Hemp Drying Equipment
Hemp Drying Equipment is essential to handling the massive volumes of hemp biomass produced by large scale hemp farms.
CBD Hemp Drying Equipment
Hemp Drying is the most important part of post-harvest processing medicinal hemp when preparing for CBD oil extraction.
Traditionally, medicinal cannabis has been dried by hanging in climate controlled rooms, or on shelves, to ensure that drying occurs thoroughly with minimal loss of therapeutic components such as cannabinoids and terpenes.
In contrast, industrial hemp was traditionally harvested and allowed to dry on the ground to allow fibres to soften before processing.
Because CBD is medicine, hemp must be handled as a medicinal product following GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Products) appropriate to medicinal plants.
This rules out field drying for most growers. As a result most early farmers dried their hemp in large sheds or barns using fans or air conditioning units to control temperature, airflow and humidity.
Hemp Drying Machine and processing equipment pictured alongside traditional hang drying of harvested hemp. In this facility, loaded onto the dryer directly after intake, and then any overflow is hung up to dry until the machine can take more.
Hemp Drying Systems
As hemp operations have scaled the demand for large scale efficient drying systems that do not damage the valuable crop has grown.
These hemp drying systems can either operate as batch dryers or continuous dryers.
Batch hemp dryers hang or lay flat a batch of product at a time, and the dried product is removed and replaced.
Continuous dyers feature a conveyor belt which takes in new material continuously and outputs the dried material on another conveyor. This allows high throughput up to 500 kg per hour.
Mesh Belt Hemp Drying Machines
One excellent option for large scale operations is a mesh belt hemp drying machine. This is a continuous continuous drying system which can easily handle 1000s of kg of hemp per day.
Preserving Terpenes and Cannabinoids during Hemp Drying
Hemp drying requires a delicate approach. The hemp should be dried as quickly as possible while minimising damage and handling.
This requires some heat, a lot of air flow, and regular turning to ensure even drying.
Importantly, hemp dryers should use warm dry air, not hot air, to dry the product slowly and evenly to prevent damage or combustion.
Pricing is often more affordable than building similar size sheds and the units can handle the massive surge in wet product that comes with a seasonal harvest.
The equipment used is widespread in foods and medicinal plants, so parts and service are not an issue.
Hemp Drying Equipment Enquiry
Do you need new hemp drying equipment. We work with clients to design and build their hemp processing facilities including supplying large scale drying equipment.
These systems are pleasantly affordable (unlike so many things in the cannabis industry) and are in use across the USA and internationally for hemp and medicinal plants.
Please complete the project enquiry below if you wish to enquire about hemp drying systems.