How to properly operate rotary evaporator

Rotary evaporator, also known as rotary evaporation machine, is a commonly used laboratory equipment. It consists of a motor, a distillation bottle, a heating pot, a condenser tube and other parts, and mainly used for continuous distillation of volatile solvents under reduced pressure conditions. It can be applied in chemistry, chemical industry , biomedicine and other fields.

Precautions for using lab rotary evaporator:

1. When using it, firstly draw a small vacuum (about 0.03MPa), and then turn on the rotation to prevent the distillation flask from slipping. When not using it, stop the rotation first, hold the distillation flask by hand, and open the atmosphere until the vacuum degree drops to about 0.04MPa,then turn off the vacuum pump to prevent the distillation bottle from falling off and sucking back.

2. Each interface, sealing surface, sealing ring and joint need to be coated with a layer of vacuum grease before installation.

3. Water must be added before the heating tank is energized, and dry burning without water is not allowed.

4. If the vacuum degree is too low, check the air tightness of each joint, vacuum tube and glass bottle.

5. When vacuum rotary evaporator is used for air-sensitive substances, connect a nitrogen balloon to the exhaust port, first pass a burst of nitrogen gas, discharge the air in the rotary evaporator, and then connect the sample bottle for rotary evaporation. After evaporating, release nitrogen to increase the pressure, then turn off the pump, and then remove the sample bottle and seal it.

6. If the sample has a high viscosity, the rotation speed should be slowed down and rotated slowly by hand, so that a new liquid level can be formed and the solvent can be evaporated.

As a commonly used evaporation and purification instrument in the laboratory, the chemical rotary evaporator also has a set of strict operation methods. Therefore, the use steps and operating practices must be strictly followed in daily use.