> Obviously nobody has done this in a way of production of
> acetic anhydride and not only as proof of principle experiment.
depends on the scale you are thinking about. 50ml have been made in two
sessions. it's not the l per day that osmium speaks about, but i'm
pretty sure a few hundred ml per day is possible, when you do things like
stirring the recipient or use a good gas dispersion tube. personally i
wouldn't let the thing run unattended, so expect a week's work for a
liter of Ac2O. not too bad imho (if you can't get it from a chem company).
and don't expect a "good" yield either, but come on - acetone in larger
quantities is so dirt cheap it's not even funny. most of the unreacted
AcOH is recovered by distillation.
the only thing that has to be worked out is the insulation of the
lamp. i've heard of bees having problems with this. the rest is sound.
> Why does nobody mention the black tar?
which black tar? the only thing my test subject encountered was
the yellow/dirty condensate in the recipient of the second condensor
i've mentioned. maybe you aren't cooling it fast enough?
> Glassware is the wrong material whats obvious. You want as less
> openings and joints as ever possible as acetone burns and ketene is a wargas.
i disagree. glass is the perfect material for this. ground joints are
flexible and seal very well. the only thing that is problematic is the
insulation of the lamp itself. if you know a glass blower, let him make you
a special item, otherwise the best method i know of is euro-rubber-stoppers
(the ones that don't go brittle) and teflon tape. works so-so.
the patent you quote is from '33. did they even know ground glass joints
and nichrome wire back then?
note that our reaction chamber does
not have 700°C, only the wires do. i think this is what makes the ketene-lamp
so favorable over the 24 burners bullshit.
anway, if you manage to make the metal catalyst method viable,
more power to you!
the advantage i see is that
the gasses are less toxic, but on the other hand, it does sound
like more work...