Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Which pump for fractionnal distillation under reduce pressure ?

Blackchemist - 15-1-2012 at 05:55

Hello, I'm a new member on this site and I would like to know which vacuum pump I have to use to make a fractionnal distillation under reduce pressure of sassafras ?
Does this pump will be great: vacuum pump

Bot0nist - 15-1-2012 at 06:01

Fridge pumps have potential.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14435

Any commercial vacuum pump should work as needed, assuming you have all the required equipment (ground glassware with vacuum grease, needed ports, hoses, good seal, etc.)


<a href="http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/search.php?token=&srchtxt=vacuum+pump&srchfield=subject&srchuname=&f[]=all&srchfrom=0& ;filter_distinct=yes&searchsubmit=Search">Always check here too.</a>

Blackchemist - 15-1-2012 at 06:08

I understand but with a vacuum pump which goes to a max vacuum of 10 Pa how can I do to go only to 100 or 50 mmHg ?because with 10 Pa of vacuum the oil will boil under ambiant temperatures and I don't want that.
Excuse me for my bad level in english but I try to do my best ;)

Steve_hi - 15-1-2012 at 07:05

Safrole is commonly used by clandestine laboratories to synthesize various drugs such as MDA, MDMA and MDEA. For this reason, the sale of safrole and sassafras oil is monitored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras_albidum

Bot0nist - 15-1-2012 at 07:31

What's that have to do with his question about vacuum? He did not mention drugs at all, though he did mention sassafras, maybe he's making candies or potpourri or something. No need to derail his thread with DEA, and designer drug talk, IMO.

zoombafu - 15-1-2012 at 11:21

A water aspirator should be fine for that. You don't even need a vacuum to do this, it just makes it a little easeier. So if you cannot afford a vacuum its not a big deal.

watson.fawkes - 15-1-2012 at 12:52

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist  
What's that have to do with his question about vacuum? He did not mention drugs at all, though he did mention sassafras, maybe he's making candies or potpourri or something. No need to derail his thread with DEA, and designer drug talk, IMO.
It doesn't have anything to do with vacuum, but everything to do with the total content of the question: distillation of sassafras, a drug precursor; user name "Blackchemist", self-identification of the dark side; asking for spoon-feeding on a practical matter; and first post on the forum. It's got lazy cook written all over it. Perhaps this user isn't one, but the evidence isn't persuasive.

turd - 15-1-2012 at 13:43

Quote: Originally posted by Blackchemist  
Hello, I'm a new member on this site and I would like to know which vacuum pump I have to use to make a fractionnal distillation under reduce pressure of sassafras ?
Does this pump will be great: vacuum pump

This pump is crap (Cette pompe est à chier). Vacuum max 600 mmHg means that this pump goes only down to ~100 mmHg. For €100 you can get a much better one. You could use this one e.g. for vacuum filtration and evaporation of low boiling solvents, but it is quite useless for fractionation of essential oils. BTW: Practice with a cheaper oil like anethole first.

You can regulate vacuum by adding a valve in line. There's enough postings on this, use the search engine.

To the DEA-whiners (this guy is obviously not even from the USA - what the silly organization thinks is of zero relevance): Please contribute in a positive way or refrain from posting. Thank you.

Edit: no cursing. :)

[Edited on 15-1-2012 by turd]

zoombafu - 15-1-2012 at 14:46

This guy is not asking to be spoon-fed, he is just asking for the opinions of our community on a vacuum pump. If he posted "How do I make drugs, please help!!! PLEASE!!!" I wouldn't have much respect for him, however he did not do this.

johansen - 16-1-2012 at 20:28

Harbor freight has a 65$ off coupon for their normally priced 175$ 2 stage 3 cfm pump.
number is 36411466, expires in 6 days.

its overkill for most needs but its the same one Ben Krasnow used to freezedry icecream last week.

I thought i'd mention it, because i just ordered one.