Glass 4" Plated Column

[shadylane]

Any suggestions on were to buy a long piece of 4" diameter borosilicate glass tubing

[zed255]

I've not yet tried to use this source:

http://www.pegasus-glass.com/

[shadylane]

I'm committed to the project now
Just ordered a 113mm OD X 6mm wall X 48 inch long Pyrex glass tube.
The price wasn't too bad, $100 including shipping.
The column part of the build will be real eazy
I'll be using the end caps off a 4" stilldragon sight glass I already have
And four 5/16" SS bolts that will be 50 inches long to hold it all together.


I'm kinda thinking about using 5 or 6 sieve plates that are on a rod and slide into the glass column.
I also plan on using a drop in dimroth dephlegmator.
Might even have the rod hanging down from the dephlg and the plates connected to it.

[Yummyrum]

I’m excited Shady .

[LWTCS]

I'm committed to the project now
Just ordered a 113mm OD X 6mm wall X 48 inch long Pyrex glass tube.
The price wasn't too bad, $100 including shipping.
The column part of the build will be real eazy
I'll be using the end caps off a 4" stilldragon sight glass I already have
And four 5/16" SS bolts that will be 50 inches long to hold it all together.


I'm kinda thinking about using 5 or 6 sieve plates that are on a rod and slide into the glass column.
I also plan on using a drop in dimroth dephlegmator.
Might even have the rod hanging down from the dephlg and the plates connected to it.

They grinding and fire polishing the ends Shady?

[shadylane]

I don't know, honestly I didn't even think about it.
Guess I'll find out when it gets here

[LWTCS]

I don't know, honestly I didn't even think about it.
Guess I'll find out when it gets here

Doesn't have to be. But without theres a good chance you'll have some inclusions around the edges.
Can compromise service life if not handled with kit gloves.

[shadylane]

Hell you shouldn't have told me that
Now I'll probably break the damn thing trying to grind and fire polish the ends

[LWTCS]

Hell you shouldn't have told me that
Now I'll probably break the damn thing trying to grind and fire polish the ends

Sorry dude.
Maybe treat em like a hydrometer? Buy more than you need and toss one over your shoulder just to get the agony over with right away

[jonnys_spirit]

Emery cloth and a blow torch should polish the ends right up if needed...

Cheers!
-jonny

[LWTCS]

Emery cloth and a blow torch should polish the ends right up if needed...

Cheers!
-jonny

Good call.

[OtisT]

Shady, I can’t wait to see your build as it progresses. Good luck.

Otis

[Saltbush Bill]

Looking forward to seeing this build.

[Beerswimmer]

I'm looking forward to some videos of it running!

[acfixer69]

I've been thinking of building one too. Maybe this will cure that for me. I don't need more toys.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Well this sounds fun.

[Yummyrum]

I’m not so sure if fire glazing is going to make it safer . As I understood it , once you apply a lot of heat to glass like that would do , you create internal stresses which then requires the whole thing to be annealed in a temp controlled furnace . ... no glass expert . Just what I read about somewhere .

[MtRainier]

Are you cutting it into pieces to make a flute or just using it in one long piece? I saw where you were going to put perf plates on a rod and slide it in, so maybe that means one long piece.

[cranky]

Did they cut it for you?

Don't try to fire polish it yourself, that would be a big mistake because you would have to anneal it. When my wife ordered mine it was 8 or 10 inches longer than my garage could handle so she had them cut it. They asked her if she wanted it fire polished. She asked if it was important and they told her no so she didn't have it done and I've never had an issue.

Do you know who made the tube? There are some Chinese ones out there that have a terrible reputation for failure due to the glass not being annealed in the first place.

One problem you might run into is these tubes tend not to be perfectly round so making a plate tree fit could be an issue.

[LWTCS]

I’m not so sure if fire glazing is going to make it safer . As I understood it , once you apply a lot of heat to glass like that would do , you create internal stresses which then requires the whole thing to be annealed in a temp controlled furnace . ... no glass expert . Just what I read about somewhere .

