A refrigerant tube or condenser is a laboratory equipment made of glass. It is used to condense the vapors that come off a distillation flask through a cooling liquid that circulates inside it.
What is it?
It is a laboratory equipment made of glass used to condense the vapor that emerges in a distillation process, through the use of a cooling liquid.
It has two concentric cylindrical tubes. The steam to be condensed circulates in the inner tube and the cooling liquid circulates through the outer tube. They generally circulate in opposite directions to maximize heat transfer.
The ends of the inner glass tube are provided with ground glass gaskets so that they can be fitted with other glassware.
The outer glass tube has two connections where coolant inlet and outlet hoses are fitted.
The refrigerant must be constantly circulating to maintain the temperature that the vapor can condense. In general, too high a flow rate is not necessary to maintain cooling.
What is it for?
They are used in reflux where hot solvent vapors are cooled in the condenser and allowed to drip. This reduces the loss of solvent and allows the mixtures to be heated for a long time.
They are used in distillation in order to cool hot vapors.
Types of refrigerant tube or condenser tube
Refrigerant pipes come in different types:
Allihn condenser: It is known as a bulb condenser or reflux condenser. It is a long tube with a water jacket that circulates through the outer tube. It has bulges inside to increase the condensation surface of the steam.
Air condenser: The heat diffuses through the glass and is cooled by the outside air.
Dimroth condenser: It has an internal double spiral for cooling in such a way that both the inlet and the outlet of the cooling liquid are at the top.
Friedrichs condenser: It is known as a spiral or coil condenser. It consists of a large internal spiral located within a larger cylindrical capsule.
Graham condenser: It is also known as a spiral condenser. It has a spiral coil that runs the entire length of the tube.
Liebig condenser: It is the simplest model of water-cooled condensers.
Vigreux condenser: It is a modification of the air condenser. It is used as a fractionation column.
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