The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Anything cooling/condenser related.

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Odin
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The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

Here's a picture of an 8 inch column cooler we are building ...

Regards, Odin.
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StillerBoy
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

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Ok.. 8" by ?? length.. and to be applied for what size of boiler and heat imput..

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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

Yeah, 8 inch, 50 centimeters tall. To be used on a 2000 liter professional still. Heat input up to 36 kW.

Odin.
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by StillerBoy »

Thanks Odin.. I like the thought behind the 50cm idea.. shotgun condenser are, in my view and experience, over built in length and diameter.. more small tubes and shorter in length seem to work better.. have a 3" flute, and my PC is 1.5 by 14" with 12" of cooling area with 5 - 3/8" tubes, and hardly need any water to knock down..

The numbers of tubes, and their diameter seem to be quite small in size.. should handle the input..

Thanks
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

I have a 5 inch version that knocks down 36 kW without issues already ... so this one will handle the 36 kW on the 2000 liter stills and the 54 kW on the 5000 liter version with ease. The 5 incher is 40 centimeters by the way.

The one trick is surface are. Of both the cooling water, thus being able to heat-exchange as much as possible before exiting the system, and the gases being in contact with as much (cooled) pipe as possible. More yet smaller tubes dramatically increase performance, hence the design.

The other important thing is to use as much of the column surface area for the gases to be able to rise up in. That way gas speeds remain as stable as possible and back push / gas hold up / autonomous pressure in the system is minimized.

I feel overcapacitated coolers are a great thing, minimizing water usage on the one hand, and creating outstanding suction power (if that is the right expression) at the top of the column (by gas to liquid phase change and the associated volume decrease) on the other hand, creating a "pull" model, where gases are sucked into the column instead of them being pushed out of the boiler.

Hope that makes sense.

Regards, Odin.
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by StillerBoy »

Odin wrote:The one trick is surface are. Of both the cooling water, thus being able to heat-exchange as much as possible before exiting the system, and the gases being in contact with as much (cooled) pipe as possible. More yet smaller tubes dramatically increase performance, hence the design.
From what I have experienced with building and using shotgun condenser designs, I am in agreement with your statement.. I am not an engineer, but common sense indicates that the more contact area the vapour have, the more effective the condensation will be... the larger tubes due not provide that effect..

Mars
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

... but they are a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to build!

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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by aircarbonarc »

Nice work Odin! I like the seal welds on the tube sheet. You have a talented Tig welder, those seal welds aren't for the amateur. How thick is the tube sheet?
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by StillerBoy »

Odin wrote:... but they are a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to build!
+1


Mars
Last edited by StillerBoy on Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

I think its 2 mm. The SS size of the tubes. If that's what you mean.

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Last edited by Odin on Fri Mar 03, 2017 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by aircarbonarc »

Odin wrote:I think its 2 mm.

Regards, Odin.

Wow that's thin. Was there any heat distortion with the hot work?
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Snackson »

Odin wrote:Here's a picture of an 8 inch column cooler we are building ...

Regards, Odin.
Why so small? :lol:
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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by Odin »

Sorry, do you mean the plate holding the pipes together or how thick the material of the tubes is?

No, we only had some distortion with the first prototype we build. Took counter measures before we scaled up and never have distortion.

Odin.

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Re: The Mother of All Column Coolers?

Post by aircarbonarc »

Odin wrote:Sorry, do you mean the plate holding the pipes together or how thick the material of the tubes is?

No, we only had some distortion with the first prototype we build. Took counter measures before we scaled up and never have distortion.

Odin.

Posting while Snacker was.
I meant the tube sheet. Must've been a challenge to keep it from going wavey. A quarter inch tube sheet with ring grooves and a tube rolling tool would save you from welding and heat distortion. That way you could roll copper tubes into a stainless tube sheet. You sure do some nice work!
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