Dunno?
Watched a few vids about fire polishing, thought about the very nature of glass blowing. Read why fire polishing is done. And thought about the fact that temps for our purposes will likely not affect a borosilicate tube unless some kind of thermal shock is involved. Also, sold hundreds if not thousands of glass chimneys that have been cut, ground, and fire polished.

I'm not a glass man but perhaps the fire polishing issue that you mention applies to a different application Yummy?

[Yummyrum]

Yeah the articles were relevant to Glass used in Laboratories ,and was about relieving mechanical stresses due to localised heating during forming . I would have thought it also relevant to fire glazing ends of boro tube .

But I have no doubt that you would still be doing it if it did not work .

[shadylane]

Did they cut it for you?
…..Do you know who made the tube? There are some Chinese ones out there that have a terrible reputation for failure due to the glass not being annealed in the first place.

One problem you might run into is these tubes tend not to be perfectly round so making a plate tree fit could be an issue.

The glass is made in India and this piece comes in a 48" stick
My hatchet is too dull to cut it, So that's the length I'm going to use.
https://www.devardiglass.com/boro.htm
Hopefully I won't have a problem with it being perfectly round
If I do, maybe a downward facing skirt on the edge of the plates with trap liquid and form a useable seal to the tubing.

[cranky]

I haven't read anything about Indian made COE33 but if that is the length it comes in without cutting you shouldn't need to do anything to the ends.

I can't remember if mine is American or German made, I think it is American but the company we got it from was bought out by another company so I can't look it up. Mine came in 60" lengths so we had to have it cut down to 50" to fit in the garage.

The biggest problem I have ever had is the difference in COE between glass and stainless steel. The stainless expands and contracts a lot more than any glass so it can lead to things loosening up when it gets hot.

The other problem I have is it's quite heavy and difficult to handle by myself, it requires quite the balancing act to attach it to the boiler. I support mine from an eye bolt in the ceiling when running just so the weight doesn't get to be too much and it decide to fall over.

[shadylane]

The biggest problem I have ever had is the difference in COE between glass and stainless steel. The stainless expands and contracts a lot more than any glass so it can lead to things loosening up when it gets hot.

I'll try using belleville spring washers on the four long bolts that hold the end caps on the glass column.
Maybe that will hold a constant clamping pressure.

The other problem I have is it's quite heavy and difficult to handle by myself, it requires quite the balancing act to attach it to the boiler.

I'm not too worried about mounting the 4" X 48" glass column on the pot.
My biggest problem will be how to swap it back and forth with the 4" packed column.
Packed with ceramic rings, that bastard is heavy, It goes through the garage celling and up a fake chimney.

[shadylane]

Decided to start making the copper disks I'll need for the plates.

DSCF0151.JPG

.

DSCF0152.JPG

.

DSCF0153.JPG

.

DSCF0154.JPG

.

DSCF0155.JPG

[shadylane]

Drilling a shit load of 2mm holes
The reason I decided to go with that size, was all the smaller drill bits kept breaking.
Just guessing, with 110 holes the open area on the 4" plate should be around 5%
I'm open to suggestions about the hole area
5% might be on the low side, but that can be easily took care of.

DSCF0157.JPG

DSCF0159.JPG

[shadylane]

Now it's time to figure out the plate tree and down comer.

1. Use a single SS rod down the middle of the plate.
2. Use three SS rods @ 120 degrees on the outer edge.
3. Down comer in the middle of the plate
4. Down comer on the edge of the plate

[Windswept]

Drilling a shit load of 2mm holes
The reason I decided to go with that size, was all the smaller drill bits kept breaking.

That is the perfect reason for that size of hole!

[jonnys_spirit]

I'd suggest one SS rod through the center just because I feel like it will be easier to keep everything in tolerance. Interested to see how this turns out.

Cheers!
-jonny

[shadylane]

That's kinda what I've been thinking, a single rod would be easier.
It would also make changing the plates and plate spacing faster.
The only downfall I can see, is keeping the plate perfectly level.

Haven't decided on the downcomer location yet
I'm thinking about having it in the middle of the plate
With a single support rod passing through the downcomer.


On a side note
Here's an interesting read about plate design
http://seperationtechnology.com/distill ... lection-1/

Here's enough distillation info to make your eyes bleed
http://seperationtechnology.com/distillation/