Methro_tull, aquagirl, and others had suggested the use of a hose to just kittylitter as the odor containment device.
Ibee's belief that HI gas was an essential in rxns of any HI type, turned out to be incorrect. Aqueous HI is the essential ingredient. This in turn makes h2o a bees friend in the HI rxn.
Ibee set out to prove this to himself! Not that he didn't trust what respectable bees reported along the "uncapped" rxn lines. He just had to see for himself!
He's run rxns to completion without any balloon, condensor or tanks.
In drier short rxns, it was noticed that h2o was driven off or used up and the contents would solidify.
The rxn would complete but only percentage-wise.
The measurment of success in those cases were dependent on the level of hydration.
While Ibee never tried it, He did entertain ben_wiffens idea of flipping a bowl over the flask in an oilbath, leaving enough headroom for the rxn to breath. The bowl rim would create the seal in the oil and according to BMW, it would burp out gas on occasion.
Some may recall Ibees reports during early LWR testing that he would cook the rxn for days with very little h2o and on the last day he would add h2o to fire off complete reduction.
Ibee's cooked rxns to bonedry desert looking powder in the early daze of the 3-4-5day cooks. All produced product...Spacey as all get-out, but product.
The sevenday cooks that didn't convert at all were thought to be products of a reverse-rxn taking place.
We now know that isn't possible.
There had to be a happy medium among all the reactants in the developement of LWR. This had to take into account the HI concentration at levels needed to reduce.
With the LWR, Since a shift was implemented away from all the instruction bees had up to that point, the focus was set on determining the best apparatii and conditions suited for success.
After all, when Ibee first learned...many things defied logic surrounding the suggested parameters in the HI rxn if Ibee encountered 15 failures at his first times up to bat.
These were by-the-book rxns.
The condensor/balloon or just balloon type rxns proved to be the most consistant successful full reductions in the LWR.
Does the rxn need to be contained to complete?
No!
But the chances of full reduction are decreased if the h2o is used up before reduction takes place.
Therefore it's suggested that the rxn be carried out under cdonditions that minimize the chances of h2o being cooked off into the air.
Be it LWR....P/P....hot/fast...it's always best to not subject yourself to rxn fumes.
If the rxn device springs a leak...plug it and continue for the best chances of success and safety purposes.
There is no right or wrong here, because the rxn will complete either way.
There is a better or worse though.
