gustavus said:
Harold yes the retort is only for this one job. plenty of screws with a good gasket to secure the lid from leaks. The end of the discharge tube will be submerged in water to assist with fumes.
That isn't recommended, due to the possibility of the retort aspirating water, perhaps resulting in a steam explosion. A hood of cloth wrapped around the discharge, barely in contact with the water in your collection container will work well. I recommend you add a serious amount of dish soap to the container. The stink will be unbelievable, with oils distilling from the material as well. Mercury from this operation won't agglomerate well unless it is well washed. If you have the same result I did, you'll have a pool of mercury with a mixture of black, burned oil and tiny globs of mercury floating on top. Soap will go a long ways towards dissolving the unwanted oils. With care, you can get all of the mercury to collect in a common pool. I found it so dirty that I retorted the mercury a second time, at which time it was placed in vials for storage. There were actually lumps of material that came out of the first heat.
I did not think that you had to heat the retort glowing red to drive off the mercury when it boils at 673.84 degrees fahrenheit, and the old timers used a carved out potato thrown into the camp fire.
My experience dictated that I had to get the bottom of my retort red, which was part of the problem with dissolution. Even then, when the retort was opened, there was a respectable amount of mercury that had not escaped. You may find some has dripped back on the material, with more in the form of droplets sticking to the top of the retort interior. I don't know if extended heating would have worked, but I gave mine a long soak, still with not great results. Could be you'll have better luck. A trial run should be very revealing.
Those filters have sat for 8 years you think they'll still stink of rotten human flesh, you think a bit of bleach would tone the smell and perhaps disinfect some germs from the filters.
Wish I had an opinion, Gill, but I haven't. Those that I processed were old, perhaps even a couple years, but being closed, they were still wet. If yours have had the opportunity to dry, and have seen some exposure to air, perhaps they're OK. Not trying to discourage you in any way---just a heads-up of the potential hazards.
As far as adding some disinfectant, I think that's a good idea. I'd go the chlorine route if nothing else. Not knowing how long pathogens can remain infectious, I'd try anything that might be construed as helpful. Were it not for the mercury hazard, I'd suggest simply incinerating directly. That solves all of the problems, but not when there's mercury present.
Here is the finished retort.
Nice job, Gill. Make damned sure you use a thread relief of some kind, or you may find you can't get the bolts out.
I'm amazed at the similarity between yours and the one I used to run. You are right on target with having the bottom the input of the cooling water. If you use a hose, no big deal, but if you use a recirculating pump, once the mercury starts coming off, the water is heated fairly quickly. Do keep an eye on the temperature.
Keep us posted, Gill.
Harold
