# Small Scale pyrolysis Reactor



## SgtKies (Apr 27, 2022)

Hey there Guys,
im fairly new to this - I guess Hobby is what its called - 
I've watched Videos and read into this matter for 2 Years by now. 
What i want to do is a small scale pyrolysis reactor. Well i already built one, but it seems to leaking smoke everywhere, so hard, i decided to rework the lid. 
I wanted to share this little guy with you. 
My inspiration to this was from another thread on this board. 
Please feel free to ask me anything about it or to give advices to upgrade it. 
For now the lid is supplied with 2 pipes. One for escaping fumes into the burner flame (the one which goes back into the body of the reactor) and one which i wanted to give it supply air (the longer one going away) for later, if pyrolysis is completed to give it oxygen for the rest of the process. 
Its rather poor made, cause its only for testing and i dont quite have the supplies yet. 
Btw im in Germany, so i cant do it openly as some of you can. 

Cheers


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## Martijn (Apr 27, 2022)

Welcome to the forum. 
Expect those thin pipes to get clogged up by the smoke. Then there could be dangerous pressure build up in the can. 
I've seen a video of a paint can with holes punches on all sides and a lot of them got full of black soot. He needed to poke the holes often. Tubes will get full over a length and you can't clean them during operation. 
Try a bigger and shorter exhaust pipe that ends near the flame. The heat will help keep it clean. 
And try a small sample to pyrolyze first. 

Martijn.


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## GoIdman (Apr 29, 2022)

SgtKies said:


> Hey there Guys,
> im fairly new to this - I guess Hobby is what its called -
> I've watched Videos and read into this matter for 2 Years by now.
> What i want to do is a small scale pyrolysis reactor. Well i already built one, but it seems to leaking smoke everywhere, so hard, i decided to rework the lid.
> ...


Hi SgtKies,

I understand your situation, lots of rules and regulation over there.

I can suggest you a better way to do pyrolization with quite good results using a modified pressure cooker just like the one in the picture.

It already has a pressure valve.

Using stainless steel pipes you can veld to the top of the cooker, one for air and one for the gasses.... Its safe enough setup since the pressure cooker operates at high pressure anyway, it cannot be damaged easyly, and a plus is that its made out of stainles steel which already spans its lifetime..

Be safe

Pete.


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## kurtak (Apr 29, 2022)

(Incineration) furnance prototype


So after a long time, I finally get the suitable drum at my workplace (discarded - rusty inside, but perfect for me) and take it home with me :) Old Merck HPLC solvent drum. Not stainless steel, but definitely not just ordinary weak iron. Cutting it with scissors was bit painful. I forgot about...




goldrefiningforum.com


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## kurtak (Apr 29, 2022)

Martijn said:


> Expect those thin pipes to get clogged up by the smoke. Then there could be dangerous pressure build up in the can.


What Martijn said


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## PeterM (Apr 30, 2022)

kurtak said:


> What Martijn said


Exactly Martiin, about 36 years ago we were experimenting with Chloride Volitazation in a pressure cooker using Chlorine gas, an ore and a additive promoter. Well, I am only glad we went to dinner, as it detonated into small pieces. Apparently I produced so many chlorides that it clogged the half inch iron pipe. Had anyone been there they probably wouldn't have survived. USE CAUTION, use flow valves and pressure valves to know if there is pressures building up beyond it's capacity never to exceed. Oh by the way, the ore was tested and laced with gold chlorides all over, incredible experience. Be Safe.


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## SgtKies (Apr 30, 2022)

Thank you all for your advice. 
Im wondering what is the smallest diameter of a pipe I could use? 
I noticed it in some test runs, but as you said, the pipe clogged a bit and spit out some burning oil. Should I add a Canister/Jar in the Exhaust pipe to catch of the oil and only get the Fumes back to the flame?
@kurtak Thanks for the link. I somehow saw it before, but i guess I already forgot in my own dumbness


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## Martijn (May 1, 2022)

Its basically distilling the released gases in a pipe that's cooler then the boiling point of the gases. They condense in the pipe where it's cooler.
If you keep the exhaust pipe inside the furnace, the high temerature will not allow the gases to condense.
More gas, bigger pipe. So it also depends on the size of your batches.
Here is my pyrolizing reactor made from different sized gas and oxygen cylinders.


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## jphayesjr (May 2, 2022)

PeterM said:


> Exactly Martiin, about 36 years ago we were experimenting with Chloride Volitazation in a pressure cooker using Chlorine gas, an ore and a additive promoter. Well, I am only glad we went to dinner, as it detonated into small pieces. Apparently I produced so many chlorides that it clogged the half inch iron pipe. Had anyone been there they probably wouldn't have survived. USE CAUTION, use flow valves and pressure valves to know if there is pressures building up beyond it's capacity never to exceed. Oh by the way, the ore was tested and laced with gold chlorides all over, incredible experience. Be Safe.


Reminds me of a bench accident a lab partner had in Organic Chem 201...punk rocker had a bouffant hairstyle, but after he attempted to accelerate a reaction in a sealed distillation flask containing petroleum ether and a primary reactant chugging slowly forward with a bunsen burner instead of a steam jacket...he became known as the ether bunny, had to change that coif en tout de suite.


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