t500 packed with SPP

[needmorstuff]

Hi everyone,

I have a still spirits t500 - its a 2kw boiler and a 24" x 2" CM reflux column, if you dont know it.

I have run it 50 or so times so know how it behaves... normally I let it come to temp and balance the column at 100% reflux for 30 minutes, then adjust the output water temp to 44c when the fores will come off, temp climbs a bit to about 46c and i take the heads off.

Then I take hearts between 48 and 53c..

that's how it runs every time.

I left the normal saddles in the reflux coil and used the ss spp straight after that to pack the column then used two disks of SS mesh (tightly woven - like a scrubbie but thinner wires - circular and dense) that was provided by the SPP manufacturer to close off the bottom, 2 light taps after every spoon so as not to compress too much.

I then charged the boiler and switched on at 2kw.

I let it come to temp and refluxed at 100% for 30 minutes, then let water out temp come to 45c - nothing
50c - nothing
55c - a drip every 3 seconds
60c - a drip every second
65c - 2 drips a second
at 65c i didnt feel comfortable so switched it off.. (with the saddles I would have a steady stream at this temp)

I then thought it may be too much power for the SPP and the column was flooded (even though the column wasn't making any unusual noises) so using my power controller I reduced power to 1400w but had exactly the same problem...

do you learned people have any advice for me? I thought about unpacking and not "tapping" it at all when I put the spp back - but i really didn't "ram" the stuff in there...

[Saltbush Bill]

I think you have a whole lot of weird ideas on how a T500 works .............temps have SFA to do with what comes out of the business end of one, you have obviously been reading the owners manual.
You need to forget all that you have read and have a good look at Kiwis Guide to cuts and lean why temps mean nothing very little in most aspects of distilling.
Sorry if my reply sounds a bit blunt but that about sums it up.

[needmorstuff]

I really don't.. I know about cuts and I also know cooling water temp has nothing to do with the business end. What I do know is how the t500 runs and what I am saying is that with the spp it is not operating how it normally does - that's all. I also know that if the output water temp is at 65c the synthetic components in the column are going to start melting. It's a safety thing. When it's on a raging full boil and nothings coming out then I get worried and reducing cooling and allowing to get hotter and hotter is not a good idea.

So all I am looking for are some suggestions on SPP in a CM column..

All I can control is input power and cooling flow and I have tried to adjust both of those to get output to a point where I considered the column to be unsafe. So I switched it off..

[Saltbush Bill]

When it's on a raging full boil and nothings coming out then I get worried

Is there any chance you could tell me what the temperature of the boiler is at that time please ?
I'm interested to know.
Distilling theory says that the boiler can only boil at one temperature.
That temp is constantly shifting depending on the alcohol content of the boiler charge, Do not confuse alcohol content with ethanol content..the two are very different things.
Getting back to your problem I would suggest that your SPP is packed in way to tight.

[needmorstuff]

by raging I mean a full boil, dont have a thermo in the boiler - sorry.

the packing was my guess also and would be my first port of call in a few hours, I will gingerly place it in with zero "tapping" the column to settle it.

[needmorstuff]

back to normal operation now... I repacked it but didn't tap it at all... just poured in the spp.

normally I would get 93% off a spirit run so I will report back later to advise if spp for a t500 is worth the effort.

[needmorstuff]

ok just did a sacrifical run of some low wines.. and after discarding the fores and heads I have a temp actuate (20c) abv of 95% (I can just see the 95 line under the meniscus)

This is only a sacrifical run (to clean the spp) run so I am interested to see what I get from a spirit run from a full boiler charge @ 30%

overall the SPP works as advertised giving a 2% abv bump... but I need to evaluate it further with multiple runs to see how it performs for an extended period of time and get a feel for it.

Quite happy with the extra 2% and can;t wait to see what improvement it brings to my final product.. all from a 24" x 2" column.. I bet this stuff is amazing on a real column!

[DAD300]

You put two dense screens on the bottom? I would use the minimum required to hold the SPP above the boiler.

It's o.k. if spp floods but make sure the top of the spp or the flood doesn't touch the reflux condenser.

[needmorstuff]

thanks DAD.. I did indeed use two dense screens at the bottom, I will reduce that to 1 as you suggest as that is about an inch more spp I could gey in there.

I also used 2 at the top of the column, due to restrictive access they didn't individually block of the reflux condensor so I had to use the second to try block it off..

It's a closed column with no sight glass so I am not sure how I could tell if the flood was touching the reflux condensor, hopefully not as the 2 screens at the top would keep the majority of the spp 2 inches away form the condensor.

I am thinking very soon I need to upgrade to a 3 inch column with a sight glass..