191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

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Jacksonbrown
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by Jacksonbrown »

I had another thought and have another Q.

Is the RC a shotgun style or have they just jacketed the top of the column?
If it’s only jacketed and you removed all the packing that was in there this could explain it all.
If that’s the case then copper mesh in there is your solution.
You need to create a bit of turbulence and heat transfer from the column wall into the vapour.
You should be able to turn the water down and the heat up if that's the issue.

FYI my CM has the condensers hooked up in series and it performs fine.
Water use at 1.1 kW is less than 250ml/min which would be about 40ml/min of 95% product out.
This was over a 30% boiler charge and through a 600mm 2” column of SPP.
100% RR is still uses well under 500ml/min.
honkey
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by honkey »

Wow, quite a read so far...
To answer a few questions:
-The still was purchased from Hillbilly Stills. It is a stainless steel column that they no longer produce. It looks almost exactly like the mile hi still that I linked earlier.
-I heat with a propane burner and I adjust the flame to try to hold a trickle. I ran it yesterday and it took me about 9.5 hours to get two gallons at 176 proof. The boiler had been charged with 35% ABV using stripping runs that I had saved up. It seemed like if I backed off the heat at all, I would have taken many hours to collect one quart.
-I have not been able to run it 100% reflux with nothing coming out of the condensing arm. I have wondered before if my water pressure is not high enough, it sounds like that may be the case.
-The column is packed with copper mesh that I would guess occupies about 4 inches of the column at the base.
-I have checked the proof from various fractions and it seems like I reach 176 and it runs at 176 for pretty much the whole run until I start to get to the tails
-I use a half barrel beer keg as my boiler
rad14701
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by rad14701 »

Wow...!!! Your run took about 6 hours too long, give or take... How big was the boiler charge...???
honkey
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by honkey »

About 7 gallons... Maybe 7.5
googe
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by googe »

Turn up the heat!.
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bellybuster
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by bellybuster »

only 4" of packing is doing very little for you, pack that sucker up
honkey
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by honkey »

bellybuster wrote:only 4" of packing is doing very little for you, pack that sucker up
Yeah, that's what I was starting to think. I had seen a bunch of people using copper scrubbies filling up their column, meanwhile, mine is occupying very little, but is packed in very tight. Unfortunately, one of my co-workers through away my rashig rings thinking they were packing material.
rad14701
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by rad14701 »

honkey wrote:
bellybuster wrote:only 4" of packing is doing very little for you, pack that sucker up
Yeah, that's what I was starting to think. I had seen a bunch of people using copper scrubbies filling up their column, meanwhile, mine is occupying very little, but is packed in very tight. Unfortunately, one of my co-workers through away my rashig rings thinking they were packing material.
The entire column needs to be packed as the unpacked column is worthless... Without being packed there is no temperature gradient and no reflux... Get it filled properly and you'll see an instant difference in performance...
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Tokoroa_Shiner
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by Tokoroa_Shiner »

No use complaining about not getting the results the manufacturer claims when it not set up how the manufacturer says it should be. Fill that column up with packing and it will be all goodies.
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honkey
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by honkey »

Tokoroa_Shiner wrote:No use complaining about not getting the results the manufacturer claims when it not set up how the manufacturer says it should be. Fill that column up with packing and it will be all goodies.
It is packed exactly as they said it should be. The packing came as a package with the still and included a video on how to install it.
rad14701
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by rad14701 »

That's all well and good but you stated that a co-worker threw away a majority of the packing, right...???
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skow69
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by skow69 »

Fiill the column, obviously, but that won't get yer speed up. The only way to do that is with more power, which you can't do because that 4 inch jacket can't knock it down, right? Sounds like it will need an upgrade reflux condenser to get any performance. Sorry.
Distilling at 110f and 75 torr.
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honkey
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by honkey »

rad14701 wrote:That's all well and good but you stated that a co-worker threw away a majority of the packing, right...???
He threw away the ranching rings that came with it. They took up about another 4 inches of the column and even with them, I still never reached 191
rad14701
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Re: 191 Proof- Possible on my Setup?

Post by rad14701 »

Gotta fill that column with scrubbers, SPP, marbles, lava rock, or Raschig rings in order to gain purity... Fill'er up...!!! :thumbup:
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