Final Report - Ohio Department of Transportation

The second 1000 ml collection flask was attached to the first by plastic tubing. The second
flask was also attached to a series of water-cooled condensers. This was configured to allow
condensate to drain back into the collection flask. Any gaseous byproducts that did not condense
were discharged through the exhaust of a laboratory hood (see Fig. 18).
In early trials of the carbonization process (i.e. with samples from 2008), unheated discharge
piping directed the off gas directly to the 1000 ml flask and the water-cooled condensers. This
led to more bituminous products condensing and concentrating within the discharge pipe, which
required constant clearing to maintain adequate flow. To avoid this problem and to increase
actual collection of off-products, the configuration with the 250 ml collection flask was used.
The impact of these collection system modification are discussed in the Results section.
Fig. 18 - Secondary Collection Flask with Water-Cooled Condenser
Once the setup and all connections were made between the reactor, pipe, flasks, and tube, the
muffle furnace was closed and set to a temperature of 250° C for approximately 45 min. After
this initial period of heating, the furnace would be raised and set to 350° C. While some off
gassing occurred during the first heating setting (mostly steam), much more significant off
gassing (a dense white smoke) would begin to travel through the collection system after the
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