Condensation Temperature

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d10
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Condensation Temperature

Post by d10 »

Hello i have a pot still in which I distill gin, im using a liebig condenser, as you see in the picture, and cold the water with ice cubes to keep the tempemperature of in water to 23 C, in that way i get the distill come out to 20 C. And now the question is, what temperature do you consider that the water must entry in the condenser? I know its depend on diferents parameters like, area, long of pipe, numbers of these and angle of inclination, but generaly en that case, what would do you recomend?
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MihiT
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by MihiT »

A brew room! Lovely!

Any temperature below condensing point will, obviously, condense (or "knock down") the vapour. Running that cold will be costing a lot in cooling.
As long as there's no vapour at your distillate output, your temp is OK.
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NZChris
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by NZChris »

If you are concerned about the amount of cooling water you need, control the temperature of the condensate by controlling the water flow. I use solenoids or pumps to control the condensate temperature using a thermocouple in the outlet stream. On/off control works for me as my condensers are not undersized. If you wanted to, you could set the temperature to match your alcometer.
tiramisu
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by tiramisu »

I'm jealous. A nice room. I'm looking at a 1.5m square in the corner.
Any reason not to run straight from the cold water tap to a 55-gallon fermenter?
Preheat your water and pitch a sugar wash.

colder is better you can run a lower volume of water.
If you have ice-cold water from the tap you will save total volume and as an added bonus it heats up the water for a sugar wash.
Fill up your 55-gallon blue barrel with sugar as you distill your keg still and pitch your yeast.'

Sour mash with your stillage.
tiramisu
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by tiramisu »

tiramisu wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:56 pm I'm jealous. A nice room. I'm looking at a 1.5m square in the corner.
Any reason not to run straight from the cold water tap to a 55-gallon fermenter?
Preheat your water and pitch a sugar wash.

colder is better you can run a lower volume of water.
If you have ice-cold water from the tap you will save total volume and as an added bonus it heats up the water for a sugar wash.
Fill up your 55-gallon blue barrel with sugar as you distill your keg still and pitch your yeast.'

Sour mash with your stillage.
The lowered PH will keep bacteria down.
Make a bourbon.
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Demy
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by Demy »

As long as you can break down all the steam and your outbound distillate keeps that temperature it will be fine, I don't think there is a specific temperature for incoming water. More cold and you can use less water, hottest and you have to slightly increase the speed of water. Excellent your distillation room, congratulations.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by Yummyrum »

As mentioned , as long as the Distillate is fully condenced when it exits the still , it does not matter much what temperature it is .

I notice you have a coolant tank that I guess you recycle water through .
As a general rule , on a Pot still , when either stripping or doing a spirit run , your coolant tank needs to be about twice the volume as your boiler charge to give a good margin . And thats starting out at room temp .

So if you have a 50 litre boiler , 100litre coolant tank will be more than enough water to cool and entire run .

But you need to let it cool back down before you do another run .

Things get much different when you use a still with reflux such as a Boka , CCVM or Plated still . You could need up to 20-30 times ( depending on reflux ratio you drive it with ) the boiler volume as coolant because of the extra energy that needs to be absorbed during the run .
Sporacle
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by Sporacle »

:wtf: I'll be that guy, probably best to lose the plastic funnel
" you can pick your nose and you can pick your friends; but you can't always wipe your friends off on your saddle" sage advice from Kinky Friedman
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Yummyrum
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Re: Condensation Temperature

Post by Yummyrum »

Sporacle wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:51 am :wtf: I'll be that guy, probably best to lose the plastic funnel
Thanks for the extra set of eyeballs Sporacle . Can’t have enough plastic Police around here . :thumbup:
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