Laboratory Carboys

Laboratory Carboys

These are used in laboratories for the storage of solutions, and acids, ammonia, etc., are received in them. The problem with them is usually how to get the contents out of them. One of the easiest ways is to place the carboy in a Stevenson’s tilter. This consists of a pair of rockers so fixed that the carboy can be readily tilted on its side. They can be easily attached and removed from the carboy. Another simple way of drawing from a carboy is to set the carboy on a brick or block a foot or so from the floor and draw the contents by means of a siphon. A pump may be purchased or made for emptying carboys, consisting of a large rubber stopper perforated with two holes, through one of which passes a tube long enough to reach to the bottom of the carboy and having its upper end bent into a wide U, so as to deliver the liquid into a bottle or beaker. Through the other hole of the stopper a short piece of tubing reaches just inside and is connected with an ordinary bicycle foot pump. The rubber stopper is now forced into the mouth of the carboy and wired or tied securely in. The acid is then forced out by working the pump. The bought apparatus has a special form of clamp to keep the stopper in the bottle when the pressure in the latter gets up to the point of forcing the acid out

For agitating the contents of the carboy, as in making solutions in large quantities, blowing compressed air through the liquid by means of a long tube reaching to the bottom of the carboy will prove convenient and efficient. Where air would oxidize, carbon dioxide or hydrogen may be generated in stone jugs, washed and passed through.