Marijuana Business Magazine March 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | March 2019 108 wanted to ensure its pump would not require costly repairs. “Downtime in the cannabis indus- try can be even more costly (than in oil and gas) … and delay is unaccept- able in an industry that’s moving so quickly, especially when you get into medical markets,” Sherlock said. Consequently, Vitalis’ pump system is modular: The technology can be readily and cheaply adapted simply by adding or removing sections. Further, Vitalis manufactures all its extraction equipment in-house, allowing it to quickly send replacement parts to domestic clients. The company also avoids customs delays by storing spare parts with overseas clients. Innovation Focus Manufacturing in-house also facilitates ongoing innovation, which Sherlock touts as even more important than the patent Vitalis holds on its pump system. “I think innovation is going to keep us at the top of this industry, not necessarily the patent,” he said. By way of example, he cites Vitalis’ development of a customized solution for a client that later became part of the company’s own pump system. “(The) client was looking to do a terpene pull before he did his supercritical extraction,” Sherlock said. “And he wanted to do that hyper- cold. Then he wanted to flip over and go into supercritical extraction. So, we designed a needle valve …which gave us really finite control. And that was something that worked exceptionally well. With his blessing, we built that into our standard equipment.” Pump R&D To meet tough health and safety regulations in the future, Vitalis Extraction Technology carefully researched and designed its CO 2 hydraulic pump system using input from extractors as well as oil and gas engineers. The patented, dual-piston pump is engineered to be able to operate continuously. Its separator system, also patented, relies on a condensing system that uses a refrigerant to “supercool” the CO 2 as it exits the separation vessels. Vitalis executives said this rapidly liquifies the CO 2 gas, enabling large volumes of cannabis to be processed in a short amount of time. Vitalis’ system also includes other features designed to facilitate documentation of operating parameters and replicating product with precision. Such features include customizable data tracking and pressure/ temperature controls that make it possible to isolate various compounds and accommodate different processing environments, including hot, cold, supercritical and subcritical. The company said these will help ensure the pump meets stiff regulatory standards in North America down the road. “Having that kind of control is going to give you … the consistency, in either your brand, for the recreational market, or for your medicine in a medicinal market,” Vitalis chair and co- founder Joel Sherlock said. “When you look at making products of varying regulation, (such features provide) ultimate flexibility.” – Celene Adams Vitalis hired engineers from the oil and gas industry to design its patented, dual-piston, hydraulic CO2 pump. Courtesy Photo Business Strategies | Ancillary