5 Gallon Lid Gasket?

[Blammo]

I'd like to run some larger scale merucry amalgam reductions, and the thing is I need and overhead stirrer. Obviously, methanol fumes are an issue, and could ignite.



In order to prevent that, I want to design a lid that does not leak vapors, or as little as possible.



I'd probably rigup a sort of stand, then attach a drill to it, with a paint stirring head, and use that to stir.



I need help designing a sort of gasket that can prevent as mucb fumes as possible, and won't get destroyed over a few hours of stirring.



Can anyone help with this?

 

[HIGGS BOSSON]

You need to assemble something similar to a chemical reactor from household products, preferably with a jacket and a condenser.
The vapors from the reaction mass must exit through a cooled condenser.
Perhaps it is still easier to buy a ready-made reactor.
And if you make it from plastic, then the yields will be smaller.

 

[VenditorPulverum]

There is no suitable sealing solution for your situation. Gasket sealing implies that a soft material is squeezed between the imperfect surfaces of much harder materials. Your "hard" material is the thin walls of the plastic bucket. You could seal the lid with soft teflon tape or teflon thread, but installing a radial shaft seal in that thin plastic lid would be almost impossible and not a good solution.
Your only choices are to either construct a proper reactor from steel and use the appropiate linings. Only in that situation can you achieve a good seal and obtain an apparatus that can be used for multiple runs. You also need cooling, reflux and pressure equalized addition...