Extracting Hexanes from Gasoline/Petrol

Despite the high petrol prices currently, it remains the most accessible and cheap source of hydrocarbons one can find. But how to make it useful? We do a distillation, chemically clean it up to remove unwanted products, then distil again to extract out some alkanes, a useful inert solvent that for some reason I store in a jar.

Music: Aphex Twin AFX - 34 ibiza spliff

[Malephex]

"... I've clamped it ... well" (whole setup held in place by a big rock)

[hoppityhares]

This is fantastic to watch after trying some of those "cannaboids" you weren't pronouncing right in this video

[mileswe]

"I can't even pronounce canaboids correctly" good cover my dude. I think they bought it

[xvrrecords]

at 2:45 when he pointed out the butane fumes my instinctive reaction was to think “ooh put a lighter up to it” and that’s why I wouldn’t have made a good chemist.

[mfree]

I'm absolutely dying here, because the video kicked off with a minute long ad for Dupont Nomex flame-resistant suits...

[RangerOfTheOrder]

"You can tell how much I do drugs because I can't pronounce them"
That puts you in one of two extremes

[moneyman]

"Chilly 33 degree day" as an American: "oh thats cold" *remembers metric syatem* "oh Australian sarcasm"

[onyxv.o.]

In this episode of extractions and ire, Tdep invents the new word "Canaboids" as well as the return of the well known "Soxehelet" from previous videos. What an episode! So many atrocities to the english language!
All jokes aside, awesome video. I was thinking of doing a similar project at some point. Loved the final shot.

[giovannilp]

“Cannaboids”
“THC shit from weed”
“You can tell how much drugs I do”
H M M M M

[orion]

*casually references drug manufacture*

*immediately deflects*

10/10. Let's light it on fire.

[flimsybop]

For anyone in the US I would distill starting fluid. Prestone 10 oz cans at walmart cost $3 per bottle, and are about half n-heptane and half diethyl ether after you get rid of the small amount of methanol (wash with water after distilling). Super cheap and easy and you get a bunch of ether too!

[Iowahurler]

Can confirm that hexane is used for soybean oil extraction. It is flammable enough that one is not allowed to use steel tools inside the fence, let alone the building. I have had the privilege to have to do some welding inside one of these buildings to facilitate changing a 28, 000-pound gearbox with eight 55 gallon drums of oil. The entire building had to be steam purged.

[SunriseLAW]

Fun Related Fact: Acetone boils at 56.05°C,
n-hexane at 68.73°C. However, a mixture of 54.4% acetone and 45.6% hexane
boils at 49.8°C. That’ s 6° lower that the acetone alone and
nearly 20° lower than the hexane.

[XMA]

Also Hexane is neurotoxic which is why it is gradually replaced by heptane as much as possible. Stay safe!

[spiderdude]

Pro tip: dip a Pasteur pipette (or any very thin glass tube, like a capillary tube for example) into a permanganate reaction and you’ll easily be able to detect a purple color or not. You don’t even need to drop it into water.

[kimmy_future]

I'm not a chemist by any means but I love watching this stuff and you're really great at explaining it simply. thanks!

[casperborn]

turning that flask while the liquid stays in place looks surprisingly mesmerising

[bradgirod]

We have a type of pine here in Northern California that produces large amounts of heptane. It was once used as part of engine knock testing.

[ShroomLab]

In the hardware store they sell something called white liqour special, in the sds they say its 100% c6 to c7 without aromatic compounds

[littlemissmisses]

I’ve just found your channels and I think you’ve cured my depression. I will continue running thorough tests though