Air Products to Talk Industrial Hemp Market in Emerging Technologies Panel at the Pennsylvania Hemp Summit

Air Products (NYSE:APD) will participate in this year’s virtual Pennsylvania Hemp Summit on Dec. 8 and 9.

Michael Himes, of Air Products’ Merchant Research and Development team, and Timothy Lebrecht, Air Products’ Industry Manager - Chemical Process Industries and Cryogenics, will take part in a panel discussion on “Exploring Emerging Technologies, Research and Product Development Opportunities.” They will be joined on the panel by Sairam Rudrabhatla, Ph.D., of Penn State Harrisburg, and Dozie Mbonu of Jarette’s Eco-Friendly Fungi. Mark Gignac, of the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research, will serve as moderator. 

The panel discussion will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 8. To register for the summit and watch the panel, visit: https://teampa.com/pahempsummit/hemp-summit-registration/.

“Our experience and advanced cryogenic technology have provided game-changing solutions for those in the biotech and food industries, and we look forward to collaborating with those in the industrial hemp* industry to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their processes,” said Lebrecht.

Air Products is collaborating with a professor at the University of Virginia on research studying the benefits of cryogenic freezing on cannabinoids found in industrial hemp, from the time of harvest through extraction and final processing.

In the fast-growing industrial hemp market, industrial gases can play an important role in growing, harvesting, processing, extraction and packaging. There are several ways industrial gases and freezing can help, including:

• Harvesting – Flash freezing freshly-harvested industrial hemp with liquid nitrogen prior to storage in an Air Products Freshline® IQ  Freezer can help prevent biomass degradation or mold while locking in the chemical content.

• Processing – During the biomass material preparation process, adding liquid nitrogen to the mill when grinding can eliminate heat and subsequent oil stickiness that causes machine clogging and downtime. Pre-cooling biomass prior to entering extraction using a PolarFit® Cryogenic Cooling Conveyor provides an ideal means of temperature control.

• Extraction – For ethanol extraction, the ultracold properties of liquid nitrogen can be used to achieve and maintain temperatures in the less than -80⁰C range as a cost effective and efficient means of precise extraction.

• Packaging – Dosing the final product with a small amount of liquid nitrogen can serve as a protective layer from oxidation or moisture, effectively blanketing the oils and enhancing quality and shelf-life.

• Inerting/Blanketing – When working with flammable materials or to keep cannabidiol (CBD) product fresh, using a nitrogen blanketing system is a best practice for safety and quality. Keeping oils free from moisture and oxygen via nitrogen blanketing can also extend shelf-life.

As a global leader in industrial gases and cryogenic technology applications, Air Products has the experience and technical know-how to help biotech, food, and chemical processors address some of their toughest challenges through low temperature, fast-freezing. With cryogenics laboratories located in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Air Products can test a customer’s product on commercial-scale equipment to determine the feasibility of using cryogenic freezing or chilling for their specific process.

The Pennsylvania Hemp Summit was organized by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Team Pennsylvania to increase the commonwealth’s shared knowledge and resources in order to inspire innovative investments and to form transformative partnerships in the industry.

*Air Products will only sell to customers in the industrial hemp market who can show compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations.