Liebig options

[ckdistills]

I've decided to make a liebig. Been using a CSST coil as a product condenser with a recirculating setup since I first started on this journey. It generally works well but isn't the prettiest thing with coil sticking out a 2" TC tee (originally just sticking out the end of the spool until I upgraded to the tee) and I'm itching for something different.

I strip at 3000 - 3500 watts and recirculate so I can run higher water flow without it going down the drain. Current condenser is about 54" of 1/2" OD CSST coiled inside the 2" vapor path (72" total CSST length the remainder isn't in the vapor path). 0.5 to 0.8 GPM cooling water flow. Running full out on stripping runs, distillate is warmer than I'd like - approaching 100 F in the summer. I believe this is more a limit of my recirculation setup than the condenser itself. This setup is space efficient though, there's only about 10" of coil inside the 2" vapor path.

Goals for a liebig:
* Cooler distillate - to the extent my recirculation will support that
* Headroom beyond 3500 watts
* Not too long (48" is too long for my space) - yes this conflicts with other goals
* Prettier

I'd like to target 32" jacket length, 3/4" over 1/2". With wire between the jacket and vapor tube. And a counter twist in the vapor tube as well.

For any given jacket length, Haggy's calculator shows asymptotic diminishing returns at a certain point from increasing water flow. For 32", this is about 3500 ml/min and just under 3000 watts of condenser heat transfer (no column heat loss). Doubling water flow to 7000 ml/min only increases heat transfer by just under 400 watts.

liebig calcs.png

Hoping the wire twists will compensate enough without going longer. Thoughts?

And to toss out another thought. I found some leftover unused 3/4" ID CSST from an earlier gas project. Wonder about using that for the jacket instead of the wire wrap. More fittings (CSST to NPT, NPT to sweat, reducing tee). But get to use what I already have and the jacket doesn't need a wire wrap.

Am I being overly optimistic that 32" jacket length will work?

Finishing an apple brandy run as I slowly type this out, here's a pic!

CSST condenser.jpeg