My VM set-up and why I like it

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Carport
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My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

3" modular stainless VM column
3" modular stainless VM column
This is our latest rig and I really like the way it's working, so I thought I would share why I think it's a great set-up.

First off, me and my stilling buddy are making a neutral. In the background you can see the fermenters. They are nice big ones. In each we made a 12 gallon batch of WineO's sugar wash. I broke the hydrometer last time, so don't know the finishing ABV of the wash, but from experience I'm figuring it would be about 10%. We let it settle out for about 3 weeks.
Racking off the fermented wash into the keg, we got enough for 3 full keg charges. I don't have a photo of the stripping set-up, but it consists of everything downstream of the take-off valve (referring to the photo) plus another elbow. So the stripping column is all 2" stainless. Stripping runs take about 5 hours each, including boil-up. Our power is a 5500w stainless element and power controller (you can see that on the wall behind). Once we got boiling, we turned the power down to about half way on the dial.
When all 3 stripping runs were done, we ended up with a full keg (+/- 15 gallons) of low wines at 40% ready for the spirit run.
See how convenient that is: 4 ferments x 12 gallons = 3 strips x 15 gallons = 1 spirit run x 15 gallons!
Moving on to the spirit run, I'll describe the VM column as shown in the photo:
You can see that the column is not in use at the time of the photo, and is suspended on a pretty cool support device. The support pole and bracket just holds the column up in the air until we are ready to run, then you lower it down on to the keg. Missing from the photo is the 3" x 2" reducer that connects the 3" column to the 2" sanke/tc keg fitting.
Above that, we have 52" (2-20" sections, plus a 12" section) of 3" stainless, packed with stainless scrubbers (I've ordered some SPP and hope to get it soon!). Above that is the sight glass. We got it for the cool factor, but it is really useful; you can see when boil-up is starting and you can actually see the vapour coming up and the precipitation going down...so it's a real good visual indication of the equilibration process in action.
Above the sight glass is a 3" x 3" x 2" 'T' (if you want to replicate this, pay attention to that - it is a 'T' that reduces the 3" column to 2" out to the take-off). Above the 'T', you have the product condenser, open to the atmosphere on top. Out to the side of the 'T' , it reduces from 3" into the 2" ball valve. Past the valve, we go into a downward elbow and then the product condenser and then the parrot. Like I said, all the 2" parts past the valve get reconfigured into our stripping head - a nice feature!
Our coolant system consists of a reservoir (black garbage bin in the back of the photo) with a pond pump, lines go through the 2 condensers on the still, then into the worm-in-bucket, then back into the reservoir. When we are running, the bucket with the 'worm' in it is situated in the laundry sink and we simply run the water from the faucet into the bucket, cooling the worm and overflowing into the sink. You just run the tap at a dribble or turn it on once in a while when the water gets warm. Nice, easy system.
We might upgrade to an air-cooled radiator down the road to save water.
The spirit run took about 13 hours including boil-up. After equilibration, we cracked the valve as little as possible and collected about a cup of fores real slow. Then we closed it and re-equilibrated then opened it up a little more to get a steady 'pencil lead' stream. The temps were rock steady at 77C (take that for what you will). The alcoholmeter in the parrot showed 93%. Everything stayed that way till near the end then the temps went up and the abv went down. Real easy to see the end of the run!
After cutting about a litre and a quarter of heads and a litre of tails and tempering down to 40% with distilled water, we ended up with 36 litres of very clean spirit.
That will keep us going for quite a while!
So, to sum it up, this set-up is productive, versatile, and easy to run. We got all the stainless column parts and cooling lines from Still Dragon and we are really happy with it. It was a chunk of cash, but we've also spent a lot on our previous home-made set-ups too!
However you go about it, the combination of a keg boiler, 5500w stainless element with controller, 3" x 52" packed section VM column, some nice big condensers and a simple but effective cooling rig is a great set-up IMO. It might seem like more production than you may need, but bear in mind that we only run a spirit run like 2 or 3 times a year.
Thanks as always for all the great advice on this site!
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MoonBreath
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by MoonBreath »

Woww..
Per near rocket science rite there. :D
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fizzix
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by fizzix »

Fine write up, and one can tell a lot of thought and work went into the build.
I'd find it tough not to run that more than the 1 or 2 spirit runs you guys do per year.
kimbodious
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by kimbodious »

Very nice modular rig Carport :thumbup: . I agree on how useful the sight tower can be.
Edit: Usually the coolant is plumbed so that cold water enters via the product condenser and (if in series) then enters the reflux condenser.

