Insulation

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Godstilla
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Insulation

Post by Godstilla »

Is it necessary to insulate the column of a reflux if you are running it indoors?
new_moonshiner
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Re: Insulation

Post by new_moonshiner »

the smallest amount of air passing by can effect it .. if using gas then you should have some ventalation going on .. this will effect it .I would suggest insulating it.
Godstilla
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Re: Insulation

Post by Godstilla »

Thanks NM!
eternalfrost
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Re: Insulation

Post by eternalfrost »

and it saves energy to boot
decoy
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Re: Insulation

Post by decoy »

To expand on this comment..
new_moonshiner wrote:the smallest amount of air passing by can effect it .
the reflux column operates by returning reflux from the top of the column down back towards the pot, the only place induced condensation should occure is at the top of the column after the packing this way you will achive equilibrium A condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system.

eg if your column was in a closed room with no movement, you will achive equilibrium but if somone was to move around the column and forcecool air onto the column then you will have induce more condensation on the inside wall of the column, the impact to product quality is minimal, but at the same time you loose a considerable amount of energy radianting of the column resulting in higher power consumption and longer distilation time.

useing a bokakob slanted plate column, I would insulate the entire column all the way to the top of the condensor.
the insulation cost compared to $$$ saving on power used is negligable.

Keep in mind how you insualte your still is relevent to the designe and operation of the still being insulated.

Image
Pot still on Left and reflux column on right

cheers.
BW Redneck
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Re: Insulation

Post by BW Redneck »

I might not want to insulate the condenser shell myself, since that would put a little more load on the condenser that would otherwise have been radiated off. If you're using city water, slightly warmer cooling water is not so much of an issue, but if you're recirculating coolant, the cooler the better.
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20lt small pot still, working on keg
decoy
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Re: Insulation

Post by decoy »

BW Redneck wrote:I might not want to insulate the condenser shell myself, since that would put a little more load on the condenser that would otherwise have been radiated off. If you're using city water, slightly warmer cooling water is not so much of an issue, but if you're recirculating coolant, the cooler the better.
In an ideal situation to maintain equilibrium you want to eliminate any external effects.
if you have a copper reflux column and you stop the insulation just above the packin, air moveing accross the top of the tube will cool the column drawing additional heat from packing area of column resulting in reflux Ratio fluctuation.

The resulting fluctuation might be minor but at the same time so is the additional load on the condensor, if you want to maintain constant "Equilibrium" its the smple and cheep things you can do to your column that should be carried out first.

these are all personal choices.
junkyard dawg
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Re: Insulation

Post by junkyard dawg »

I chose to insulate mine. don't know if it matters tho... when my rig is running its best its not going to be disturbed by a little breeze... Its gonna be a wind that blows out the flame at the bottom. With a 2" column refluxing along, producing 85 to 90%, there is just so much more energy flowing down that pipe to the condensor. The little bit escaping out the side of the pipe is really not much to worry about.
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minime
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Re: Insulation

Post by minime »

junkyard dawg wrote:I chose to insulate mine. don't know if it matters tho... when my rig is running its best its not going to be disturbed by a little breeze... Its gonna be a wind that blows out the flame at the bottom. With a 2" column refluxing along, producing 85 to 90%, there is just so much more energy flowing down that pipe to the condensor. The little bit escaping out the side of the pipe is really not much to worry about.
I gotta agree with JYDawg. When I was running my 2" offset it was only 42" long. I could run a lot faster without insulation on the column than I could with insulation. I had to reflux way more with insulation to maintain temperature control. The 3" columns are a different story. They can really take a lot of heat and they're longer so I've been running both of 'em insulated with no problems. It's a dicey situation and lots of folks don't agree but it's easy enough to try both ways and insulation is not expensive anyway.
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