ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Anything cooling/condenser related.

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Mr.Spooky
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ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

Finally getting all the loose ends on my "flute" goin. Im runnin a 26 gallon boiler. Is there a way to tell about how much water it will take to complete saaaayyy a 20 gal run? I cant decide if I want to recirculate the water or just run it straight from the tap.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

Run straight from the tap into a barrel. Then you know how much you need, and is already to go the next time.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

well,, I don't want to have to buy a 200+ gal reservoir just to see how full it gets,,,, or if it over fills.. that's why I ask. I know when I was runnin a 13( probably 8-10 gal of wash) gal pot 30 or so gals of water was pushing it. could have used 50 or more.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Pikey »

Mr.Spooky wrote:well,, I don't want to have to buy a 200+ gal reservoir just to see how full it gets,,,, or if it over fills.. that's why I ask. I know when I was runnin a 13( probably 8-10 gal of wash) gal pot 30 or so gals of water was pushing it. could have used 50 or more.
HAven't you answered your own question there really ?

I use about 180 litres on a 25 litre wash - yours is 4 times that size - BUT you're doing reflux - so a lot of your water will now be used to condense water which is just getting re-evaporated - and will therefore need even more cooling.

Just an estimation but I think 200 gallons would need some recirculation in order to be enough.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

That's what I didn't know... I can get a 175 gal container for a reasonable price, but if recirculating through 175 gals wont keep it cool enough I have a 3500 gal Koi pond that I could do a 25% (or so) water change on and pump the tap water in there. Iz just lookin for a rough estament .
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Pikey »

I think to use 200 gall - you'd probably need some forced cooling - but without knowing the capacity of your heating system and the duration of your run - who's to say ?
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by HDNB »

using 4 plates and distilling to average 75% abv i need about 14:1

that is to say in your case 14x20 =280 gallons

it will be hot when yer done. in the near future I'm adding a fan/radiator to cool some before returning to the tank
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

recon I could just pump it back in the KOi pond and maybe put a GPH meter on it to get a estament?
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

HDNB wrote:using 4 plates and distilling to average 75% abv i need about 14:1

that is to say in your case 14x20 =280 gallons

it will be hot when yer done. in the near future I'm adding a fan/radiator to cool some before returning to the tank
Thanks! putting it back in the pond might be a better route for me to take then..
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by skow69 »

How much temperature increase can the fish tolerate?
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by Mr.Spooky »

hmmm, not sure about that. I figured that the pond would dissipate the hot water fast enough. Plus, it will have to travel about 50' through a water hose before it gets to the pond.... Im needing to cull some of my koi, but I aint wanting to cull the wrong ones.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by still_stirrin »

Mr.Spooky wrote:hmmm....I figured that the pond would dissipate the hot water fast enough.
The water mass in the pond is just a "heat sink", ie - it will absorb the heat input. But the transferred heat will eventually raise the temperature of the mass of the water. Total heat transferred will approach the amout of heat input into your boiler and that depends on the power (amps x voltage) and duration of the run.
Mr.Spooky wrote:Plus, it will have to travel about 50' through a water hose before it gets to the pond...
You could make the pond a "closed loop" system by pumping water from the heat exchanger to the pond, through a big copper coil immersed in the pond, and back to a water reservoir where you still. That way the water reservoir would be more stable in temperature and you'd effectively increase the volume of heat sink (water mass) to include the pond & your reservoir.

The added advantage is that you wouldn't upset the oxygen levels your Koi need to breath...just give them a summertime "warm bath".

You'd need a recirculation pump and another garden hose as well as a heat exchanger coil (copper) to immerse into the pond.
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Re: ABOUT how much water am I looking at?

Post by OtisT »

Mr.Spooky wrote:recon I could just pump it back in the KOi pond and maybe put a GPH meter on it to get a estament?
While I absolutely love my water flow meter that all my stilling equipment goes through, you don't need one for a one time estimate to determine flow rates and your water needs. Get a bucket of known volume and time how long it takes to fill under various modes of operation. ( i.e. Stripping, pot stilling spirit run, reflux's spirit run, and fractioning. Apply a little math and you have your rate for various modes of operation. :-)

Before I got my meter, I used the bucket method to first learn a specific flow rate, then I memorized the arc angle of water coming off of my condenser hose (3/8" OD) for that flow rate. (I placed the hose end horizontal, about a foot off of the ground, so I could see water exist the hose). By observing the arc of water coming out of the hose, I could quickly see my current flow rate.
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