Thanks for sharing about your rig!
Last edited by kimbodious on Mon Dec 24, 2018 5:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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50L Beer keg boiler, 2200W element
Modular 2" Pot Still
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Twisted Brick
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Twisted Brick »

Carport wrote: It might seem like more production than you may need, but bear in mind that we only run a spirit run like 2 or 3 times a year.
Thanks for the write-up, Carport.... its obvious you did your homework. Gotta love those high ceilings. If you only made 2 full spirit runs per year, you would end up with 90 fifths of booze. That's alot of panty-dropper!

BTW, what are the dimensions (and how much) of the SPP you ordered?

TB
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Carport
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

The SPP dimension is 4.4 x 5.5 x 0.24 mm according to the website.

I ordered 6 litres (volume of a cylinder is Pi x radius squared x height, so 3.14 x 37.5mm (1.5 inches) squared x 1321mm (52 inches) = 5,833,040mm squared = 5.8 litres)

I paid 150 euros plus shipping of 16 euros.

Thanks for the comments guys!
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Twisted Brick
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Twisted Brick »

Thanks Carport! Looking forward to your report on performance.
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Carport
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

@ Kimbodius

I wondered if anyone would notice that!
The thing is, I am aware of the correct routing of the coolant lines, but for some reason we could not get the pump to run that way this time, even trying to prime the lines and all. We wanted to get running, so we found that the water would flow with the backwards set-up. It's something we have to troubleshoot for the next time. It is a lot of 'head' up to the top, but we had it running the correct way on the last run, so I'm not sure why it won't do it now. Good eye!
kimbodious
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by kimbodious »

Carport wrote:@ Kimbodius

I wondered if anyone would notice that!
The thing is, I am aware of the correct routing of the coolant lines, but for some reason we could not get the pump to run that way this time, even trying to prime the lines and all...
LOL, I did miss it the first time. I’ll bet you’ve got an air pocket in the product condenser. This is why I like clear hoses to watch for air bubbles. You’d need to find a way to purge the PC of air, maybe set up a temporary siphon out from the top of the PC?
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Carport
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

That makes sense...I will try that. Thanks
Carport
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

I am finally getting around to posting an update. Only took 3 years!

In the meanwhile we got a nice 100 litre boiler from North Stills to replace the keg boiler.
One of the photos shows the full VM spirit run set-up. The other shows how we use some parts of the take-off arm and the product condenser to make our stripping run set-up. In the background you can see our fermenters.

Our process is now refined as follows:
(4) ferments of 60 litres Wineo's Sugar Wash - simplified recipe as per photo
(3) stripping runs of 80 litres each - each takes about 6 hours after boil-up and nets about 20 litres low wines
(1) spirit run of low wines with some feints added - 35% to 40% abv in the kettle - total run time with boil-up is around 18 hours

From the spirit run, we end up with about 28 litres: 6l fores/heads, 18l hearts, 4l tails
Once diluted with distilled water, we have about 40l of nice neutral to drink!

One thing we have noticed, is that it really mellows after airing out for a few days.

The stainless SPP packing is working great. Is it better than the potscrubbers we were using before? Hard to say. But it's cooler :D

Some other improvements we made are a bigger coolant pump...no problems with coolant flow now, and an insulated box for the fermenters for cold weather brewing. We have brew belts on the fermenters and that seems to be enough to keep things warm when we have the top and sides on the box.

Oh yeah, and we hacked the sodastream with a big CO2 tank, so no shortage of mix now!

Cheers and happy distilling in 2022!




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NZPete
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by NZPete »

Love your setup!!! It's very similar to the 2" column I'm working on at the moment - just waiting for my boiler to be finished and I'll be in there.

Love the support device
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Carport
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by Carport »

I checked your build post too, looks very nice!
BrewinBrian44
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Re: My VM set-up and why I like it

Post by BrewinBrian44 »

Pretty rad, I have almost the same setup I just pieced together. Unfortunately I’m height limited, so I was only able to order 5L of SPP.
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