Lavender Molecular Fractional Distillation Tower High Vacuum With Volatile Components

Stainless Steel 316 Molecular Distillation Equipment for CBD / THC / Hemp oi l/ Cannabissativa

—— Operation

Feed liquid is admitted into still under high vacuum, immediately spread into a very thin film and forced quickly down the evaporation surface. Heated walls and high vacuum drive the more volatile components (distillate) to the external condenser as the less volatile components (residue) continue down the cylinder. The resulting fractions, thus separated, exit through individual discharge outlets. Depending on application, the desired product is either the distillate or the residue fraction. Small amounts of condensable low MW compounds collect in cold trap upstream of vacuum system. For high solvent loads, an optional external condenser may be installed immediately downstream of the still.

Molecular distillation is a type of short-path vacuum distillation, characterized by an extremely low vacuum pressure, 0.01 torr or below.It is a process of separation, purification and concentration of natural products, complex and thermally sensitive molecules for example vitamins and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This process is characterized by short term exposure of the distillate liquid to high temperatures in high vacuum (around 10−4 mmHg) in the distillation column and a small distance between the evaporator and the condenser around 2 cm.In molecular distillation, fluids are in the free molecular flow regime, i.e. the mean free path of molecules is comparable to the size of the equipment.The gaseous phase no longer exerts significant pressure on the substance to be evaporated, and consequently, rate of evaporation no longer depends on pressure. The motion of molecules is in the line of sight, because they do not form a continuous gas anymore. Thus, a short path between the hot surface and the cold surface is necessary, typically by suspending a hot plate covered with a film of feed next to a cold plate with a line of sight in between.

This process has the advantages of avoiding the problem of toxicity that occurs in techniques that use solvents as the separating agent, and also of minimizing losses due to thermal decomposition. and can be used in a continuous feed process to harvest distillate without having to break vacuum.