Process drains: closed system

In some cases a closed drainage system can be used which drains process components directly into the oily water sewer. This has the advantage of avoiding releases of vapors in any instance, but assurance must be obtained that back pressure from one drainage location will not backfeed liquids into another drain point when two valves are open simultaneously or other drainage valves can contain any backpressure on them from other drainage sources. 

The remaining diethyl ether is fractionally distilled off from the dimethyl-cadmium at atmospheric pressue (bp 34-35°C). Distillation is continued until pure dimethylcadmium has started to cross the still head (bp 105-106°C)—at which point the argon flow through the paraffin-oil bubbler is increased to a rapid purge while the oil bath is lowered quickly to prevent distillation of further product. The system is allowed to stand for several minutes to allow any dimethylcadmium in the Vigreux column to drain back down into the distillation flask and valve D is then closed. A small amount of dimethylcadmium will decompose during this distillation process, as witnessed by the cadmium metal residue formed in the distillation flask, but this is unavoidable and does not significantly affect the subsequent yield of product. 

Continuous treatment is understandably more demanding than the other processes, because it requires close monitoring, but it is also more efficient. For example, the particle size of the contact tartrate and the level in the crystallizer must be monitored by sampling after a few hours, using the drain system. 

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