In this episode Dr. T is explaining the distillation equipment we are setting up. The goal of the project is to use an alcohol powered distiller to create alcohol in order to re-load the lamp. The project is a two-for-one. This year we are learning about distillation and the states of matter. Next summer we get to use the same setup to look at conservation of energy.
So my degrees are in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, so working as Dr. T’s lab assistant, or Igor as he insists on calling me, is the first time I have been playing with “the wet stuff” in decades. As a result I didn’t already have the gear we would need. I went with a distillation kit from Amazon to get us started.
The kit comes with a boiling flask, a Graham condenser, and an Erlenmeyer flask ground to fit together. Just as important it comes with stands and hardware to hold them.
The only problem is that the kit is supposed to be cooled from water running from a tap and down the drain. My not wanting to waste water aside, I don’t have a sink in my shop. So we rigged up a heat sink suitable for the same tubing running into and out of the Graham condenser, and added a thermos to act as an ice bath. Dr. T will be covering that in the next post.
For now, here is Dr. T explaining the initial setup of our apparatus.