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DanielMaguire

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  1. I don't think anyone is advocating for increased regulation, just increased safety. I'm confused as to why you can't just slap a 15 psi PRV onto your still and be done with it (forgive me if you've already done this). It is widely considered to be the basic safety standard in this industry, what every distiller I know would require, and if the still is never going to pressurize to even 15 psi (true under NORMAL conditions) then the most pointless thing about this discussion is arguing that you should be okay using the 60 psi PRV. Having a higher psi PRV in an unpressurized vessel serves no purpose other than not working as quickly in case of an emergency. I agree that describing your equipment as a bomb was inflammatory, but to suggest that the manufacturers of our equipment aren't responsible for what "idiots" do is false and infuriatingly insensitive. First of all, by selling Silver Trails a still which included a 125 psi PRV, the manufacturer was implying that the still would not suffer catastrophic damage until it reached that degree of pressurization, whether it was explicitly stated or not. Otherwise why have the PRV at all? Manufacturers should have a firm grasp on the failure conditions of their equipment. We are distillers. It is a really good idea to have some basic engineering knowledge, as is evidenced by this tragedy, but that is not a prerequisite. It is, however, a requirement for the people designing our equipment. If manufacturers do not tailor their equipment to the lowest common denominator, which we have already discussed in this case doesn't actually cost anything (other than maybe a little forum pride), there will be more accidents, injuries, and deaths. You say you are opposed to McKee's original objection because it could lead to greater regulation? Let's see what happens after a few more people die from avoidable accidents. As a manufacturer, the liability for something like the Silver Trails incident would not fall on you, but it could have been avoided at the manufacturing level. Now that you are aware of how some people may be misusing their equipment it is your obligation to adjust your standards. If you knowingly supply equipment that will fail in the same way as the Silver Trails still, after learning that the fix is as trivial as switching out PRVs, you ARE to blame for the next accident. Self regulation is the only way to avoid imposed governmental regulation. Darwinism will not work.
  2. Floor level ventilation isn't as useful in a room where ethanol vapor being leaked from a still is a potential concern. Gasses discharged from the still will be both hot, thus rising, and agitated, if not by general airflow from movement then from convection created by the hot equipment, thereby mixing as meercat suggested. They are, however, being used in barrel aging rooms, as the ethanol vapor slowly leaks and can stratify in the less frequented rooms. This is more of an insurance issue at the moment but expect to hear more about it as the regulating bodies turn more of their attention to us.
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