Why United Bio Freeze switched from traditional drying methods to flash freezing their hemp harvest
{Sponsored} “Freezing industrial hemp using a cryogenic liquid-nitrogen system offered a cost-effective, faster alternative to traditional methods of drying and storing. Plus it retained more of the valuable cannabinoid compounds in the hemp product.” Kellan Goertemiller, United Bio Freeze co-owner and chief technologist
Case Study: United Bio Freeze (UBF) has been growing and harvesting hemp since 2018. After several harvests they quickly realized that the labor-intensive drying and storage process after harvesting hemp was costing them valuable time, quality and yield of product, and ultimately loss of profit. Talking with fellow hemp growers in the region, they found this was a common challenge. Each was struggling with process inefficiencies due to mold or aerial contamination resulting in crop loss.
To solve the issue, UBF contacted Air Products, a leader in the field of cryogenic freezing technology and industrial gas supply. Air Products recommendation: Flash freezing with cryogenic liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze fresh hemp straight from UBF’s growing fields. This would avoid the laborious, time-consuming drying process and potential loss of the hemp’s valuable chemical compounds. The process was easy to execute with little capital expenditures. Using Air Products mobile cryogenic freezing test chamber, a portion of UBF’s crop was flash frozen and bagged in super sacks for long-term frozen storage at a nearby cold storage facility. The long-term storage space needed was substantially smaller than the square footage required for the traditional drying process. When stored in cold storage after flash freezing, the hemp’s delicate trichomes remain intact and its strong odor is minimized thus preventing complaints or issues from nearby occupants.
Goertemiller reported that “With traditional hang drying methods, on average we have seen 2-4% loss due to all the handling that occurs both to hang the hemp and later removing it to strip and bag. Big losses also occur handling it after it’s dry. Heated drying would be orders of magnitude more in losses. Additionally, the biomass continues to degrade over time if processing is delayed or as material is drying to a suitable moisture level for storage.”
With flash freezing, the speed and minimized handling of the material has provided an advantage for their end product and the overall efficiency of their hemp operation. Goertemiller found clear advantages of flash freezing vs. standard drying stating “the flash frozen hemp can be removed from storage and is ready for extraction by any lab or processor with the ability to later remove water from finished concentrate. Typically, this is completed at the lab level using rotary vaps or falling film to remove any water.”
Based on this success, UBF will continue to use flash freezing for their future harvests using an Air Products Freshline®IQ tunnel freezer using liquid nitrogen to efficiently process their hemp and lock in the rich chemical content of their end product. UBF and Air Products will continue collaborating conducting additional studies using cryogenics to enhance hemp quality and yield.
Download Full Case Study (PDF):
Why United Bio Freeze switched from traditional drying methods to flash freezing their hemp harvest
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