SWIM can order a tailor-made CLLE glassware. Unfortunately she is not chemistry-literate.

Can the forum members suggest a good design for such devices? The idea is to further process Soxhlet extractions of 50-200 g of mhrb?

The most available non-polar solvent for SWIM is heptane.

TIA.

You would need a lighter than water CLLE with Heptane.

Yep. It is lighter than water.

Make sure it has a shutoff valve in the solvent return arm. Without the shutoff valve it’s a headache to use. Plus with a shutoff valve it can be used to distill things too, so it’ll have more than one purpose.

Thanks Ron. SWIM already knows that much. What she needs are very specific diagrams with all the sizes, volumes, diameters, etc.

the best place to look for ideas is in patents.

Was that an atempt at a sarcastic reply?
Why? Or am I just being overly sensitive?

No. Sorry. I was half asleep.

No worries.

I have found a so-called Gregar Solid Liquid Extractor - http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D413678.pdf

Its operation is better described here - http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20040061829.pdf.

Could you suggest anything else?

not really
the Gregar represents the only innovation in extraction technology since the soxhlet.
definitely recommended

SWIM understands how Soxhlet works but knows very little about CLLE and Gregar extractors. Is there a book "CLLE for Dummies" ?

Impressive! Several tools in one! Price isn't bad either (considering it works as a CLLE and more efficient Soxhlet)
http://www.chemglass.com...uct_view.asp?pnr=CG-1375

Any experience with this tool?

Thanks. SWIM's seen that. No first-hand experience. Gregar's very versatile. But SWIM doesn't need its Soxhlet function. For solid-liquid extration her homemade CSLE is more efficient and convenient, especially with a solvent distillation setup connected to the second neck of the boiling flask. Closest standard labware extractor to her CSLE is probably Twisselmann (look at these beauties here - http://www.anaspec.nl/up...alog%202007_englisch.pdf).

So, SWIM is looking for a simple inexpensive lighter than water CCLE. Like in this catalogue - http://www.infolab.ru/le...enz_Katalog_2003_en.pdf. What a mouth-watering spectacle!

more efficient?

that's a bold statement.
the allihn isn't exactly the most efficient condenser.

swim prefers coldfinger types, he primarily uses a friedrich with his soxhlet.

that gregar is a beast, combining two condensers..that's efficient.
swim would gladly sell his extractor and condensers to pay for the gregar

OK. Let's see.

As a former physisist SWIM always prefers to start any discussion with commonly accepted definitions, otherwise we may talk about different things.

We are not talking about condensers, because SWIM can connect any condeser to her CSLE. We are talking about efficiency of various types of extractors.

So, what is afficiency of an extractor? Let's assume it is energy efficiency. Then we should calculate how many watts per gram of extract each of two contenders uses. That is difficult but just judging by the difference in surface area and speed of extraction Twisselmann should be at least 2 times more efficient. Official data and SWIM's experience says that Twisselmann requires 50% or less time for complete (99%) extraction comparing to Soxhlet.

A few words about convenience. In Soxhlet there is a certain minimal amount of solvent required for it to cycle. Going through Soxhlet-related threads SWIM noticed that the most common problem of new Soxhlet users is that it does not cycle. It is irrelevant in Twisselmann.

In Soxhlet the syphon tube can clog and it will be difficult to clean. There is no such problem in Twisselmann.

Soxhlet is more complicated, more expensive and easier to break.

It is more difficult to drain Soxhlet completely, comparing to Twisselmann. Once the solvent was syphoned from Soxhlet for the last time, it will be difficult to collect the solvent that remains trapped in the extracted material.



Correct SWIM if she is wrong, but it seems possible to connect two condensers, or any number for that matter, to any extractor if necessary. There is no point in adding more condensers if the first one does the job. Even with extraction twice as fast as in a Soxhlet SWIM's 20-year old Allhin was doing fine. No loss of solvent, no overflowing. Isn't that all that is expected from a condenser? A small 15 liters fishtank and a $40 pump was sufficient for 2.5 hours extraction and 2 hours solvent distillation.

If we are talking about cost-efficiency things may be very different. SWIM cannot buy a Gregar where she lives. To get it from abroad may cost her half of its price.

So, SWIM likes Gregar very much, but is not convinced yet that it will be more efficient/flexible/convenient that a Twisselmann-type extractor + a basic CLLE. Maybe that is because she can get Twisselmanns almost free of charge

nonsense

you're always going to lose solvent as vapor to the surroundings, hence the reason for having two condensers on the gregar (to minimize this).

if you don't believe it, compare the volumes pre and post-reflux, without adding extraction material. that allihn really isn't very efficient.
grahams and friedrichs work better, IME...i've worked with all three.

but free is good. SWIM got a friedrich and an allihn for free from a good friend. he never even uses the latter,
since the friedrich also has a 24/40 ground glass port (for reduced pressure... makes a nice coldfinger for macroscale sublimation)

Speaking of condensers SWIM agrees with you completely. But she is talking about efficiency of extractors.

SWIM is sure that under similar conditions (same material, same solvent, same condenser(s), same % of extracted substance) her CSLE (Twisselmann) will be at least 50% more efficient then a Soxhlet both in terms of energy consumption and loss of solvent. As Gregar uses the same principle as Soxhlet, at the stage of solid-liquid extraction it will also be less efficient than Twisselmann.



There is no doubt about it. But, with your experience, can you tell how much more efficient they are in respect of solvent loss? Because a faster extractor with a less efficient condenser may still loose less solvent. Besides, IPA is dirt-cheap, so who cares.

Of course friedrich et. al. are much sexier and SWIM would definitely prefer them over a simple allihn.

Out of curiosity SWIM is planning to run an IPA extraction on kava-kava powder to see how significant solvent loss is.

Speaking of efficiency and convenience in general, SWIM's forgotten to mention that her CSLE is easily reloadable. Switch off the heat, take out the inner tube containing extracted material and insert a freshly loaded spare tube. So in one go you can extract any amount of material.

Due to an accident ( an outer tube has been broken) SWIM already got a spare inner tube. The extractor may be modified so that it could be reloaded without turning off the heat.

SWIM does the same with a soxhlet (remove the friedrich, switch out extraction material. hint: doesn't use a thimble), with the mantle still on
not a hassle at all.

btw.. swiy's extractor does cycle, or else there would be no point in using it.
it just doesn't use side-arm siphons.
swim never has the siphons clogged, so that's not an issue either.