It features applying a very thin, continuously moving film on a heated rotor under high vacuum and placing a condensing surface a short distance away. The residence time on the heated surface is measured in parts of a second. This allows the user to make very fine cuts with the least amount of decomposition from heat. Material enters the Pilot 15 using a variable speed gear pump. This will regulate how thick the film will be on the rotor.
Material flows from the pump into a falling film degasser chamber.
A mechanical pump with a liquid nitrogen cooled trap pumps the heated degasser chamber. The fluid from the degasser enters a second transfer pump and is pumped to the high vacuum chamber. A liquid nitrogen cooled trap, an ejector diffusion pump with a mechanical pump backing it, pumps the chamber. The material spreads out in an exponentially expanding manner to give maximum surface area in the shortest time. Light ends, in this case odors, evaporate off and are condensed on the water-cooled condenser where they are drained and pumped out by the distillate pump.