Swim is planning construction of a steam distillation setup and thinks he has found a good container for the boiling water/plant mass section of the still. The container has a threaded top to easily attach tubing, a pressure blow-off valve, a long thin side window, and a spigot at the bottom.
The only problem is, the container has no large holes or openings to load/unload biomass. Swim has no apprehensions about cutting the top off of this sucker, but is a little unsure about how to go about modifying it so that it can again be sealed, reopened, resealed, etc.
This will only be used for steam distillations, and so the only performance requirement of the sealing is that it be waterproof and resistant to essential oils at 100c (not just certain special alkenes; swim plans to use this for a variety of oils).
The diameter of the container is about about 1 ft and swim imagines that the thickness of the steel is ~1/8".
Swim was thinking he could cut two ring-like discs from sheet steel with an inner diameter equal to that of the container, and an outer diameter about an inch or so more. These would then be welded to the recently cut ends of the two container pieces. From there, rubber or plastic or something would be set between the discs, creating a seal. The two container pieces could then easilly be held together with clamps or bolts and wingnuts on the protruding outer parts of the discs.
Swim was thinking he could get some 1/8" or 1/4" plastic sheeting and cutting it to the same shape as the steel discs. Swim thinks this should provide a sufficient seal if enough clamping pressure is used.
Swim's first question is, is there an easier way to do this? Second, does anyone have any suggestions as to what material would be best to put between these two discs to seal them? Any advice on what kind of plastic/rubber to use would be appreciated.
Any other comments or suggestions are welcome.