I went all in fractionating

[Oldguy]

Hey guys

New to the forum

Recently purchased a fractionating column, i am hoping to make NGS but i may have to add another column that i will probably build myself.

Have most of the equipment so far just waiting on my steam boiler and have to purchase a few condensers any tips for that? 

Out of curiosity how would you guys would run the column, always good to get other people's perspectives that have been doing it longer.

B,M and K are all feed inlets.  I will feed into K and  B will be my reflux return.  My take of point will probably be J.

A is the reboiler return, L is the steam inlet.

Column is structure packed with 350y it has approximately 9500mm of packing.  

My feed will be 30% alcohol fed into K so i have 4717mm of packing before my draw of point at J.  Point B will obviously be methanol, or i may add another column for further rectification and attach to point B.

Any tips or ideas are more than welcome

 

Thanks

 

 

[captnKB]

Neat looking column and welcome to the forum. Id like to give you more input on operating the column but would need more information to do so. Can you share a bit more with us including number of trays in the column and some of your expected inputs?

Cheers,

---KB

[Oldguy]

1 hour ago, captnKB said:

Neat looking column and welcome to the forum. Id like to give you more input on operating the column but would need more information to do so. Can you share a bit more with us including number of trays in the column and some of your expected inputs?

Cheers,

---KB

Hey 

Thanks for the welcome.

There is only 3 sieve/distribution trays in  the column, there is approximately 9500mm of structured packing (350y stainless steel mesh).

My input will be 30% alcohol give or take a little bit, this will be grain free.  The column input is rated in excess of 600 litres per hour.

The column is 46ft in height and 323.9mm diameter with 500mm of insulation.

Thanks

 

 

[captnKB]

Wow that is pretty big column for starting off. A column that size will produce a heck of a lot of neutral spirit. I dont think the column would run well feeding it such high ABV, typically columns of this size run better with a different inputs. If you need any help setting up the column of speccing ancilliary equipment for it, drop me a line and I can certainly help you out. Distillerynow@gmail.com