Lyne Arm Size, Output Piping Size

[DoubleJ]

Hey gang,

It's been a while since I've made an appearance here on the forum. And once again, I've come seeking some advice from those smarter than I am.

I've got a brand new still set up in the works - still, thumper and condenser. The still is built, but while building it I started wondering about the size of the lyne arm, or more specifically, the diameter(s) of it. For all intents and purposes, my still is a 10 gallon pot still. It's 13" in diameter by 21" tall. Mathematically, that works out to ~12 gallons, but suffice it to say it's 10 gallons because that's all I'll ever load into it.

Anyway...

My lyne arm is cone shaped, about 18" long with a 2-1/4" diameter at the cap reduced down to 1" at the other end. The plan from there is to run it 1" down into the thumper and 3/4" out of the thumper to the condenser, where it will be reduced again to 5/8" O.D. soft copper tubing (which is essentially 1/2" copper pipe). For fear of asking a stupid question, does this sound about right??

The design/shape of my lyne arm was purely visual. I just thought it looked cool. There was no hard science put into it.

All input and feedback is appreciated.

Thanks
JJ

[still_stirrin]

...My lyne arm is cone shaped, about 18" long with a 2-1/4" diameter at the cap reduced down to 1" at the other end. The plan from there is to run it 1" down into the thumper and 3/4" out of the thumper to the condenser, where it will be reduced again to 5/8" O.D. soft copper tubing (which is essentially 1/2" copper pipe). For fear of asking a stupid question, does this sound about right??

Does the lyne arm ascend or descend? That is, is it tilted upwards or downwards?

What’s going to happen is that the vapor will accelerate as the diameter decreases. As that happens, it will lower the saturation temperature of the vapor. If the lyne arm is ascending, the condensate will return to the boiler. If descending, the condensate will drip towards the product condenser. Even if the central axis of the lyne arm is horizontal, it will promote the condensate to flow back to the boiler in a passive reflux cycle.

I would concur that you should keep the vapor path as large as possible (1” ID) all the way to the thumper. And yes, you should be OK coming out of the thumper with 3/4” ID into your product (Liebig) condenser.

You can reduce to 1/2” ID soft copper tubing for a worm if you must (it will work). But Liebigs are so much easier to manage for a run. But, you got what you got...so use it.
ss

[Reverend Newer]

I've seen retardedly smaller lyne arms, think yer fine. Best of spiritus to ya.

[Appalachian spirits]

I use 1 inch on a 20 gallon pot to the thumper in a horizontal run wi( arm and piping) with no issues. 3/4" out of thumper to 1/2" worm but currently replacing it it shotgun which will be 3/4" inlet which should improve vapor travel.
You should be fine with the one inch.

[DoubleJ]

Okay, good stuff. Thank you for the replies.

Still_stirrin - The lyne arm is horizontal.

Just to put a little more back story to this, this is the second still I'm building. The still itself is identical to the first one I built.

With the first set up, it was simple. The still ran directly into the condenser. The condenser itself was essentially a copper cylinder/bucket I made. It was about 14" tall and about 12" in diameter (roughly 6-1/2 gals). It had about 25' of 3/8" O.D. soft copper tubing coiled in it. The still was connected to it via a couple unions and reduction fittings. For the most part it worked fine. On spirit runs, because the temps were relatively lower, I barely had to re-charge it with cold water throughout the run. On stripping runs I would have to re-charge it with cold water a few times. And if I really ran the still hard it would huff a little bit, but dialing back the heat a little controlled that.

With the new set up, I want the ability to run it with or without the thumper, and to avoid any huffing whatsoever. The new condenser is quite a bit larger than the first one. It measures 15" in diameter x 20" tall, so roughly 15 gallons, with about 18' of 5/8" O.D soft copper tubing coiled in it. I'm hoping it will do the trick.

Here is a pic of my original set up:

Here is a pic of the new still:

And a couple pics of the condenser although it's not quite done yet.

[Yummyrum]

Nice setup

I love that snow scene with the box of new jars ready for action .... can feel the excitement .
I think your new setup will be just fine . A 10 gal charge you won't be running too hard . All that gear will treat you well .
The bracing in the flake stand (worm condenser ) looks great ..... can't see any reason to be concerned at all .
Enjoy

[googe]

Nice build mate, agree with yummy on the stand, nice job. Good to hear you know acending and descending is up or down

[Appalachian spirits]

Very nice, well done

[Danespirit]

That looks like a nice setup.
1/2" for a worm is the minimum on smaller pipes the risk for a blockage is too big.So your 5/8" pipe should perform well.
The riser on my stainless steel pot head is 2" with a reducer welded to it that goes down to 3/4" before the Liebig.
Works great...I wouldn't go any smaller though (2 KW heat input). viewtopic.php?f=50&t=56039

[Appalachian spirits]

Nice job! Excllent job on coil too. It should carry that pot just fine . Nw get that thing fired up!!!