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Hi,

I've been asked to ask the brains trust "Using ditillation to extract oils", from rosemary etc., what practical do you use?

https://edu.rsc.org/download?ac=12160#: ... 0separated.

We did this one last year but we cut down the volumes because we only have 50ml volumetric flask.
hope this helps
it smelt pretty good
EDIT:
I don't know why it is asking you to register. when i simply google the prac title I can view the document in PDF format but when I follow the link I posted, it asks you to register?
sorry

Thanks Rowanne,

I can't explain that they are not going to get large amounts of oil. Not listening and is continuing to keep trying different methods I think 1-2mls is pretty good. I feel like buying some esstential oils and adding to it! lol I don't know where she is getting the information now wants to try using Anisole. I don't know where to go from here.

metal health day

macca wrote: ↑10 Mar 2022, 11:50 I think 1-2mls is pretty good.

So do I Macca , especially in a small batch like we will do .
we tried something like that last year . Chem teacher tried Tee tree and Bio teacher tried Rosemary IIRC. in both cases , the best they got was a Hydrosol with a very subtle hint .

The biggest problem is you need a heck of a lot of leaf to get a small amount of oil .
Also it is preferable to not have the leaf in the boiler but in a basket that the steam passes through . The basket is refreshed over and over as the oil is depleted from each batch.

There is a special apparatus called a Hydrosol Separator when doing long runs used by hobby and commercial Essential oil producers.
It will let the oil float to the top and collect while the Hydrosol is continuously drained off .Once finished , you separate the oil from the remaining Hydrosol .

LOL , I only known all this because my Chem teacher is mad keen on it .

Thanks Bigmack, I was just thinking of you. I'm destressing by straigthening some wire around my chair "Electromagnets" so thank you for both suggestions. Yes I think it's pretty good too although I do think she is stretching it I'd say 1ml, the orange oil was the best. that was 500ml flask which I'm hanging onto for dear life so hard to replace. Grated orange peel and reflux for an extended time before distilation.

Thanks again