The second component of our Cannabinoid Extraction System is the Short Path Distillation Machine, which is a high efficiency, high quality, and high productivity Rotary Evaporator.
 
SHORT PATH DISTILLATION
 
Short Path Distillation Uses
The short path distillation is one of the most high-efficiency distillation techniques in people’s using, which can solve the problem that conventional distillation technology can’t. It is widely used in food, medicine, fine chemicals, electronic materials, plastic engineering and polymers (such as polyols, fatty acids, polyphenols, polyurethane, epoxy resins, lactic acid, monoglycerides, flavors, heavy oils and paraffin oils) and other fields.
Working Procedures of a Short Path Distillation
The short path distillation is a device used to separate solvents by evaporation. The whole short path distillation equipment works under vacuum for the whole time. Now let’s go through the specific procedure of the short path distillation together, as follows:
Sample will be placed in the glass reactor where heating mantle heats. Solvents get to evaporate by heating mantle’s working. And then the gas solvents will be transferred into the condensing part.
Evaporated solvents will be turned into liquid from gas by condenser’s working. Condensing part consists of two parts, which are low temperature coolant circulation pump and condenser.
After gas solvents are turned into liquid solvents, the liquid solvents will keep going and arriving at receiving flasks. There are always two receiving flasks. Different gas solvents with different cooling point will be turned into liquid under different temperatures, and then go into different receiving flasks.

Advantages of a Short Path Distillation
It has a relatively low distillation temperature. Compared to the simple distillation, the materials can be separated even though there is a small temperature difference.
A certain substance can be selectively distilled out and impurities can be removed. Two or more substances can be separated by the multistage separation.
The distillation process is a physical process, which can well protect separated substances from being polluted and damaged.
The less compound will be lost because a liquid only need travel a short distance in the short path distillation. It efficiently reduces material waste.
It requires a smaller working space compared to most conventional distillation techniques, which is much easier to use. And the desired purity level can be reached as well.

How does a Short Path Distillation Work?
1. Molecules diffuse from the liquid phase to the evaporation surface:
The beginning of the short path distillation’s working is from evaporation flask. Sample will be placed in the evaporation flask and be heated by the heating mantle. The temperature that heating mantle provides can be adjusted according to the boiling points of different solvents.
2. Free evaporation of molecules on the liquid surface:
The evaporation speed of solvents can be changed by the heating temperature. Besides, the stability of sample solvents is also an important factor influencing the evaporation speed.
3. Molecules fly from the evaporation to the condensation surface:
The extracted gas-phase solvents will be transferred along a short distance, and be condensed along this distance. During this process, gas-phase solvents will be cooled down by the condensing part and turned into liquid-phase solvents.
4. Solvents will be collected in the receiving flask:
After gas-phase solvents being turned into liquid-phase solvents, it will be transferred into receiving flask and be collected efficiently. Collecting extracted solvents in the receiving flask is very convenient for users to get.
In the whole working process of short path distillation, there are always vacuum pump providing vacuum and condensing part turning gas-phase solvents into liquid-phase solvents.