Large premium stills up to 60 liters of plant space optimized for essential oils

Construction

1. Boiler with ball valve and diffuser for steam introduction, volume 25 liters. If the boiler is initially to be heated directly, the above Extra volume in the boiler cannot be used. The maximum water capacity is then around 15 liters. The boiler must then be heated with at least 15 kW.
2. Lower plant basket with large opening ratio, 12 liters. The collapsible sieve 18 can be inserted for heavily crushed drugs. However, this should be avoided if possible, so as not to disturb the steam dynamics. In general, finer cuts can also be filled into the basket because the herbs interlock with each other. The plant parts that fall through at the beginning can be caught and refilled at the top.
   1. Fixed stainless steel analog thermometer 0 -120 ° C, accuracy class 1 - easy to read.

   •    or with a fine sieve 

3. Plant box extension without bottom, 12 liters. The plant can also be operated for smaller margins without this extension. The fasteners are adjustable for this purpose.Up to 3 extension units of fresh plant material and 3 extension units of dried plant material can be used.
   • ​​

4. Second plant basket extension without bottom, 12 liters.

5. Third plant basket extension without bottom, 12 liters.

   

6. Spherical helmet.
   1. Screw connection (6.1) for the riser (7).
   2. Another stainless steel analog thermometer 0 -120 ° C  to get temperature on the top.
   • ​​​​

     
     Der komplette Destilliertopf

     

7. Isolated riser.

   1. Screw nipple for screwing with 6.1, 1".

   2. Screw connection for the precondensor 8, 3/4".

   • 

8. Pre-condenser for condensing the steam-oil mixture. Cooling length at least 120 cm.

   1. Screw connection to 7.2, 3/4”. In this thread, the inclination of the long leg is adjusted by turning so that it can be continuously connected to the high-performance cooler 9. The tripod tube 11 is pushed through the cross sleeve 12 to support it and fixed with the wing screw.

   2. Double tube with 28 mm outer tube and 22 mm inner tube. Cooling water flows countercurrently between the two pipes and thus absorbs heat. Most of the distillation vapor is liquefied in the core tube, so that the volume is reduced.

   3. Cooling water inlet from the cooling water outlet 9.4 of the main cooler via the hose 15.  Here, the cooling water coming from the main cooler is introduced.

   4. Screw nipple for draining the hot radiator waste water via one of the hoses item 16.

   5.  

      Screw nipple for the screw connection of the high-performance cooler (9.), 1/2".

      

       

9. High-performance countercurrent cooler for cooling the pre-condensed hydrolate, stretched over around 6 m length, with

   1. Screw connection for connection 8.5, 1/2".

   2. Double tube, outside jacket tube 22 mm outside and inside core with 15 mm outside.

   3. Cooling water supply via one of the hoses 16, 1/2”.

   4. Cooling water outlet for connection to 8.3 via hose 17.

   5. Distillate outlet, attaching the distillate hose 18.

      .

      

10. 3 tripod tubes for stable mounting of the high-performance cooler. The stand tubes are pushed through the cross sleeves 12.1 attached to the cooler and fixed with the wing screws. The cooler is set up in such a way that the spiral windings have a gradient everywhere. The fact that the stand tubes can be tilted and rotated as well as continuously changed in height means that the height of the cooler can be adjusted over a wide range and set up as required. This means that the system can also be set up directly in the harvest field on terrain with uneven ground.

11. Stand tube to support the pre-condenser. It consists of 2 parts due to shipping limitations. The bottom tube has a socket at the top end into which the top tube is inserted. The assembled stand rod is connected to the pre-condenser with the cross socket 12.1 (see above at 8.).

12. Cross sockets for mounting using 11.

    1. ​Connection of the pre-condenser to stand 11.

          

    2. 6 cross sleeves for connecting the stand tubes 10 to 6 points on the main cooler 9.

          

13. 6 tension locks with stainless steel straps to close a system with 2 plant baskets.

    

14. 2 x 6 extensions for operating the system with 3 or 4 plant containers.

    

15. Hose to connect 8.3, with 9.4. for the cooling water supply of the pre-condenser.

    

16. 2 water hoses for the cooling water supply.

    

17. Distillate hose for insertion into an oil separator. The distillate hose is simply plugged onto the distillate outlet 10.4.

    

18. Collapsible sieve with fine perforations when heavily chopped plants are to be distilled. However, note the restriction described under 2. When in use, this sieve is placed unfolded in the lower plant basket (see above).

    

19. Riser pipe extension for a partial construction.

       

20. Connector for the plant baskets for emptying bundles before refilling

              

21. Rolling base with lockable castors for moving out the boiler system when refilling the material to be distilled.

     

     

     

More information
Safe standing when refilling the system
Because the cooling is now fixed at 6 points of the cooling coil, the system's periphery is now more stable when the still is removed for refilling.

This system is optimized in such a way that the bottom of the plant basket does not disturb the steam dynamics and the pressure loss when reducing the cross-section to the cooler is minimized. The plant basket extensions are designed without a bottom so that no drip losses occur when the plant space is multiplied. This avoids an increase in pressure in the boiler and the resulting vapor overheating, which would destroy heat-sensitive essential flavors. This was achieved through a high permeability of the 1st basket floor and a pre-condensation of the oily vapor in the pre-condenser. The steam is fed into the pre-condenser with only a slight cross-section reduction and pre-cooled, so that mostly hot condensed hydrolate is fed into the actual high-performance cooler. This means that the main cooler no longer generates any pressure loss.
Our own investigations with a test system optimized in this way have shown that the differential pressure to the environment in the unfilled system is less than 10 pascals, while before the optimization it was over 1000 pascals. This is a significant improvement and the technical requirements for steam distillation are now optimal.
When loading with plants, you should make sure that they are only poured loosely. Under no circumstances should the plants be compacted, as this can lead to the destruction of the steam dynamics. The ideal filling height of the plant baskets should be determined specifically by experiment. With sufficient steam throughput with fresh plants, it has been shown that 4 to 5 basket units are ideal.
To seal between the individual pots, the supplied profile seals are pulled onto the pot edges in such a way that the short lip is positioned on the outside of the pot edge. The plant baskets are being put on. In order for the steam dynamics to develop sufficiently with direct heating, the water boiler should only be filled with a maximum of 15 liters of water at the beginning. This water is enough for at least 3 distillations of a maximum of 1/2 hour.
The Premium-Plus 2022 model is already fitted with a 1" inlet tap and has an internal diffuser steam inlet device to direct externally generated steam into the boiler with less efficiency loss.

Insulation of the plant container or at least the helmet is also recommended, because oil is lost through condensation here when it cools down. This is largely avoided by insulation. In the case of external steam supply, the boiler should also be insulated. In the simplest case, insulation can be done by wrapping in thermal blankets.