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Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:46 pm
by engunear
Oh well you guys may figure it out eventually.
... er ... I only use steam distillation now, and have done so for about a year at least. And its close to that long since my rig had any metalwork, Well, excluding the condenser.
Some of these questions have been answered before, ...
When you turn a steam injector off, you can collapse your boiler. There is a pic here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... &start=120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
This page also has a solution to this, which works that avoids over pressure, protects the boiler from collapse, and if you put a thermal cutout on the end, it will switch off when things boil dry to protect your element (like an electric jug).
This page also has the cycle diagram for the hammer, and a picture of an injector that doesn't hammer.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:47 pm
by engunear
It would be good if we had a one-stop shop of info for steam newbies, and even old farts who forget things.
A draft is in the thread titled "Summary of Steam Injection".
Please let me know what is missing and I will endeavour to correct.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:33 pm
by Brutal
engunear wrote:It would be good if we had a one-stop shop of info for steam newbies, and even old farts who forget things.
A draft is here:
http://ww.homedistiller.org/forum/viewt ... 92&t=61981" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Please let me know what is missing and I will endeavour to correct.
The link you posted is to "ww.homedistiller---" and is one of the many mirrors of this site. It can contain things harmful to windows pc's. I strongly recommend to take that link down.
Steam is a very broad subject. I don't think everything steam can nor should be contained in a single thread. What I have been doing is sending a link to any steam related thread to Halfbaked, and asking him to move it to the Steam Mashing and Distilling subforum
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=92 . This has worked so far and kept the best threads (or at least the best ones we have found and PM'd about so far) together.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:54 pm
by engunear
OK, link down. Not quite sure how I picked up a mirror, but anyway.
Not sure what to think about having it organized just as threads. My concern is seeing things well answered come up again, and there is a lot of reading on this topic, organized as streams of conversation rather than chapter and paragraph, important to trivial. I'm not planning to get into all the fine detail but at least cover the bases. The Parent Site is published data re-organized, so its not like the proposal is without precedent.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:22 pm
by engunear
Have just been going back over this thread, two questions:
1. There is some concern about heating the mash evenly. One suggestion was to use a false bottom, but there were a few suggestions of rotors and the like, but the thread drifts off from that topic. Has anyone found a solution that is better than a false bottom?
2. Shadylane, you have both a manometer and a 15psi safety valve. If the system gets blocked, the liquid will blow out of the manometer, and the system will vent through there. 15psi is equivalent to 17 feet of water. So why the two mechanisms?
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 3:39 pm
by shadylane
engunear wrote:1. There is some concern about heating the mash evenly. One suggestion was to use a false bottom, but there were a few suggestions of rotors and the like, but the thread drifts off from that topic. Has anyone found a solution that is better than a false bottom?
A baine marie with direct steam injection
engunear wrote:2. Shadylane, you have both a manometer and a 15psi safety valve. If the system gets blocked, the liquid will blow out of the manometer, and the system will vent through there. 15psi is equivalent to 17 feet of water. So why the two mechanisms?
The 15psi safety valve is the official over pressure protection
The manometer lets me know what the pressure is,
.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 3:02 pm
by LB Miles
Well, I am in full confidence replying to a thread that's been clinically dead for just over five years. Not sure what reactions this will get, because if this turns out to be a dumb idea, then I'd feel pretty humiliated about it.
And to clarify: even though I haven't posted anything shortly after joining this forum 10 months ago, I have been reading probably around 10 hours a week, every week.
And now I can't resist throwing in the idea that popped into my mind as I read this particular thread. Anyhow, without further adue:
Another solution to the agitation problem, which is inspired by the field of chemistry, where a solution in a flask will often be stirred magnetically via a small magnet dropped in and spun via a magnetic field generated by a plate underneath, that often also acts as a heating plate.
Now I know that stainless steel is magnetic, so this could only work with a copper vessel, and you'd have to find something large enough, with a significantly powerful magnetic field generator that can stir it up with the thickness of the mash inside the vessel, and on top of that, to have a stirring magnet that's non-reactive in the mash.
Now, what do y'all think?
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 4:35 pm
by Chauncey
Not all stainless is magnetic
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 4:50 pm
by acfixer69
Chauncey wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 4:35 pm
Not all stainless is magnetic
Most is not
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:40 am
by Tummydoc
Chauncey wrote:Not all stainless is magnetic
It's a common reason people think beer kegs are aluminum! But most are non magnetic stainless.
Re: Steam distillation
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2022 3:53 pm
by BackwoodsBrewer
LB Miles wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 3:02 pm
Well, I am in full confidence replying to a thread that's been clinically dead for just over five years. Not sure what reactions this will get, because if this turns out to be a dumb idea, then I'd feel pretty humiliated about it.
And to clarify: even though I haven't posted anything shortly after joining this forum 10 months ago, I have been reading probably around 10 hours a week, every week.
And now I can't resist throwing in the idea that popped into my mind as I read this particular thread. Anyhow, without further adue:
Another solution to the agitation problem, which is inspired by the field of chemistry, where a solution in a flask will often be stirred magnetically via a small magnet dropped in and spun via a magnetic field generated by a plate underneath, that often also acts as a heating plate.
Now I know that stainless steel is magnetic, so this could only work with a copper vessel, and you'd have to find something large enough, with a significantly powerful magnetic field generator that can stir it up with the thickness of the mash inside the vessel, and on top of that, to have a stirring magnet that's non-reactive in the mash.
Now, what do y'all think?
This would require a very large stirplate for a 15.5 gallon keg and an unbelievably large stirplate for a 50 gallon barrel. Then it would need a stir stick capable of moving thick mash. I'm not sure if this would work. I have my steam wand set up so that the steam injection causes a whirlpool effect, it works slowly but still needs an occasional stir with a spoon or paddle.