Home Distiller

hello essential oil people, can you guys give me a sanity check on this?

I've been toying with some options for creating an essencier. I think I've come up with an option that uses a mason jar and so allows me to see what fluid levels are what, and pour off what I'm collecting, depending on what that is. here I would have a copper plate with three pipes soldered to it.

the first is the funnel and input line, with a "J" hook at the bottom to keep lighter than water away from the bottom drain. then there are two more lines taking from middle and bottom, allowing one to collect either lighter, heavier, or neutrally buoyant liquids as desired

I'm wondering if you guys think that this one is better though, it gives a more segregated solution for taking lighter than water oils off without it being in the funnel itself it just seems like I would have so many parts that its maybe excessive.

what are you using for an essencier, if you have one?

This type of a device is called a "Florentine receiver" I don't know if your bottom outlet line can drain...it will need pressure to push the heavy oil up and over the jar wall. And remember...don't throw away the water, that's hydrosol with all the water soluble oil goodies.

I think the tube your funnel is in needs to be higher, that way there will be a column of distillate providing pressure to push fluid up to all the valves. Your 2nd design will probably work, but not cleanly, you'll probably get a mixed phase product on the uppermost takeoff. I would just go with the first, draining whichever fraction is in excess, then when it's finished throw it in a separatory funnel to get a good precise separation of the 2 (or 3 if you're doing something really cool) phases. Neither design looks like it will be a set and forget solution, I expect you'll be manipulating the valves fairly often.

Also, I'd do it with stainless not copper. Copper is a pretty reactive metal and not knowing all the possible chemicals in all the possible oils stainless would be much safer.

I do not want to play Debbie-downer here, but, ...

How would this produce any differently then loading a 1/2 gallon mason jar with mint, then again with 180 proof, letting it sit for a month. After a month press the liquid off?

I am very simple as I use a eye dropper to withdraw the oil. I am reading more about an essencier but have to admit I don't fully understand how it works.

yeah, I was thinking that my funnel would be taller, but I had to fit within the confines of the pixels for image sizes...

beekeeper: this would be different as it separates distillate, rather than a maceration. you get better extraction with steam than you do though soaking. generally I would be using it with a boiler and botanicals basket befor ethe pot head

Kiwi Bruce: yes, my plan here was to allow me to separate (and keep) the various fractions as they come out into different streams

Forest Beekeeper wrote:I do not want to play Debbie-downer here, but, ...

How would this produce any differently then loading a 1/2 gallon mason jar with mint, then again with 180 proof, letting it sit for a month. After a month press the liquid off?

The "let it sit for a month...then press the liquid off" is maceration, basically that's simple solvent extraction. It has it's place, however it takes compound from the plant matter that you may not want, some very bitter compounds for example. Distilling the plant material is far more selective. A lot of the active alkaloids are in the plant oils and can be extracted by distillation. A good example is what happens when making Gin. The plant material, called the "Botanicals" are a selection of berries and herbs. Each contributes a little to the over all taste of Gin, when they are distilled together. However each can be distilled separately...and this is the key to making extract oils of the different components. Some of these compounds are the building blocks of the modern pharmaceutical industry. The distilled extract of white willow bark is the basis of aspirin. Of all the compounds found in your lawn and garden, less than 10% have been researched for the potential medicines they contain. We here on HD, aren't collecting these oils for their medicinal properties necessarily, we're after the flavors or aromas.