Dan's Flute x2, 4" x 5 plate 42" column

[dan]

Guys,

I was just trying to build a heat element control that was easy to put together with off the shelf parts and a little bit of cool factor thrown in for good measure and keep the cost reasonable. I can put the temp probe above the dephlagmater or below it or in the boiler or in my mouth for that matter. knowing everything that you guys do where would be the best place in the distillation process to put a temp probe to control the heat in the boiler?? Just don't tell me to put it up my a-- if you know what i mean..... I am a little sensitive Thanks again for all the help. Would it make sense to put a thermowell at the base of my column because the temperature will constantly change throughout the run above and below the dephlagmater based on the abv of the vapor??

-Dan

[dan]

What the temperatures are matters less than how you control it... Any heat/power control needs to be constant and proportional rather than On-Off...

Rad,

That was what I am attempting to do with the temp probe heat control. The set point of the control v.s. actual temp tells the control when to fire up and when to shut down. This keeps your temp at any point in the column/boiler to within +/- 0.2% of a degree. My goal was to be able to set my desired temperature for the best or most efficient reflux and then the best or most efficient take off rate all with a very repeatable temp point instead of power point. maybe I am chasing rainbows...

-Dan

[LWTCS]

The set point of the control v.s. actual temp tells the control when to fire up and when to shut down. This keeps your temp at any point in the column/boiler to within +/- 0.2% of a degree.

Yer not getting it Dan.

[mash rookie]

Guys,

I was just trying to build a heat element control that was easy to put together with off the shelf parts and a little bit of cool factor thrown in for good measure and keep the cost reasonable. I can put the temp probe above the dephlagmater or below it or in the boiler or in my mouth for that matter. knowing everything that you guys do where would be the best place in the distillation process to put a temp probe to control the heat in the boiler?? Just don't tell me to put it up my a-- if you know what i mean..... I am a little sensitive Thanks again for all the help. Would it make sense to put a thermowell at the base of my column because the temperature will constantly change throughout the run above and below the dephlagmater based on the abv of the vapor??

-Dan

Dan,
I have a thermometer in my boiler and in the head chamber above my depllag.

You will make adjustment decisions on your flute using your head temp and your parrot as your guide.

While the temp in the boiler is interesting, it is not of much value. Well, some value.
If you are controlling the boiler heating element with this controller the thermocouple should be placed in the boiler.

I have found (in my limited experience of two runs) that you can drive a flute much faster than other stills if you choose. More power in will put more vapor up the column that a flute can handle.

Running my burner hotter did not change temps much, just ran faster.

I don’t know what the upper limit is. That is when it does not perform correctly because of excessive vapor. It will be fun to learn. The flutes are a hell of a design.
MR

[hackware]

without a real time electronic input of the mash abv (which changes as the process proceeds), there is no way to determine the proper expected temperature of vapor in the column...

therefore, your pid controller will operate as a open loop controller, and will not give you the results you desire...

i've been looking into the requirements for automated mash abv, and the requirements are greater then the distilling process itself... (mixers, level detection, pressure, sensor cleaning, etc...)
("dirty" washes only make things more difficult (ie: "on the grain"))...

the best you can expect from a simple pid controller is to operate in a sliding window mode, which i suspect will be far from ideal...

[arami99]

Keep Up the good work Dan... Building my first still in a few days "Flute Still" as a newbie I really appreciated the photos. I started reading through the messages 2 months ago. Wow what alot of info on so many different types, but I liked the look of the Flute...

[dan]

Making a little progress tonight......

-Dan

[dan]

Last few..... This is in the garage where it will all happen..... This flute will head north in a few days.

-Dan

[mash rookie]

lookin good dan. Fire that baby up!

[The Baker]

Looks as though the first couple of coils of that air-cooled copper tube condenser are high on one side.
You want the product to flow downward all the way, not to pool anywhere.

[dan]

Well I finally fired up the column last night with all of the coolant lines hooked up...... This rig really works!! All five plates stacked up with water starting at the top and working it's way down to the bottom plate and they were bubbling away like crazy. I am going to try running some beer through it as a cleaning run and then on to the UJSSM. When you guys run a vinegar solution through the column to clean it what is your % of water to vinegar and is it better to run some alc through it before you actually consume some of your final product?? Thank you guys for all of your help once again!! This is awesome cool stuff.......

I do need to make my proofing parrot taller before I run the alc..... rookie mistake on my part by not doing the research before I build something....

-Dan

[mash rookie]

Well I finally fired up the column last night with all of the coolant lines hooked up...... This rig really works!! All five plates stacked up with water starting at the top and working it's way down to the bottom plate and they were bubbling away like crazy. I am going to try running some beer through it as a cleaning run and then on to the UJSSM. When you guys run a vinegar solution through the column to clean it what is your % of water to vinegar and is it better to run some alc through it before you actually consume some of your final product?? Thank you guys for all of your help once again!! This is awesome cool stuff.......

I do need to make my proofing parrot taller before I run the alc..... rookie mistake on my part by not doing the research before I build something....

-Dan

I think that I used a 50/50 mix of vinegar than used old feints for the cleaning run. Larry told me not to run beer. Cheap wine or cheap vodka diluted.