Sciencemadness Discussion Board - pvc distillation apparatus

pvc distillation apparatus

cant think of a username - 6-5-2017 at 16:40

i made a pvc distillation apparatus since i can't afford a glass one,it cost me about 15$ and it work surprisingly well.
the only 2 limitations are that what ever i distil can't boil over 150°c(it can supposedly be heated to 182° but id rather not risk it) and it cant dissolve or react with pvc.
so far i've successfully distilled:water,formic acid 77.5%,glacial acetic acid,ethyl acetate,methanol,ethanol,butanol and 20,2% hcl.
it has copper wool to act as a fractionating column,you can put a thermometer in the 3 way to measure the vapor temp,and a water jacket whichis a pvc tube within a pvc tube (one of the water hoses is missing because i used it for a so2 gen).
is it a bad idea?,any tips on how to improve it.

JJay - 6-5-2017 at 16:47

You can get a glass one on eBay for less than $40 including shipping?

cant think of a username - 6-5-2017 at 17:05

darn you right honestly i feel pretty dumb...

JJay - 6-5-2017 at 17:30

Well, it's still pretty cool

j_sum1 - 6-5-2017 at 17:30

Even if you get a glass one, this is a pretty tidy setup. It does not hurt to have a second unit. And you now know what this one is capable of. A dedicated unit for distilled water is not a bad idea either.

This deserves to go in the "home made and repurposed lab gear" thread.

macckone - 6-5-2017 at 19:56

combine this with one of the copper variety and you can
distill most things. Amines and acids will chew up copper
but most will not impact CPVC. The only draw back
is CPVC has a low coefficient of conduction. Much lower
than glass so you need cooler water and higher flow.

woelen - 7-5-2017 at 09:18

Quote: Originally posted by cant think of a username

i made a pvc distillation apparatus since i can't afford a glass one,it cost me about 15$ and it work surprisingly well.
the only 2 limitations are that what ever i distil can't boil over 150°c(it can supposedly be heated to 182° but id rather not risk it) and it cant dissolve or react with pvc.
so far i've successfully distilled:water,formic acid 77.5%,glacial acetic acid,ethyl acetate,methanol,ethanol,butanol and 20,2% hcl.
[...]

This is the true spirit of "mad" science. Well done! Your setup looks very nice and what you achieved is worthwhile mentioning.
Of course, you can buy a glass set and if you can get one for cheap, then do so, but keeping this one around is a good thing as well.

chemplayer... - 12-5-2017 at 16:45

Great! Watch out for plasticisers though - these compounds are commonly in PVC plastic products and solvents will dissolve them out. You might be distilling a solvent only to end up with a solution of plasticiser at the end!