Sciencemadness Discussion Board

What is this glassware used for?

Panache - 14-6-2010 at 10:46

Pic 1/2 I'm fairly sure it has a biochem role, basically a tree type structure with a myriad of small rb's around it.

Pic 3/4 Interesting piece that obviously has a definite purpose, the grill in the middle is loose, down near the socket at the bottom a glass ball bearing sits acting as a shutoff

If you know of the roles of either of these please share your insights.

PICT0002.JPG - 43kB PICT0003.JPG - 35kB PICT0004.JPG - 39kB PICT0005.JPG - 40kB

psychokinetic - 14-6-2010 at 13:12

Does the first one have a condenser shaft in it? It looks like it might be for taking samples at varying positions, to see what differences there are etc.

Mumbles - 15-6-2010 at 11:46

The pictures are kind of small and hard to tell, but the third/fourth pictures may be some sort of steam distillation apparatus.

Mildronate - 20-6-2010 at 05:37

3 and 4 is for vacum distil

hinz - 20-6-2010 at 09:59

Probably something like this with ground valves to plug onto the ground joints instead of the small flasks.

[Edited on 20-6-2010 by hinz]

Panache - 21-6-2010 at 22:16

I see the rationale behind thinking its for steam distilling however the grating is around as coarse as the b24 opening which seems to mismatch, ie anything that can be easily feed through the b24 opening would also likely fall through the grating.
How is used for vac distills? What is the grate for?
Its definitely not a vacuum manifold the joins are not orientated in the same plane.
Its not a condenser shaft just a straight ordinary column piece with the branches welded in. i have a rb on the bottom ground glass joint in the photo but likely one just as well doesn't belong there.

psychokinetic - 22-6-2010 at 22:22

I've asked around, consensus says 1 and 2 is either an odd custom made venturi, or it's a hash pipe column :P

Doesn't explain the stopcock, though - unless the two people connected to the bottom ones just want to be like, really uncool man to the top two.

EDIT: Never mind, looked closer at the second picture and noticed that it's not a stopcock. :$

[Edited on 23-6-2010 by psychokinetic]

Panache - 24-6-2010 at 07:36

Quote: Originally posted by psychokinetic  

Doesn't explain the stopcock, though - unless the two people connected to the bottom ones just want to be like, really uncool man to the top two.



'Yeah man that's so uncool what you're doing there, just share'

..a polite wait...

'FUCKING SHARE IT MAN, SO NOT COOL'

fight ensues involving all except, bizarrely, the guy who isn't sharing, he watches the fight escalate before becoming inattentive and resumes using the pipe, fight ebbs and moves outside, new group sit down, after some time has passed

'Yeah man that's so uncool what you're doing there, just share'

...

JohnWW - 24-6-2010 at 17:28

That sort of manifold arrangement in photos 1 and 2, with several outlets from a long cylinder, is definitely a vacuum line. For really heavy-duty use, they are also made of metal, with a proper vacuum pump used for suction. I used them in two jobs that I had. It could be used in biochemical research and preparation, e.g. for removal under vacuum of a low-boiling-point solvent used for extraction from plant material such as diethyl ether., as well as for Buchner funnel filtration.

[Edited on 25-6-10 by JohnWW]

Pseudomonia - 25-6-2010 at 14:44

I would have put my money on 1 and 2 being used in fractional distillation, but it's only a guess