GB915306A - Apparatus for separating the components of mixtures - Google Patents

Abstract

<PICT:0915306/III/1> An apparatus for separating mixtures by fractional sublimation comprises a vertical tubular furnace having an open-ended inner wall 2, means to heat said wall to produce an upwardly increasing temperature gradient there-in, a plurality of thermometers T1-T4 adjacent to and arranged at intervals along said wall, and a thermostatically controlled body K detachably or fixedly supported at the upper end of said wall and having a recess 18 therein adapted to accommodate the upper end of a tube 11 for the mixture to be separated. In the illustrated embodiment to which the above numerals relate, sample M is supported in tube 11 by means of a spring 16 and the other end of the tube is connected to a vacuum apparatus comprising an oil diffusion pump 14 and rotary pump 15. The furnace comprises inner and outer glass tubes 2 and 1, confining a high boiling liquid such as squalane and also if desired, air or inert gas. The liquid is connected to a float-controlled switching device 10 operating, through relay 32 and resistor 31, a heating coil 4 surrounding the outer vessel and having the turns closer together at the top than the bottom and supported in thermally insulating material 30. The furnace assembly has a support 26 upon which also is supported (preferably movably) the body K which is thermostatically controlled by bimetallic strip device 19. The block is surrounded, as shown, by a heating coil 22 in the same way as the furnace but may if desired be surrounded by a vessel containing squalane. A mixture to be separated (e.g. blood, urine or other body fluid) is placed in the tube which is then evacuated. The block of metal is raised and heated to the required temperature, the tube is inserted in the furnace and the desired temperature gradient established therein. The block is then lowered and the volatile components of the mixture are released and form as separate deposits in the form of annular zones in tube 11 depending on the temperature at said zones. The resultant series of zones may be used to determine the proportions and nature of the constituents of the mixture as described in Specification 915,305.