The diagram illustrates the process by which oil is extracted from plants in order to produce perfume.
Overall, the process consists of several distinct stages, beginning with the heating of water and ending with the separation of the final products. It is a continuous procedure that relies on steam to draw the oil out of the plants before the mixture is cooled and divided.
At the first stage, a fire is used to heat a container of water (1 and 2). As the water boils, it turns into steam (3), which then rises into a second, larger container holding the aromatic plants (4). Here, the steam passes through the plants and combines with their oil, creating a mixture of steam and oil vapour (5).
This vapour subsequently travels upward and into the condenser (6 and 7), a long coiled pipe. As it moves through the coil, cold water cools the vapour down, causing it to condense back into a liquid known as hot water mixed with essential oil (7 and 8).
In the final stage, this liquid flows into the separator (9). Because oil and water do not mix, the two substances divide naturally, allowing the essential oil to be collected at one outlet and the hydrolat, or aromatic water, to be drawn off separately (10).