Switching extraction material Soxhlet chamber

[Sertürner]

So I had asked this inside of another thread i made here but no response to that part.

When I perform Soxhlet extractions, I have to do them on smaller scales than I would prefer due to the size of my extraction chamber (holds ~50g of material).
I am looking to find a way to switch out the used material for the new one without having to stop the process and let everything cool down. I would like to keep the soxhlet running continuously.
Is there a way to do this effectively and safely that I am not thinking of? I have every joint coated with silicone grease and cannot fin a way to do this =/.

 

[sekio]

The obvious solution is to get a bigger soxhlet.

Otherwise you kind of have to cool everything down and replace the material.

 

[Sertürner]

The obvious solution is to get a bigger soxhlet.

Otherwise you kind of have to cool everything down and replace the material.

Yeah I was really trying to avoid that route. I figured somebody must've been able to find a way.
Doesnt matter for a while not because my siphon arm busted. At some point last it got clogged, no good. After cooling and disassembling to unclog it and get it started back up, the siphon broke (which was weird be cause it didnt hit anything.) So now I'm waiting for my replacement to come in. Thank god for warranties!

 

[vecktor]

Normal way is to have a multiposition mantle, with 3 positions and complete 3 soxhlet assemblies, one is running one is cooling and one is ready to run.

If you know what you are doing reconnect the two ends of the soxhlet siphon using PTFE or glass without a loop, this then means that hot solvent drips through the material and immediately returns rather than the luke warm solvent of normal soxhlet, extraction efficiency is much higher but you have to fit a distributor a perforated disc of PTFE metal or glass to spread the condensed returning solvent across the surface and through the solid. rather than relying on the soxhlet filling up.

Large scale extractions are done continuously with a solvent return usually in several stages but that is big boys stuff. loads of different ways to do it but usually if the system is semi batch then the simplest system is a still with a reflux orientation condenser without a product cooler into two or more extraction columns one working one ready to work with a valve that can switch between the two columns. The extraction columns are heated and the eluent flowing out the top or bottom is either returned to the main still or to a stripper still and the recovered solvent is returned to the main still.

Really big boy stuff is a long angled rotating drum with solvent and solid and a screw inside the drum to push solid the opposite way to the hot condensed solvent, a countercurrent extractor. If you do patent searches for this kind of stuff there are loads, the older patents being more practical.

good luck with your herbal tincture extractions. I hope they are not illegal.