CDA 12A for Winterization: The Ultimate Guide

Do you need a cheaper, more efficient, and safe solvent for winterization? Then CDA 12A is the right product for you. 

The solution will save you money and extract top-tier cannabis oil. In addition, you won’t have to deal with the banality of writing the paperwork to acquire purchase permits as with ethanol.
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But what is CDA 12A? There are many rumors surrounding the product, and this article will help eliminate your doubts. So let’s dive right in.

What is CDA 12A?

People also refer to the solvent as the 710 solution. Companies manufacture CDA 12A by mixing food and beverage grade 200 proof alcohol with 4.6-5% N-Heptane to denature it. That process comes with many benefits, such as not requiring permits to buy or paying the high tax. Moreover, your company will avoid auditing by the FDA and USP.

The government imposes heavy taxation on ethanol to reduce the negative impact of alcoholism in society. CDA 12A became popular in cannabis extraction to circumvent the outrageous taxes associated with pure alcohol, which people ‌abuse. Because when companies debase the ethanol by adding impurities, it renders the 710 solution unsuitable for human consumption. 

How does the Cannabis Industry use CDA 12A?

Many cannabis businesses use CDA 12A as a solvent to extract cannabinoids (CBD, CBC, CBN) and terpenes. You can also use the 710 solution to sieve out impurities such as fats, waxes, and lipids from cannabis oil.

That standard measure leads to high quality and potent CBD oil used to make products such as tinctures, topicals, capsules, etc. And users can benefit tremendously in managing anxiety, depression, and pain when they consume those top-tier commodities.

Companies also use the 710 solution to clean and maintain high public health standards. The solvent’s disinfecting properties confer that hygienic benefit. In addition, pharmaceutical companies also use CDA 12A to manufacture drugs and supplements such as vitamins, hormones, and vaccines.

What Makes CDA 12A Better than Ethanol?

Companies are getting creative in their cannabis extraction procedures to save time, increase effectiveness, and reduce production costs. And one of those measures is the introduction of the CDA 12A solvent in the winterization process.

That solution serves as an alternative to ethanol, which is also commonly used for extraction. 

However, there are many hurdles in purchasing, storing, and using alcohol, such as:

1. You’ll pay a federal tax that amounts to $26.68 per gallon of alcohol.
2. You need to make punctual and tedious permit applications before purchasing ethanol.
3. You need a license to store ethyl alcohol.
4. You’ll incur storage limits issued by TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau).
5. You’ll have to update your records constantly in compliance with TTB.

You won’t experience such obstacles with CDA 12A, and in stark contrast, you’ll experience benefits such as:

1. You won’t have to pay any federal tax.
2. You won’t have to write any permit applications to purchase ethanol.
3. CDA 12A doesn’t have any storage limits from TTB.
4. CDA 12A doesn’t have compliance protocols required by TTB.

How is CDA 12A Used for Winterization?

Winterization involves mixing cannabis crude oil with CDA 12A at cold temperatures (-20C - 80C). Therefore, you should use chillers, dry ice, or chest freezers to maintain the sub-zero temperatures. That procedure allows the impurities to float on the surface, thus facilitating easy filtration. 

In the last step, you ‌filter out the unwanted substances using filter paper and a vacuum. Small-scale companies use Buchner filters. But you need high-volume filter media cartridges and lenticular hoses for a large-scale company. 

Pay attention to the temperatures of the filter apparatus to ensure the waxes don’t dissolve back into the crude oil. Failure to perform that step correctly will lead to an impure, low-value product, causing you to incur losses.

Small scale companies can filter out the cannabis crude oil as many times as possible to increase the quality of the product. However, that measure is disadvantageous to large-scale companies, as the process is time, money, and energy-consuming. 

Conclusion

Winterization is an extraction technique that precipitates and filters out fats, lipids, and waxes from the cannabis crude oil. The process requires a polar solvent, such as ethanol, or a cheaper solution, such as CDA 12A.
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You’ll get a high-value, potent product that satisfies your customers when you use CDA 12A for winterization. Moreover, you’ll save money when you purchase the denatured solvent. And you won’t have to deal with the permit paperwork as required by the TTB.