Wiped Film Still Components – Part III – Still Body

The still body is a cylinder with an opening at the top for feed to enter.  The feed material is supplied by the feed system into the still body.  The feed then flows down the inside wall of the still body.  The outside of the still body is heated to provide energy for the vaporization to occur.  Heating types will be discussed in a later post.

The still body can have a second opening at the top of the cylinder for vacuum to be pulled or vapors to exit the still body, depending on the configuration.  This opening is called the vapor arm.  The top of the cylinder is sealed to the wiper drive motor.  Still bodies are most often available in glass or steel for smaller machines and just steel for larger machines.  Glass systems tend to be cheaper, but are not as efficient as steel systems.  Steel systems can be operated at twice the feed rate of glass systems of the same size.

In this picture, the still body does not have the vapor arm.  The vapor arm is part of the internal condenser assembly, which will be discussed in a future post.

Picture is courtesy of Pope Scientific Inc.