DISTILLATION KIT FOR ESSENTIAL OILS
The material a distiller is made of, must be inert to the compounds being distilled, must be able to sustain the distillation temperatures without altering its composition or releasing toxic chemicals and it must have a non-absorbing surface so it can be cleaned thoroughly.
Stainless steel distiller is inert to the compounds being distilled, and be able to sustain the distillation temperatures without altering the composition or releasing toxic chemicals.
Copper still
Copper distillers that are used sometimes in spirit industry are completely forbidden for essential oils since copper acts as a catalyst for many of their compounds, breaking them down and degrading the quality of the essential oil.
Glass still
Glass distillers are good for labs, but unfortunately extremely fragile for home use.
By the way, volume would be quite an issue as easily obtainable glassware for a column is probably limited to about 0,5 L.
The wider the column, the greater the area of contact with plants.
Firstly, for the production of essential oils, it doesn't matter what's the size of your boiler. The volume of the column is much more important. The larger the column volume, the greater the oil yield. Usually, the size of the column is written in specification and measure in liters gallons. It gives nothing for calculation because we don't know the actual weight of herbs we are going to distill. To facilitate the process of choice, I will list some common herbs and approximate essential oil yield.
