Ethylisator MK I

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Danespirit
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Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

Still waiting for parts etc. for my "proportional splitterhead", i had a few hours in the workshop.
So i decided to make a project come true i have been thinking on for a long time now.
The goal was:

A compact stillhead, that uses a minimum of water and could run without a pump.
Further it should be suitable for running both..a hard strippingrun on full power and a spiritrun.
The basic idea is the compact potstill head.
As i read in here i stumbled on a older post, that gave me inspiration for it: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =16&t=8046
A few improvements had to be made.
First i wanted two outlets, to prevent smearing. One of them would act as a drain and can be operated with a 1/4" ballvalve.
Next...i could under no circumstances have a enclosed spiritchamber, i would have to be with a possible vent to atmosphere.
That's why you see a piece of flourdough on top of it on the video.
It will be sealed off with a thermoprobe and some PTFE tape. Should a situation occur and the chamber pressurises, it would simply blow the probe out.
Function is as follows: The vapor rises from the boiler through the "riser" and into the spiritchamber.
The chamber is surrounded by water (holds 250 ML) and product condensates on the sidewalls.
Now, foreshots would run to the bottom and can be discarded by opening the small ballvalve on the side.
The takeoff is flush with the bottom, so it will drain the whole chamber.
The valve is then closed and as the still comes to operating temperature, the spiritchamber starts to fill with product.
Cause the chamber is surrounded by water, the spirits will cool to a acceptable temperature before leaving the still, hence my small Liebig.
Eventually it reaches the takeoff point 20 mm from the bottom and up, and overflows to a copperpipe.
The video shows also my little mini Liebig i build for this project. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 87&t=54834
The 12 mm pipe on it, would not be sufficient if i had to deal with vapor, as in a VM...but as "aftercooler"...it is...well..cool.. :mrgreen:
I had a lack of silicone hose, so it's not operational. I also forgot to make a little driplip...so i used a stainless bolt as a "racoon pecker"... :lol:
As you see, my pump is unplugged...the whole thing runs purely on the capillar effect..you han hear it in the video.
Height: 260 mm
Condenserhead 76 mm, holds 250 ML water
All connections are 1/4"
Sideview with both water connectors.
Sideview with both water connectors.
The whole thing, coverplate on top needs to be drilled, allenscrews to be mounted.
The whole thing, coverplate on top needs to be drilled, allenscrews to be mounted.
Top with ventilation/termoport.
Top with ventilation/termoport.
VIDEO of the testrun: http://1drv.ms/1BfEpJG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Last edited by Danespirit on Sun Jun 14, 2015 2:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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S-Cackalacky
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by S-Cackalacky »

Boat motor? :mrgreen:
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

S-Cackalacky wrote:Boat motor? :mrgreen:
Excactly...LOL
That's what i said as one of the guys in the workshop were a bit to nosy..."It's cooling for a boatmotor..it has to be stainless"..
Don't think he got my real intentions with this.. :wink:
He only saw a part of it..
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by S-Cackalacky »

I got the boat motor reference from some other thread. You were talking about building it in the shop at your workplace.

It's the only thing I could come up with to contribute to this thread. How it's made, how it works, and what it does is a bit over my head. Seems very innovative though and I'm impressed with the skills it took to make it. And, if the law ever comes calling, just tell them it's a boat motor and they'll probably believe you.
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Danespirit
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

Yes that's right S-Cackalacky... i had to come up with some explanaition... 8)

The inside of it looks as on this drawing:
Inside the Ethylisator.jpg
Boiler supplies the stillhead with vapor, that rises all through the inner tube.
It condenses on the walls of the cold outerjacket and falls back down to the bottom.
The inner tube has a "roof" over it, to prevent the distillate to run straight into the tube again (i might have spared that part).
Basically it's a bit like RAD's concentric...
The drawing shows only one takeoff, mine has two.
The first is flush with the bottom and has a 1/4" ballvalve attached.
Before the still comes to operational temperature, the foreshots will already condense inside.
I drain them with the ballvalve, close it again and let it come to temperature.
The second takeoff is a good 20 mm higher upwards, so there will be a pool of distillate that cools in the spiritchamber before exiting.
My mini Liebig will take care of further cooling, as the distillate comes of a bit warm for my liking. ( around 40 C).
I don't run full power in the video i made. I guess i could run it a little harder in a strippingrun.
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Codgerness »

It shows you now your way around ss fabrication and a tig torch. Nice! So it looks like to me that the inside vessel collects the still vapor. You leave the 1/4" valve open until the bad stuff is gone. Cool jacket water surrounds that inside vessel, and if the outside temperature is cold enough, the "jacket coolant water" that takes on the heat from the still vapors, will be dissipated through those fins from even cooler ambient air temperatures circulating around them. I see it working well in cold weather like the great white north. You might want to use some of your highest proof run as your coolant so as to not have a freeze up problem by using straight water for the coolant in cold weather. It could freeze in minutes before the still makes vapors, especially with those fins.
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

Thanks for the kind words.. :)
Yes, I run it exactly as you described it.
The reason I have installed two valves are the foreshots.
The lowest valve is flush with the bottom of the inner vessel, so I can drain the foreshots as they rise into the still head.
At the moment they are gone, I slightly increase the power setting and collect the heads.
After heads are gone, the valve is closed and remains shut during the rest of the run.
The upper valve is opened and I collect the hearts.That creates a pool of distillate in the still head and the spirit is cooled before it leaves the take-off.
I run indoors, so freezing wouldn't be a problem.
If I had to run out in a shed during winter time I'd simply add some antifreeze to the cooling water.
The whole system inside is sealed from the cooling water, so nothing would ever be contaminated.
The beauty of this whole setup is, it can run without a pump...it's simply gravity feed and also take advantage of the capillary effect.
So if I wanted, I could run without any electricity.
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Codgerness »

Did you get this up and running? It certainly is a thing of beauty and looks like it should work fine through natures own force of natural convection.
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

Thanks for the kind words.
Yes, it runs you can see a video of the test run at the end of my first post.
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Pikey »

Danespirit wrote:Thanks for the kind words.
Yes, it runs you can see a video of the test run at the end of my first post.
Video doesn't work any more DS :(
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Re: Ethylisator MK I

Post by Danespirit »

Thank's for letting me know Pikey.
I checked it on my pc and it was working.
Apparently, that one drive thing doesn't work for anyone else... :wtf:
I assured myself that anyone with the link can watch the video, as I uploaded it.
Sorry guys, I'll give it another go. https://1drv.ms/v/s!AlqprLmL_qq9gQLeYi7uXPZwC6Mh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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