My Boka

[O'Mahony]

I mentioned that I would post photos of my project, so here is what I have been working on. This unit consists of a 2” diameter vapor column that is about 45” long. The condenser consists of 3/8” diameter copper in a 3” diameter shell. The coil section is 12” long with the housing about 15” long. This will mount on a 13 gallon milk can and be heated with a natural gas burner. I intend to regulate the burners gas flow with a ball valve and the same for the condenser water supply. I also have insulation for the column and boiler.

The column is intended to be a take down unit, the coupler used on the column is a “no stop” with about a third of the depth soldered to the column with the remaining 2/3 as a socket for the top half.

The one photo shows a view into the collection reservoir, I am showing it as I was able to do a slight single flare bulge to the end on the tube that sure cleans up the transition.

Well, I've come to understand that there is a possibility that this particular design has not been tried? So, I guess we will see,...................... I will keep you posted. Cheers O'Mahony

Additional photos:
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[Kentucky shinner]

I cant see your pics. try uploading them again

[kiwistiller]

or even better, upload them here, not photobucket - upload attachment button under submit / preview etc.

[rad14701]

You've been busy, O'Mahony... Hope that shiny new rig works a nice as it looks...

[Kentucky shinner]

hey I got the pics now.. She looks pretty good. wow she is shinny.. Good luck I think your gonna love it.

[maheel]

i like the idea of trying to cool the off take in the one unit and i hope it works as i might copy

my one criticism is how you have run the off take pipe back down the column, i think that might be a bad idea as i think it will reheat that pipe a far bit....


bloddy nice work but shiny copper porn

[rad14701]

my one criticism is how you have run the off take pipe back down the column, i think that might be a bad idea as i think it will reheat that pipe a far bit....

I'd be inclined to agree with that criticism... This would also be a problem if insulating the column was desired, or required, in an effort to improve column performance...

[Caprimulgus]

I will keep you posted.

Oh, please do! She is beautiful! I realy like the extra effort you put into those vents. Looking forward to read about her test runs.

[GreyGambler]

Looks good... now fire that sum bitch up

[ScottishBoy]

The only problem I can see is that the collector cup's over flow is higher that the level of the seam for the condenser assembly. That means if you dont seal it, then it will seek the first spot it finds to seep out which will be the seam where to condenser meets the collector cup. You may end up cutting a few slots in it, but then again that might be good because you could use those slots to direct the reflux directly into your packing. I'll be curious to see how it works.
Please post some results?
Damn that is shiny! What did you use to get it that way?
Sweet and polished to a T.


Very nice.

[Caprimulgus]

This was discussed in a nother thread. I'm thinking, why not solder that join and put a join like the one in the middle directly under there? Then, you could put aside the middle column part and slipp the head into the first column pipe for stripping. I have noooo experience my self, yet. So I'm guessing wildly.......

[O'Mahony]

Maheel, I hadn’t considered the vapor condenser as product cooler beyond the need for collection. I am currently trying to figure out what to construct as a mini Liebig for product cooling. Not sure how big? I would be curious to know what the take off temp would be as the unit is now built before a product cooler?

I did briefly consider the folly of sweating the take off tube to the column. The decision to sweat the tube to the column was an effort to make the unit more bullet proof. Something like righty tighty? My hope is that a product cooler will make that a non issue.

GrayGambler,…….hell yea fire that son bitch up! Good or bad I’m fired up.

ScottishBoy,…good eye on catching detail. I will drill holes below the reservoir’s top edge into the column to provide the drain. The shinny copper was me providing employment to my young daughter. She used 400 wet & dry and Mother’s polish. She sure likes $ but she didn’t like polishing copper.

Caprimulgus,…..good idea!

Thank you guys for the comments. I hope to be able to do a test run inside two weeks. More to follow……….O’Mahony

[ScottishBoy]

Maheel, I hadn’t considered the vapor condenser as product cooler beyond the need for collection. I am currently trying to figure out what to construct as a mini Liebig for product cooling. Not sure how big? I would be curious to know what the take off temp would be as the unit is now built before a product cooler?

I did briefly consider the folly of sweating the take off tube to the column. The decision to sweat the tube to the column was an effort to make the unit more bullet proof. Something like righty tighty? My hope is that a product cooler will make that a non issue.

GrayGambler,…….hell yea fire that son bitch up! Good or bad I’m fired up.

ScottishBoy,…good eye on catching detail. I will drill holes below the reservoir’s top edge into the column to provide the drain. The shinny copper was me providing employment to my young daughter. She used 400 wet & dry and Mother’s polish. She sure likes $ but she didn’t like polishing copper.

Caprimulgus,…..good idea!

