configured to pump the slurry while providing the shear mixing environment is a liquid ring pump having a turbulent internal mechanism configured to remove the plant subcomponents from the plant material in addition to moving the slurry, the turbulent internal mechanism including a spinning off-center blade ring rotatable within a ring of the fluid configured to pull the slurry and circulate the slurry as a high solids mixture including the plant subcomponents. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the pump configured to pump the slurry while providing the shear mixing environment is a sinusoidal pump having an inlet receiving the slurry into a housing containing a sinusoidal rotor rotated on a shaft to define four evenly sized chambers, the sinusoidal pump is configured to pull the slurry into each chamber in sequence before discharging a high solids mixture from an outlet of the housing. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a coarse filter configured to remove some portions of the plant material from the mixture to form an interim mixture; and   a second filter configured to remove other portions of the plant material from the interim mixture to form a resultant mixture comprising the fluid and the plant subcomponents.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising at least one medium filter having a filter size and position between the coarse filter and the second filter, and configured to filter the interim mixture with the at least one medium filter prior to pumping the interim mixture through the second filter. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the feed system is a metered feed system, the system further including pipes from at least one of the coarse filter and the second filter to the metered feed system for routing at least one of the interim mixture from the coarse filter and the resultant mixture from the second filter back to the metered feed system for continued processing and reuse. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the plant subcomponents are trichomes and the system further comprises a liquid spray system configured to comprise an additional fluid and configured to move the mixture through the coarse filter with the additional fluid. 
     
     
         8 . A system for separating plant subcomponents from plant material, the system comprising:
 a metered feed system configured to mix the plant material with a fluid to form a slurry; and   a turbulent processor including a shear blender and configured to receive and agitate the slurry between rotating and static teeth and shear the plant subcomponents from the plant material to form a mixture of the fluid, the plant subcomponents and the plant material, the rotating and static teeth defining a prescribed clearance therebetween configured to allow the plant subcomponents to pass through without damage.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the plant subcomponents are trichomes and the prescribed clearance is in a range of approximately 0.1 millimeters to approximately 1 millimeter. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , further including a diaphragm valve disposed downstream of the shear blender to create backpressure to slow the mixture of the fluid, the plant subcomponents and the plant material through the shear blender. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , further including a coarse filter configured to remove some of the plant material from the mixture to form an interim mixture. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further including a second filter configured to remove other plant material from the interim mixture and form a resultant mixture comprising the fluid and the plant subcomponents. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising at least one medium filter having a filter size and position between the coarse filter and the second filter, and configured to filter the interim mixture with the at least one medium filter prior to pumping the interim mixture through the second filter. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising a liquid spray system configured to comprise an additional fluid and configured to move the mixture through the coarse filter with the additional fluid. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising at least one additional shear blender configured to be coupled between the shear blender and the coarse filter and configured to process the mixture through the at least one additional shear blender prior to coarse filtering. 
     
     
         16 . A system for extracting botanicals from plant material, the system comprising:
 a hopper configured to mix the plant material with a solvent to form a slurry;   a turbulent processor configured to receive and agitate the slurry to extract the botanicals from the plant material to form a mixture of solvent, plant subcomponents, the plant material, and dissolved botanicals, the rotating and static teeth defining a prescribed clearance therebetween configured to allow the plant subcomponents to pass through without damage.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a coarse filter configured to remove some portions of the plant material from the mixture to form an interim mixture of the solvent, other plant material and the dissolved botanicals;   a second filter configured to remove other portions of the plant material from the some portions of the plant material to form a solution comprising substantially only the solvent and the dissolved botanicals; and   equipment configured to process the mixture to remove the dissolved botanicals from the solvent.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising at least one pump configured to be coupled upstream from the coarse filter and configured to process the mixture prior to coarse filtering. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the second filter comprises a separator and the interim mixture from the coarse filter comprises a grade a tincture and the solution comprising substantially only the solvent and the dissolved botanicals comprises a grade b tincture. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the plant subcomponents are trichomes and the botanicals are cannabinoids and the solvent is configured to comprise ethanol and at least one additive.