My group macerated 100g of ground plant materials in 1000ml EtOH. What settings do I have to set the rotary evaporator at? It would be best to finish the evaporation in 10 to 30 minutes. Thank you!
The set temperature highly depends on the target compounds you're trying to extract. Different compounds vary with their temperature stability. Although increasing the temperature will speed up evaporation, it will also likely denature some of the compounds present in the extract.
John Paul Matthew Guzman is correct, however, while the sample is still wet, the pressure in the systems controls the boiling point of the liquid, and therefore the temperature of the liquid. When it dries, it will warm up to the water bath temperature.
Limiting factors are heat in (water bath) and heat out (condenser - or chiller driving the condenser). Every millilitr of EtOH will need 725 Joules to boil, so you have to put this heat in (1 Watt = 1 joule per second) and take this out in the chiller.
FInally - water and ethanol makes a constant boiling mixture, so you will not be able to remove 100% this way.