cant think of a username
Harmless
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pvc distillation apparatus
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.
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JJay
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You can get a glass one on eBay for less than $40 including shipping?
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cant think of a username
Harmless
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darn you right honestly i feel pretty dumb...
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JJay
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Well, it's still pretty cool 
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j_sum1
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Even if you get a glass one, this is a pretty tidy setup. It does not hurt to have a second unit. And you now know what this one is capable of. A
dedicated unit for distilled water is not a bad idea either.
This deserves to go in the "home made and repurposed lab gear" thread.
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macckone
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combine this with one of the copper variety and you can
distill most things. Amines and acids will chew up copper
but most will not impact CPVC. The only draw back
is CPVC has a low coefficient of conduction. Much lower
than glass so you need cooler water and higher flow.
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woelen
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Quote: Originally posted by cant think of a username  | i made a pvc distillation apparatus since i can't afford a glass one,it cost me about 15$ 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.
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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.
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chemplayer...
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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!
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