Oblitze Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of the reflux column being placed to the side of the boiler instead of the top. Here's a visualization to give an idea of what I'm talking about. http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x242/gul_duaach/stillsetup.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of the reflux column being placed to the side of the boiler instead of the top. Here's a visualization to give an idea of what I'm talking about. http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x242/gul_duaach/stillsetup.jpg Most of the more complex distillation equipment being sold these days offers the option of either placing the column on top of the pot or off to the side. If you need only 3-4 plates to achieve your desired alcohol concentration (whiskey, rum etc.), and have perhaps 15ft of overhead space, than put the short column on the top of the pot. If you require more plates for making Vodka, having a 16 place column on top of the pot will require 30ft of overhead, and a very tall ladder to manage the plates. If you just want a packed reflux column without plates, the same issues apply. The German distillery manufacturers (Carl, Kothe, Holstein) will all put columns to the side, providing piping and valve arrangements allowing the use of part or all of the system, depending on what you need for the product being worked with. Vendome (Kentucky) will probably suggest a short column with 3-4 plates mounted above the pot, with a side mounted reflux column for producing Vodka. Either approach can me used to make some very high quality spirits, given experience in the specific equipment. In the case of Vendome, they include a pump to return the reflux collected at the bottom of the column to the pot, seems to work just fine. The German folks simply mount the columns high enough to use gravity draining to return reflux to the pot. Your diagram seems a bit off, as it portrays a dephlegmator being below the top of the reflux column, with what looks like a narrow return line to the middle of the column. In my experience, dephlegmators are mounted at the top of the column, and use gravity to return what vapor is condensed directly down the column from the top, where it will be involved in the maximum amount of reflux. Also, with the blue holding tank you show this system as a continuous distillation system, which brings into question other issues regarding the need to remove by-products from the still as you feed in more from the holding tank, and the problems with the alcohol percentage in the still varying widely as new fluid is fed from the holding tank, and therefore upsetting the equilibrium situation that is vital to running a reflux system properly. Continuous distillation systems are pretty tricky to get right, not really suitable for starting out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panama Jack Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 How tall would the side column under Vendome's designe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 There is a pretty decent book out there called "The Alcohol Textbook".....: http://www.ethanoltech.com/education/alcohol_textbook.html.....it is a little pricey but I would bet someone has scanned it on a home distillery site some where. Sieve plates, process flow and what not.....looks to me like you are considering a continuous system....another book from a fuel perspective is http://www.permaculture.com/book_menu/360/277 "Alcohol can be a Gas"....there is also the perennial favorite of mine, from ADI member Ian Smiley: Making Pure Corn Whiskey: A Professional Guide For Amateur And Micro Distillers [Paperback] Best, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 ...if your heart is in making your own still....you really got kick around a bit at: http://homedistiller.org/ I think the TTB still has a fuel license application (http://www.ttb.gov/forms/f511074.pdf) that is not too onerous and may be a better solution than a visit from a member of law enforcement. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porter Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 There is a pretty decent book out there called "The Alcohol Textbook".....: http://www.ethanoltech.com/education/alcohol_textbook.html.....it is a little pricey but I would bet someone has scanned it on a home distillery site some where. Sieve plates, process flow and what not.....looks to me like you are considering a continuous system....another book from a fuel perspective is http://www.permaculture.com/book_menu/360/277 "Alcohol can be a Gas"....there is also the perennial favorite of mine, from ADI member Ian Smiley: Making Pure Corn Whiskey: A Professional Guide For Amateur And Micro Distillers [Paperback] "The Alcohol Textbook 4th Edition" is indeed out there in true PDF format, doesn't look like it was home scanned. That's more of a scientific approach book though, but very interesting and will be on my ipod soon. Agree, if you are building your own unit take a look around at good working designs. Bubble plates and such are good, but difficult for a small producer to build without some insight to the process. The highest priced still won't make good product. That's in learning how to use the tools. So don't complicate matters when learning 50 other things about the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bonanza Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 There are a lot of issues in your draw. The holding tank is useless for a batch operation, missing reflux return to the boiler, misplaced dephlegmator, product tank too high, air-cooled product condenser etc. I would go back to basics and read up a lot before investing in this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblitze Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 We have two 15ft by 5ft jacket sleeve condensers. The new product being feed would come from a stripping still where the heads will be removed first. The column will be 10ft by 6in. the pic was just meant as a basic idea. We have one 150G tank and one 500G tank i'm trying to find out an efficient way to put the together. We only have a 15ft ceiling to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblitze Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 There is a pretty decent book out there called "The Alcohol Textbook".....: http://www.ethanoltech.com/education/alcohol_textbook.html.....it is a little pricey but I would bet someone has scanned it on a home distillery site some where. Sieve plates, process flow and what not.....looks to me like you are considering a continuous system....another book from a fuel perspective is http://www.permaculture.com/book_menu/360/277 "Alcohol can be a Gas"....there is also the perennial favorite of mine, from ADI member Ian Smiley: Making Pure Corn Whiskey: A Professional Guide For Amateur And Micro Distillers [Paperback] Best, Brian Thank you for the advice I did find this book and am looking forward to reading it I found it on www.scribd.com, they have tons of stuff you can read or download Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlanddistillery Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Thank you for the advice I did find this book and am looking forward to reading it I found it on www.scribd.com, they have tons of stuff you can read or download We used a side-mounted column with our still. The kettle is 400 gallons and the column was a 6', 12" diameter, copper-packed column on 6' legs. With the condensor on top the entire thing stood about 15 ft. You can see pictures at highballdistillery.com. I'm actually trying to sell this setup. If anyone is interested, call 503-803-3989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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