Equipment

The 2″ Wipe Film Evaporator Unit and 4″ Wiped Film Evaporator Unit is extremely effective and efficient for steam distillation of cannabis or short-path distillation of cannabis. These Units are today’s most popular starting points for producers of high grade THC and CBD concentrates. The Wiped Film Evaporator Unit is comprised of components carefully selected to provide the concentrate manufacturer with a complete optimized for cannabinoid work.
Package includes:

• The required heating items for evaporation, elevated temperature condensing, and keeping the viscous material Rowing.
• The chilling units for the external condenser and cold trap.
• Vacuum pump system with gauge, wiper drive speed controller.
• An assortment of spare receivers for product collection and sampling.
• Spare parts are also part of the package.
• The user of this THC and CBD distillation equipment can be up and running making high purity, high value product the same day the equipment is received!
• Versatility is also part of the package. In addition to the internal short path condenser for cannabinoid collection, an external condenser is also included for terpenes collection. A cold trap is also included to protect the vacuum pump. The body and internal condenser come apart for easier cleaning. The external condenser can also be utilized to provide the user with a continuous solvent evaporation system, substituting for a rotary evaporator. Stainless steel conversion kits, feed pumps and other items are also offered.
• Depending on several factors including initial plant quality, harvesting, extraction and other processing operations and techniques, plus product goals, distillation rates, yield and purity can vary. It is typical to make 2 passes through the system, the first for gas and volatiles removal, the second for cannabinoid distillation. However, some users perform a single pass and others may make 3 or more passes, depending on material and goals, (for example collecting various terpenes fractions). Feed rates with the 2″ Wipe Film Evaporator Unit normally range from 250 to 500 ml/hr or more and overall throughputs from 0.6 to 1.5 liters or more per an 8-10 hour day of feed material. Final total cannabinoid purities often range from 85 – 95%, with some reporting more than 96%.
• Other sizes include 4″ Wiped Film Evaporator Unit, similarly equipped, but with larger components and greater power and throughput. The 4″ Unit typically runs at 0.8 to 1.8 liters/hr and from 2 to 5 liters/day, the 6″ still at 1.6 to 3.6 liters/hr and 5 to 10 liters/day.
• We can also provide sourcing and acquire replacement components for these units as well as repair for existing equipment more cost effectively than having to purchase new equipment.

Wiped film distillation and short path distillation (molecular distillation) are thermal separation processes for thermally sensitive products. For certain wiping systems (fixed clearance) a wiped film evaporator is also called thin film evaporator. Short residence time and low evaporation temperature will cause minimal thermal stress to the distilled product and consequently a very gentle distillation. Typical applications are high molecular weight organic compounds particularly from the fields of chemistry, pharmaceutical, agro and food industry.

Generally different distillation processes are applied for a partial separation of product mixtures. The most important requirement for all distillation processes is the boiling point difference of the two fractions that have to be separated.

With wiped film and short path distillation, a substantial decrease of boiling temperature is obtained by reducing the operating pressure. It is a continuous process with very short residence time.

By this also, the thermal separation of products is possible which would be damaged due to the long residence times and high temperatures that have to be applied in other continuous (circulation, falling film or column distillation) or non-continuous (batch distillation with/without column) conventional distillation processes.

In wiped film and short path evaporators, the crude material is heated up on the internal surface of a heated tube. A special rotating wiping system inside the evaporator is generating a very thin and turbulent film on the heated surface. Out of the heated and thin film, the evaporation of the light boiling component takes place. The generated vapors are condensed on a condenser.

The position of the condenser is the main difference between wiped film (external condenser) and short path evaporators (internal condenser).