Slant Plate Bubblers

Vapor, Liquid or Cooling Management. Flutes, plates, etc.

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snowboybrown7
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Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by snowboybrown7 »

Hi guys,

I built a new bokakob head this weekend. My original unit had been a bit of a sloppy build, and had only a 1/4 in gape between the plates. I wanted to clean it up a bit and decided to start over.

My habits so far have been to use the bokakob head on a 20L stockpot as a potstill. I have an extension column, but I've yet to use it. I was contemplating building a plated column with a dephlegmator and using the bokakob head as a condenser/takeoff for the column. I was reading a thread last night where Barney Fife had installed several slanted upward plates in his column, and they were functioning as cups to hold distillate. He noticed a flavor improvement.

I thought today, what if you installed multiple pairs of up/down slanted plates ala bokakob, but spaced and sized them so that the upper plate dipped into the lower's reservoir? By deliberately choking the plates with liquid, it would effectively create a bubble cap-esque situation where the vapors would have to travel through liquid and redistill to continue up the column.

It seems like it would be a very easy way to build bubblers into a 2" column. You would want to increase the angle to maximize liquid held in the lower plate and to allow for the biggest vapour path possible.

Quick paint mockup.
Slant Plate Bubbler.jpg
May build one of these into my column this week.
rad14701
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by rad14701 »

snowboybrown7, the concept of multiple dual slant plate sets has been discussed and attempted several times over the years without success... Now, that doesn't mean it may not work, it simply means that the concept hasn't been made to work better than other methods to date...

So, what is the biggest problem with this concept...??? The fact that you are dealing with condensed liquid rather than vapor... And because no vapor is traveling through the liquid at each level the reboiling which normally takes place in structured packing or in a conventional plated column doesn't take place - or at least not with any amount of efficiency...

Take the time to think this through and toss out your ideas for consideration and debate by the membership... I keep thinking that some day there may be a good slant plate solution but only time will tell the tale...
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Usge »

Hey there snowy. You know..there's no accounting for people's ingenuity coming up with new ideas, designs, etc. You'd be surprised how many different designs, etc., trials, tests, successes, failures, etc., there are documented here and in archive. In fact..your idea has already been presented as Rad said and tried by others, with pics and results. I'm not trying to discourage you from exploring things. But, as you might surmise from the plethora of information around here....you may just end up re-inventing the wheel...or end up picking up old information....(such as the 1/4 " between your boka plates) ..instead of having the latest information, test results, etc. that are available to base your theories and builds on.

There's an entire wiki on building a proper boka that incorporates all the various incarnations of it and the latest/best build information confirmed through testing. In case you want to fix your current boka, there is a revised template there that I made from pre-existing ones... that's one piece, with both curves on it, already set at proper angle/spacing, etc. based on the latest/best info we have (ie., 3/4" between plates). All you have to do is tape it on and make the cuts. Everything is marked for you.

Again, not trying to discourage you. More suggesting you take your time. Who knows? You might just be the one to finally get that idea working!
stillness
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by stillness »

Bumping this thread.

Anybody ever tried this? Or know of related thread? I'm curious why it wouldn't work. Is the vapor path too restricted?

The vapor is definitely traveling through the liquid. I think rad may have not seen the plate on the right forcing the red puff of vapor through the blue condensate. Notice the tip of the plate submerged. It's a spin on the classic boka, but not the same.
Anyways, would love more insight if antibody's tried this.
Winnipeg204
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Winnipeg204 »

Almost like miniature thumpers
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still_stirrin
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by still_stirrin »

stillness wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:24 pm Bumping this thread.

Anybody ever tried this? Or know of related thread? I'm curious why it wouldn't work. Is the vapor path too restricted? The vapor is definitely traveling through the liquid.

I think rad may have not seen the plate on the right forcing the red puff of vapor through the blue condensate. Notice the tip of the plate submerged. It's a spin on the classic boka, but not the same.

Anyways, would love more insight if antibody's tried this.
Well, I’m confident that Rad noticed the relationship of the plates. His comment is that the structured packing is where the separation is occurring.

From the operation of the LM (liquid managed reflux, as the Bokakob is), the reflux is returned to the column as condensate spilling over the weir. Bubbling of vapors through the liquid pool is a negligible consequence and would only create a single plate, and marginally at that.

My apologies to the original posters in this (historic) thread by answering for you. But stillness, please understand that this thread has been dormant for nearly a decade. So, the mechanics of the LM are well understood since this thread originated, hence no follow on correspondence.
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by stillness »

The OP says, use a few of these as the plates, not in a packed column. So, no structured packing. it would be a kind of plate column. Not really a boka.
The vapor path is the same as regular bubble caps. I know it's old. I just think it's worth bringing up again. I was looking for this design and found this thread. So, if there's more info or thoughts / experiments I'd be grateful to be pointed in the right direction. It looks like a possible easy plate build.

Here's a couple - one on a slant. (Edit: and one sideways :roll: I'll fix when I get some time) RC and take offs not shown.
IMG_20210416_221441.jpg
IMG_20210416_220153_01.jpg
Setsumi
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Setsumi »

in the colum build forum there is a thread by Barney Fife discussing this. he was of the opion that it worked, others build it and reported that it did not work. the discussions were a bit heated.
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by stillness »

Oh ya, thanks Setsumi. I remember that thread. It's a classic.

But this is a different design. Right?
As said in this post, that one didn't force the vapor through the liquid bed. It just zig zagged on by.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 0#p6822999

This will force the vapor through the liquid and cause it to reboil. That's key, otherwise no reflux.
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Setsumi »

i cannot comment on the differences, but will comment on 2 other issues. first, from reading HD, it seems flutes/platers benefit from larger diameter columns. 2nd like SS said, you need vapour through the liquid. but you also need an area where vapour is suspended above your liquid bath.

flutes/platers are great stills, if you want one build a 4" with 4 or 5 perfs, if you cannot get 4" you will be happy with 3" and your boka as reflux management. otherwise jus run your bok.
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shadylane
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by shadylane »

stillness wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:24 pm Bumping this thread.

Anybody ever tried this? Or know of related thread? I'm curious why it wouldn't work. Is the vapor path too restricted?
A while back, I played around with the idea.
It did work but not as good as other options
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Yummyrum
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Yummyrum »

shadylane wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:45 pm It did work but not as good as other options
Never tried it , but thats my take on it .

What does scream out from this design is “Continuous stripper suitable for solids “
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by shadylane »

That was my though also
But the slant plates trapped and filled up with the solids. :oops:
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Yummyrum
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by Yummyrum »

shadylane wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:13 am That was my though also
But the slant plates trapped and filled up with the solids. :oops:
Cool Shady , well we’ll forget about that one then :(
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LWTCS
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by LWTCS »

Seems like those doughnut plates (Getsmokin's build) get closer to the above concept with out all the fouling.
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by stillness »

Thanks for the comments all! Shady, that's what I was looking for.
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Re: Slant Plate Bubblers

Post by fzbwfk9r »

Sorry to revive a necrothread

But I recently came across a drawing by Bokakob himself detailing this very adaptation

The plates were close together and the vapour indeed would be forced through the fluid just like a plate
Not just using the latent heat to reboil

IIRC his design was based on a 2” column

I don’t see any more risk from puking than any other plate design

Stillness: have you tried this design?
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