Most of us don't have access to lab-grade solvents. Therefore we have to rely on paint thinners and lighter fluids and such, which could very well have all sorts of toxic impurities that do not evaporate from solutions, coagulate in freeze precipitations, etc.

It occurred to me that one could start with a relatively dirty solvent and obtain something very pure by some sort of distillation process, in which solvent is evaporated and then condensed into a clean container.

This way, one could be absolutely sure that the resulting fluid will evaporate cleanly and impart no impurities to the desired product!

Any ideas?

Vigreux column.

This too may inspire you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv1Ms6Subg4

what is it that you want to purify? paint thinner, lighter fluid?

before you rush out to buy and operate a distillation set up, (which i wish i had btw ) you are going to need know a few characteristics of these "impure" solvents, and what other chems will be getting concentrated.

what country are you in that you cant get solvents? or which solvent do you want to distill?

Yea, full distillation rigs are available online...or you can piece one together from google shopping, ebay, amazon, etc.

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^ a quick look at treetop distillation apparatus and im not very impressed. i doubt this unit can be used to purify many solvents. it only gives 152 proof ethanol on first run. this is due to lack of surface area in reflux section. also, is says to put the unit on stovetop for heat source. this is DANGEROUS.

It's not dangerous.... I use it all the time with gas heat no less. Works great for recycling ethanol extractions. Swim does it all the time. It's a great, cheap little still. Very simple and super easy to use.

well maybe you are being xtra cautious, maybe not.

having open flame directly under an apparatus that is producing solvent in vapor phase can be a fire or explosion hazard.

i hope you keep a fire extinguisher handy and never leave the unit unattended while under operation

im glad it is working for your purposes.

Either use an electric heater; one that can fix the temperature at 200C, anywhere above that temperature and your solvent will ignite if the flask shatter and solvent pour upon the hot elements.
Or if you can't afford such a heater, at least put a water containing pot under your solvent flask, as a water bath which keeps the temp fixed at 100C.

SIDE QUESTION: What happens if SWIM distill leaded gasoline? What's the properties of the lead fraction? does it contaminate the distilled fraction or not?

Your being a bit presumptuous. Yes it can be a fire hazard...but it's not. The way this still is set up won't allow it to explode, and in distilling ethanol even with an open flame it's not a fire hazard. People have been distilling for hundreds and hundreds of years over open flames, and "still"' are lol.
The column is open on top with a water fed copper condenser you place in it. The design makes it very safe. It's a really simple safe design. What's awesome is that I can recycle ethanol used in 10x caapi leaf extractions. I can just keep using the same solvent over and over again... Fabulous...

i am not trying to be presumptuous, but perhaps i lean to the over cautious side. look, i have fabricated much larger stills than this one, and hold a BATF permit. ethanol is in vapor phase at 173 deg f. it there is a leak in the column or anywhere near the flame, then explosion can happen. this is all i am saying. this is why heat exchangers are used--to keep this danger to a minimum, as well as multiply efficiency. you will never see open flame in a distillery. sure hillbillies makin bathtub gin used to build fires under large pot stills, that does not mean it is safe practice. im sure there were many fires and explosions during prohibition.
again, i think it is really cool that you are recycling your solvent for extractions. i wish i could say the same right now.

I distill ethanol too. I use an open flame, just as people have done for centuries. It's an open top column if It gets too hot vapor comes out the top, there is now way for it to explode. The ethanol vapor is far from the flame if any does escape.
For recycling and evaping my caapi leaf and vine menstrum however I take the top off my still and alligator clip it to my rice cooker, which is a perfect fit. I do this because the rice cooker has a Teflon coating and the leaf or vine extract doesn't stick to it and its less likely to burn.

just found this in a cloud somewhere:

"

Several years ago I decided I would try to distill my 'xylenes' before use. About 80% of the material came over within range, the remainder in the pot darkened to a red / orange oil throughout the course of the distillation that refused to come over even up to 170°C in the pot. What it was I don't know. "


lol.

^ See, that's exactly why I want to distill my solvents...



I'd like to distill naphtha, preferably from lighter fluid, as it seems to be the only way of buying the stuff locally here. I'm in the U.S. BTW.

what?! If your in the USA just go to a hardware store you can get naphtha as a paint thinner just about every where.

vm&p is everywhere in the us. before lighter fluid i would shoot for distilling the lighter portion of odorless mineral spirits.

or do u mean grill fluid? im picturing u buying 30 4$ 30ml bottles of zippo.

I don't have VM&P naphtha at my nearby hardware store. I'd have to travel much farther than I'd prefer.

Regardless, I don't trust VM&P naphtha to be pure enough to make medicines with.

I've heard California has not got nap on the shelves? Any one heard this? If you have tried all of the hard ware stores, just go with another solvent.

^ Interesting. I happen to live in Cali.

Thing is, I can buy these big jugs of Ronsonol lighter fluid, which are mostly naphtha, but also apparently contain "lubricants" for the inside of the lighter itself.


But, naphtha issues aside, my point is that ~any~ technical-grade solvent needs to be purified, if you're concerned with utmost purity of final product. Also, even if I could get lab-grade solvents, a distillation apparatus would be a great way of recycling.