Understanding Short-Path Distillation: How PolyScience Is Redefining Cannabis Extraction

For the ultimate in cannabis product purity, short-path distillation is what the extraction industry is looking to and starting to rely on. Industry leaders like Summit Research are forging ahead with this process and showing others in the field how it’s done.

Summit CEO Elliot Kremerman explains: “So, short-path distillation is almost the end of the line in cannabis product manufacturing. We have basic manufacturing of extracts and then we have distillation, and then you have chromatography and high-end analytics which tend to also have to go back into distillation afterwards.”

Short-path distillation

Short-path distillation represents a level of purity in the extraction industry that had not been seen until recently.

This process is allowing companies like Summit to deliver top-of-the-line products to the cannabis industry. As Kremerman tells us, “when manufacturers were making product a couple years ago, they were not aware of how clean you can make a product. So, in the process of distillation and even in chromatography and redistilling the product for purification, we can remove a lot of the inactive compounds that serve you no therapeutic purpose.

When you’re eating cannabis or consuming dirty cannabis, there are parts of it that are therapeutic like the cannabinoids. And then there’s parts of the plant matter that’s dissolved like fats, waxes, proteins, lots of numerous things including bad flavor. You can remove that and create a flavorless product that’s very high in purity and actually clean and safe to consume.”

Summit doesn’t get here alone though. It takes sophisticated, highly calibrated components to allow them to reach the level of purity that they are obtaining. This is where the highly specialized design team at PolyScience comes in.

PolyScience manufactures American-made chillers that Summit uses in their distillation process. Kremerman touts them as “the heaviest-duty chillers you can get.” He proudly claims customers can use PolyScience chillers for years before having to recharge and if there is a (rarely heard of) issue, PolyScience has domestically based customer service that can immediately address issues, quite simply if your chiller is down, you’re not making money.

PolyScience president Philip Preston echoes this sentiment by saying: “Short-path distillation has been shown to be an excellent solution in providing the maximum yield of the highest quality product. And so, we’ve worked very closely with manufacturers in this industry and listened to what they had to say.” Preston understands his company’s role within the cannabis industry.

They have been manufacturing quality temperature control products for five decades and specifically the cannabis industry for the over a decade. While initially reluctant to serve the fledgling industry, Preston has come to embrace PolyScience’s role in supporting manufacturers of various cannabis products because he knows the technology he offers can help to improve the lives of people who have turned to medical cannabis for relief from various ailments.

“The cannabis industry has recognized that the PolyScience product offers the quality necessary for them to get the highest quality product, get the maximum yield, and also minimize downtime, which if your chillers are down, you’re not producing product, which could be an extremely costly failure,” says Preston. “If your chiller is down, you’re not making money. So, people have really come to rely on PolyScience as a reliable solution that will maximize your yield and also keep your system up and running.”

When it comes to short-path distillation, PolyScience and Summit Research have made industry changing strides in the production of high-quality extracts.