Building a steam injection still

Steam powered cooking and distillation devices.

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Mississippidistiller
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Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

After using my little 5 gallon still and 5gallon thumper to distill on the grain I felt the gears cranking up in my head which hurt a little to tell you the truth lol. My 12 gallon copper still was in storage un used and lonely so I got the I idea to build me a steam injection still with it.

But this was not with out its challenges finding a keg in my part of Mississippi was hard as heck I looked and looked and the ones I found people was wanting like 160 for them and I was like oh know I can do better than that so I went online and ordered me one. Found it for 70 bucks free shipping so I snagged it its not in yet but when I gets hear I will give an update but I just wanted to start this thread so get some feed back if there's anything I should change so far.

So the design I almost forgot to put that in here lol I will have the keg heated by propane at first but my uncle mig welds stainless all the time so he is gonna hook me up by welding some 1" NTP fittings on the keg for me so I can use 2 elements one will be 5500 watts 240 and the other 1500 watts 120 the 1500 will have a router speed controller from Harbor Freight with added heat sink over kill maybe but I will be able to get the keg of water up to boiling in about 30 min if my math is correct. Its prolly not lol

But yea I'm gonna be using propane till I can move in to my house come February and get the electrical work done.
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Kegg_jam
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Kegg_jam »

Hell yeah! That'll be a nice steam rig.
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MichiganCornhusker
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

That is a real beauty love to see those copper pots!
I would suggest putting a union or a triclamp on your liebig so that you can adjust the angle for take-off heights.

Also, some kind of support for the condenser or it might put too much stress on your still and make sealing the cap more challenging.

Very nice setup, keep the pics coming.
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Brutal
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Brutal »

Looking nice. Be safe and keep us posted.
Steam injection rig http://tinyurl.com/kxmz8hy
All grain corn mash with steam injection and enzymes http://tinyurl.com/mp6zdt5
Inner tube condenser http://tinyurl.com/zkp3ps6
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

MichiganCornhusker wrote:That is a real beauty love to see those copper pots!
I would suggest putting a union or a triclamp on your liebig so that you can adjust the angle for take-off heights.

Also, some kind of support for the condenser or it might put too much stress on your still and make sealing the cap more challenging.

Very nice setup, keep the pics coming.
Thanks corn husker yea I'm gonna post pics when its finsihed should have all of my parts next week. And I'm gonna put a connector coupling on the Lyn arm headed to the condencer I'm worried about the lie big tho its an old one I had laying around and its like 28 inches long but I don't know if its gonna have enough knock down power the parent site said I should be fine but Idk if I used it right

Oh and as far as the cap I use flour paste and about 4 bricks in top of it always have and it works so why chang that lol it will be the only part of my still not soldered but I have 3 copper connector unions that I'm gonna use to break it down ones gonna be where the steam turns down beside the copper still the second one like I said on the Lyn arm for adjusting the hight of the condencer. And the third will be on my mash cooker side of the steam still to break that down
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shadylane
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by shadylane »

Looking good Mississippi :thumbup:
Just a thought
You will need a pressure relief valve for the steam generator.
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

shadylane wrote:Looking good Mississippi :thumbup:
Just a thought
You will need a pressure relief valve for the steam generator.


The system will be running as a thumper set up so know considerable amount of pressure should build up although I have put a 3 way stainless steel ball valve on top of the keg so I can redirect the flow of steam to my mash cooker and to allow the keg to cool when its off to prevent the keg from crushing under the vacume
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Skipper1953
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Skipper1953 »

Mississippidistiller wrote:The system will be running as a thumper set up so know considerable amount of pressure should build up...
Not on purpose, any way. What would you deem to be a "considerable amount"? I'm sure you already know this but even a considerably small amount of pressure in a steam system can make you very sorry you decided to mess around with steam under even low pressure.
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by HDNB »

they make PRV/vacuum breakers (all in one type) that screw in to a NPT thread.
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Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

This is the next part of my build I got a 3 way ball valve that takes the steam from the keg and sends it to the still are the mash cooker I got it perfectly balanced so I will not put stress on the copper and I am putting on 3/4 couplings for easy break down and cleaning.
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Brutal
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Brutal »

Mississippidistiller wrote:This is the next part of my build I got a 3 way ball valve that takes the steam from the keg and sends it to the still are the mash cooker I got it perfectly balanced so I will not put stress on the copper and I am putting on 3/4 couplings for easy break down and cleaning.
What happens when the valve is I'm the middle position? Will both sides be open or will the boiler be sealed?
Steam injection rig http://tinyurl.com/kxmz8hy
All grain corn mash with steam injection and enzymes http://tinyurl.com/mp6zdt5
Inner tube condenser http://tinyurl.com/zkp3ps6
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

Brutal wrote:
Mississippidistiller wrote:This is the next part of my build I got a 3 way ball valve that takes the steam from the keg and sends it to the still are the mash cooker I got it perfectly balanced so I will not put stress on the copper and I am putting on 3/4 couplings for easy break down and cleaning.
What happens when the valve is I'm the middle position? Will both sides be open or will the boiler be sealed?

Every good question it has a safety feature on the valve that will only let it open the 2 directions I want it to so that way you can't accidentally have it closed
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

Made a change to my condencer its a double Liebig
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shadylane
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by shadylane »

Here's the 15psi valve I'm using
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Valve-13- ... f+valve+15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here's a 5psi valve that's available now :thumbup:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... lve++5+psi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

shadylane wrote:Here's the 15psi valve I'm using
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Valve-13- ... f+valve+15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here's a 5psi valve that's available now :thumbup:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... lve++5+psi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Thanks man I will check them out
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Oldvine Zin »

This one will save you a couple of bucks and is what I used
http://www.supplyhouse.com/Burnham-8166 ... Av748P8HAQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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shadylane
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by shadylane »

You can also build a manometer. Here's a homemade 1psi manometer.
You have protection from boiler overpressure and a super accurate pressure gage.
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: Building a steam injection still

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Nice Shady I like it
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

shadylane wrote:You can also build a manometer. Here's a homemade 1psi manometer.
You have protection from boiler overpressure and a super accurate pressure gage.
I was always wondering what those were I have read about them but I guess not enough because I'm still not sure how it works
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shadylane
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by shadylane »

It's like blowing bubbles in a glass of water with a straw.
The deeper the straw is in the water, the more pressure needed to blow the bubbles.
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

shadylane wrote:It's like blowing bubbles in a glass of water with a straw.
The deeper the straw is in the water, the more pressure needed to blow the bubbles.

So how would I know how to build it so my steam can drive my still and now blow out the manometer
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shadylane
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by shadylane »

I guesstimated having it 3X taller than the depth of the mash
If you have 2' of mash, a 6' tall manometer would be about right.
Mississippidistiller
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Re: Building a steam injection still

Post by Mississippidistiller »

shadylane wrote:I guesstimated having it 3X taller than the depth of the mash
If you have 2' of mash, a 6' tall manometer would be about right.

Cool man I might just build me one
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