Distillation is where crude becomes product — and where most labs leave yield, color, and uptime on the table. This hub consolidates everything Urth & Fyre has published on cannabis distillation: choosing between short path and wiped film systems, designing a complete distillation train, troubleshooting dark distillate, and instrumenting vacuum so your endpoints are data rather than guesswork. The equipment guidance comes from commissioning real systems, not catalog copy — we cover what capacity ratings actually mean under load, which inspection points matter on used units, and how condenser duty and cold trap staging protect both your pump and your terpenes. Browse the guides below, review available distillation equipment, or request a quote on a complete train sized to your throughput.
The two dominant approaches solve the same problem — separating cannabinoids from everything else under vacuum — at very different scales:
| Short Path | Wiped Film (WFE) | |
|---|---|---|
| Scale | Lab to pilot (2–5 GPH) | Production (10–50+ GPH) |
| Film formation | Passive, gravity-driven | Active mechanical wipers |
| Feed | Batch | Continuous |
| Residence time | Minutes | Seconds — protects heat-sensitive cannabinoids |
| Best for | R&D, polishing, isolation | Primary distillation passes at volume |
| Typical cost (new) | $10k–$40k | $25k–$250k+ |
Many facilities run both: a WFE for primary passes, short path for finishing. Full comparison in our wiped film vs short path train design guide and the complete WFE guide (brands, specs, used-unit inspection points).
A distillation system is a train, not a machine: feed prep and degassing, the evaporator body, condensers, cold traps, vacuum pumps, and heating/cooling loops. Undersizing any stage caps the whole line. Cold trap staging is the most commonly skipped step — see cold trap sizing and staging for how to protect pump oil and recover terpenes instead of burning them in the pump.
Dark distillate is the most common quality complaint we hear, and it is almost always upstream of the evaporator: oxidized crude, chlorophyll carryover from warm extraction, insufficient degassing, or excessive residence time. Work through the dark distillate root-cause checklist — it sequences the checks from cheapest to most expensive.
Your distillation is only as good as your vacuum measurement. Pirani gauges drift badly under solvent and terpene vapor; capacitance manometers read true regardless of gas composition. The dual-stack strategy — Pirani for trend, capacitance for absolute endpoint — is covered in capacitance vs Pirani gauge comparison and how gauge selection changes wiped film results.
We stock and source short path units, wiped film evaporators, heating circulators, chillers, and vacuum components — new and verified used. Every quote includes a sizing review against your throughput target and feedstock. Browse related equipment below or request a distillation system quote.
.jpeg)
.avif){kind=small}
