Wiped Film Distillation Consulting

Schilling Scientific Consulting

The goal of any business is to identify a pain point and offer solutions to fill in the gaps created by those pain points. The pain point I have identified is a lack of knowledge and resources to assist the wiped film still operator. There is no good book or online resource to help answer questions and train new practitioners. The purpose of SSC is helping wiped film still operators run their distillations better.

Done correctly, wiped film distillations are incredibly efficient, fast and clean ways to purify materials. By leveraging my experience running a wiped film still plant, I expect to help you maximize your own systems and be able to produce purer material faster.

In addition to remote and on-site consultation, I also have prepared a course in wiped film distillation. In the course, the theory of conventional distillation is taught and applied to continuous distillation. The entire process of running a wiped film distillation is taught, from how to run at development scale through plant scale. In addition, many common problems are discussed and possible solutions are presented to those challenges.

Whether you have run stills for years, or are relatively new, this seminar has something to offer to everyone. I truly believe this resource fills the missing gap in wiped film still education.

  • I have a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.

  • The last 6 years I worked for Pope Scientific Inc., running their distillation plant. Pope is a major manufacturer of wiped film stills. In this role, I learned how to run lab trials, pilot equipment, and production scale stills. We processed more than a million pounds of material a year on seven different wiped film still systems of all sizes. I had the opportunity solve many challenging distillations and I look forward in using that expertise to help you.

  • I had the opportunity to work with materials from a diverse range of applications. Some included citrus oils, liquid polymers, silicone polymers, vegetable poly-glycerides, waxes, natural oils, cannabinoids, synthetic oils, cosmetic oils, polyols and many others. Many of the materials handled were difficult to handle, difficult to purify, or both.

  • Previous to my time at Pope, I worked for 16 years in chemical and pharmaceutical production in many roles. I worked as an operator, chemist and production manager. I used reactors, filters, oven dryers, rotovaps and many other standard pieces of chemical production equipment.

Expertise and Qualifications

Explore Our Services

Traditional Consulting Services 

My goal is to assist you in solving your distillation challenges. My years of experience running wiped film stills has given me the knowledge to run consistent, successful wiped film distillations. I have worked with hundreds of different feed materials from dozens of different industries. I look forward to the opportunity to assist you with your challenging distillation - or help develop procedures and systems to run your stills.

Remote Wiped Film Distillation Consultation

  • Remote review of your project

  • Conference call and email assessment, provide recommendations based on experience

  • Can suggest alternative approaches and ideas to challenging problems

  • Process Improvement and Optimization

  • Cost savings due to increased throughput, yield and purity

  • On-call capability to support live processing

On-Site Wiped Film Distillation Consulting

  • In person troubleshooting of problem distillations

  • Optimization and advice on efficient operation

  • Hands-on evaluation of equipment, trouble-shooting equipment problems

  • Assistance in obtaining the desired purities while maximizing yield

  • Training of operators in start-up, shut-down, and operation of still

Education Services 

I have developed a seminar that crams as much of my years of experience into four hours as possible.

The goal of this seminar is to teach beginning, intermediate and advanced wiped film distillation. The point of the seminar is to have the students be confident in knowing how to approach, optimize and complete wiped film distillations. This will be completed through teaching theory, step-by-step instructions and trouble-shooting.

Recorded Wiped Film Distillation Seminar

  • 3.5 hour seminar teaching how to run wiped film still

  • Concepts include theory of wiped film evaporation/distillation, mechanics of the equipment, degassing, interaction of the three big control levers (Temperature, Vacuum and Feed Rate), parameter selection, difficult materials, lab and production scale, and many more

  • Seminar includes sharing knowledge gained while running greater than one million pounds of materials annually

  • Will provide a deeper understanding of wiped film distillation, including understanding the approach taken to maximize yield and purity.

  • Personal phone call after completion to ensure all questions are answered

Live Webinar - What you get:

  • Same class as On-Site Seminar

  • 4 hours of instruction

  • Small class size - limited to 20 students

  • Q and A during seminar

  • Documents containing step by step startup and shutdown instructions

  • 1/2 hour personal call after seminar to answer any questions or go over any specific distillations

Contact me