Liebig pipe diameter

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StarkBlood1980
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Liebig pipe diameter

Post by StarkBlood1980 »

Hi
I hope this hasn’t been asked before but I can’t seem to find the answer and converting imperial to metric is a pain lol.
Anyway.
I’m in the research stage of making a still and I’m planning on starting with a pot still made from a keg and 54mm copper column and a Liebig condenser.
What id like to do is reduce from 54mm down to 22mm and carry on the 22mm all the way to the product collection. Would a 28mm diameter water jacket work for the Liebig?
I’ve looked at the easy pot still design on here and that Liebig has a 15mm core and 22mm jacket so there’s 7mm of water surrounding the output and if I went with 22mm core and 28mm jacket I’d have 6mm surrounding the outlet.
Thoughts?
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still_stirrin
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Re: Liebig pipe diameter

Post by still_stirrin »

StarkBlood1980 wrote:...a pot still made from a keg and 54mm copper column and a Liebig condenser....id like to do is reduce from 54mm down to 22mm and carry on the 22mm all the way to the product collection...
What you want...is not the best design. The best design would minimize the vapor velocity as long as possible, at least until it enters the Liebig product condenser. Keep the 54mm copper as long as possible...I know...it's more expensive, but it will help you with the operation of the still.
StarkBlood1980 wrote:...Would a 28mm diameter water jacket...with 22mm core and...I’d have 6mm surrounding the outlet....Thoughts?
It should work just fine.

The vapor velocity will be slower with the larger ID vapor pipe. You could improve heat transfer with an internal vane of copper, such as a flattened piece of pipe inserted into the vapor tube. The copper vane would act as a fin to conduct heat from the vapor into the water jacket.

Also, if you wrap a copper wire around the vapor tube (inside of the water jacket) it will help with convection of heat into the water, improving the conductive heat transfer through the copper pipe (vapor tube).
ss
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StarkBlood1980
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Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:45 am

Re: Liebig pipe diameter

Post by StarkBlood1980 »

still_stirrin wrote:
StarkBlood1980 wrote:...a pot still made from a keg and 54mm copper column and a Liebig condenser....id like to do is reduce from 54mm down to 22mm and carry on the 22mm all the way to the product collection...
What you want...is not the best design. The best design would minimize the vapor velocity as long as possible, at least until it enters the Liebig product condenser. Keep the 54mm copper as long as possible...I know...it's more expensive, but it will help you with the operation of the still.
StarkBlood1980 wrote:...Would a 28mm diameter water jacket...with 22mm core and...I’d have 6mm surrounding the outlet....Thoughts?
It should work just fine.

The vapor velocity will be slower with the larger ID vapor pipe. You could improve heat transfer with an internal vane of copper, such as a flattened piece of pipe inserted into the vapor tube. The copper vane would act as a fin to conduct heat from the vapor into the water jacket.

Also, if you wrap a copper wire around the vapor tube (inside of the water jacket) it will help with convection of heat into the water, improving the conductive heat transfer through the copper pipe (vapor tube).
ss
Thanks for the reply, the plan is for a 54mm x 500mm column into a 54mm 90 bend then a reduce to 22mm. The Water jacket will then be 600mm in length per plan or up to 1000mm if needed .
Would the flattened pipe bisect the vapour tube?
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