The "thing" on the pic is, as You assume, for bleeding a large radiator, as in letting out air from Your rad. If You ever heard the term "elementnyckel" (radiator key) (can be bought at Clas Ohlsson) that´s what You use for opening the valve in the pic and bleed the rad.
Ditch it and bleed Your system with other devices. It looks like it´s in a crappy condition and won´t do You any good.
regards
Mikael S.