Column still ?

[anuffstuff]

currently use a 3 foot column still on a 1/2 barrel .. my question is, if i would mount 1/4 keg to 1/2 keg (opening to opening , with tri-clamp) and mount cooling stem to 1/4 barrel
1. work
2. make a difference in output considering the surface and volume of internal area of the 1/4 keg
3. or just a wast of time..lol
Thanks
Chris

[acfixer69]

A sketch would help before a use able answer can be given. Only can give guesses.

AC

[anuffstuff]

Basically.. I'm removing the column.. flipping 1/4 keg upside down and mounting the half and quarter keg together with tri-clamp. The vapor from the half keg will go into 1/4 keg , do the same thing as a column, just more surface and volume to re-condense before going out cooling tube. Any benefits of doing that? I'll try to draw it up and meet picture size requirements.
Chris

[nuntius01]

so basically your turning the 1/4 keg into an onion. should work . not sure how well. think you'd be the first here to try it. take pic of it and let us know.

[cede]

Yes would look like an onion but not as beautifully curved

I don't know it this would work good, as the keg is round 3mm thick if I remember well and in stainless.
Copper onions are using thinner gage and the thermal conductivity factor of copper being around 400 vs stainless steel around 17, I guess it will not condense as well in the keg than in a copper onion.

My guess it will not work as expected.

[Twisted Brick]

My guess is the cooler 1/4 keg "onion' would condense all of the vapor rising up into it until it got hot enough, which could be never, depending on insulation and ambient temp. Even if the "onion" was insulated, it would take forever since the scale of components appears inefficient. Previous attempts to induce reflux by cooling standard copper columns via fans or water have served only to prolong the run.

[anuffstuff]

I appreciate all input! My concerns was size also. Once it warms up some here on the East Coast I'll give it a whirl with pics and post results. May wrap 1/4 keg with water heater jacket to maintain heat for reflux to see what happens. Thanks all for the input.
Chris

[still_stirrin]

You could use the 1/4 barrel as a thumper. That’s been done many times (successfully). Check out some of the build threads.
ss

edited to add: To be effective “as a column” ( for reflux), you’ll need packing in the column. Packing a 30 liter, pony, or 1/6 barrel keg would be a real PITA.

[Danespirit]

+1 On the thumper idea.
Now I can't remember who wrote the post but somewhere in here, there was a guy connecting a column to a thumper.
Basically what you get, is one more distillation before the vapors enter the column...boosting the ABV.
Larry made an inline thumper setup, maybe you can use that as an inspiration. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... hilit=LWTC
It would be easy to connect a column on top of such a setup.

[anuffstuff]

+1 On the thumper idea.
Now I can't remember who wrote the post but somewhere in here, there was a guy connecting a column to a thumper.
Basically what you get, is one more distillation before the vapors enter the column...boosting the ABV.
Larry made an inline thumper setup, maybe you can use that as an inspiration. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... hilit=LWTC
It would be easy to connect a column on top of such a setup.

Thats cool as shit!! thumper is self leveling the fluid back to the keg.. i like that!!
Chris

[anuffstuff]

You could use the 1/4 barrel as a thumper. That’s been done many times (successfully). Check out some of the build threads.
ss

edited to add: To be effective “as a column” ( for reflux), you’ll need packing in the column. Packing a 30 liter, pony, or 1/6 barrel keg would be a real PITA.

on a half keg... what would the guess- stimated size of a thumper need to be?
Chris

[zapata]

Simply using a keg as an onion may not be all that useful, but would be amazing at catching foam ups if that is ever a problem for you.

It's probably possible to mount a plate between the kegs and attach some pipe and fittings internally that would work like an inline thumper, that would make a difference for sure. And because it could drain excess to the lower boiler would be different than just a thumper on the side. Not sure it would be awesome, but it would be novel.

[still_stirrin]

...on a half keg... what would the guess- stimated size of a thumper need to be?
Chris

A 1/2 keg boiler, ie - 1/4 barrel since a standard “keg” is considered 1/2 barrel in the beer brewing industry (32 gallons/barrel), would be 7-1/2 US gallons. So, if your boiler is a 1/2 keg (sometimes called a “pony keg” at 7-1/2 gallons), you want a thumper to be at least 1/3 to 1/2 the size of your boiler (2-1/2 to 3-3/4 gallons). But it wouldn’t hurt anything if it was 100% the size of the boiler, so a 1/4 barrel (pony) keg would work just fine as a thumper for a pony keg (or a full 15.5 gallon keg) boiler.

Similarly, a 30 liter keg (a little over 5 gallons) or a 1/6 barrel (very close to a 5 gallons) keg would work for your thumper for a 1/4 barrel (7-1/2 gallon) keg boiler as well. In fact, you could use either of these two sizes with a full keg (15.5 gallons) quite safely and successfully.
ss

[still_stirrin]

ooops...double post. Sorry.
ss

[anuffstuff]

Thanks everybody for your recommendations. Once I'm done fighting in my head what I want to do, I'll post pics with results.
Chris