Thank you guys for the comments. I hope to be able to do a test run inside two weeks. More to follow……….O’Mahony

I would be tempted to cut two narrow slots and hang a V shaped piece of copper wire from them to direct the drop directly into the center of the packing. I Do like that shiny copper. Is you daughter willing to travel?

[rad14701]

O'Mahony, while your column is nice and shiny it needs some patina...

Check out the quick and dirty product liebig in my build topic... See the link in my signature... There are many ways to build product condensers... We have liebigs, Graham condensers, and air cooled spirals, to name a few...

[Caprimulgus]

Any test run yet?

[O'Mahony]

Caprimulgus,.......Tracking # says I receive MileHi boiler today? Looking to do a test drive/clean out run with a sugar wash by this weekend? I will post my findings, trials and tribulations.

Beer kegs around here are $100.00.............probably should have bought one anyways. I just figured that by the time I purchase the Sankey retro fitting I might as well buy the milk can? O'Mahony

[Kentucky shinner]

take some pics when you get her together so as we can check the new girl out.....

[O'Mahony]

I was finally able to test my new unit, and I am happy to report that I was pleased with its performance in a stripping mode. I stripped 80L of sugar wash and experienced no problems.

My #1 concern was with the possibility of the condenser shell sweating alcohol being that the condenser is a slip fit to the reservoir. #2 concern was with the ability of the reflux overflow to keep up with the volume of condensate in the reflux mode, both of these concerns turned out to be non issues.

Some of you may remember my posting in “Column Distillation & Design” my question being about how to treat overflow back to the column. My thought was to drill holes at an appropriate height that would allow overflow. “Still Crazy” suggested an overflow tube instead of the drilled holes in-order to direct the overflow to the center of the column. I liked his suggestion and soldered a 3/8" 90 at what I thought to be the appropriate height. The photos show the treatment of the overflow and also the unit at work stripping.

I stripped the first 40L and then modified the cold finger by sweating a copper cone to the bottom of the cold finger. I felt that I got a good return for that effort while stripping the second 40L. My thinking was that modification could direct more of the condensate to the reservoir. I was able to increase the take off rate and not have gaps in take off flow with the reservoir running dry. I had her pissing like a race horse on my second strip. The Hoke SS needle valve ($20. ebay) sure has some fine adjustments, I was amazed how slowly I could make the stream increase over its entire range.

So if the river doesn't rise, I intend to do a spirit run this coming weekend and I am sure that will be the real test of this designs ability? Time to pack the column! I do have insulation for both the column and boiler but with this being a test of sorts, I wasn't worried about the efficiency. Cheers, O'Mahony

[NcHooch]

Yes indeed ! Look at that baby !
very nice o'mahony
NChooch

[Kentucky shinner]

great job man.. Nothing like success when you have made it yourself is there.
Ks

[O'Mahony]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the support and positive words. The resource of this forum has allowed this newbie to pick a straight line to success. I will do a spirit run this weekend and post results. I would also like to document the rate this unit will strip, got a feeling it will strip pretty quick, I wasn't paying attention to that rate last weekend,......having too much fun. I do know that that I got 80 proof with a unpacked column on my second 40L strip, pushing it pretty hard? Makes me wonder about the capability of a whiskey run in an unpacked column doing brutal cuts. I was sampling the center of the All Bran strip (smile). O'Mahony

[ScottishBoy]

Lookin good. Lookin VERY good.
Nice job.

[O'Mahony]

I had decided to gain some experience with my new Boka build before doing any posting on its operation. I now have the experience of nearly two hundred gallons of Wino’s wash under my belt and the following text is my thoughts on what I believe I have learned;

The wash: ferment process seems easier with a starting SG of 1070 or not too much higher. Fermenting goes faster maintaining a stable ambient temperature, I found I can easily maintain a 72 – 76 degree environment and get good results. The biggest upside connected to the wash is taking the time to thoroughly clear it!

Stripping wash procedure: once the charged boiler has heated to about a 100 degrees I throttle down the heat to slowly sneak up on the operating temp. I do this with the take off valve open and I cull anything that initially collects (lightest vapors) that start to appear in the 150 + degree range. When temperature gets to 165 degree I valve off and reflux for a half hour, then collect the bulk of the obvious fore’s and heads at a rate of a drip a second. Once past the distinct heads I strip fast and collect the rest of the alcohol.

Product run: Again, I repeat the initial stripping procedure and heat the boiler charge and slowly approach the operating temp. and cull lightest vapors with the take off valve open at warm up followed by a half hour of valved off reflux at operating temperature. This particular build I find that I can easily collect product in the 92 – 93 ABV range at a rate of quart an hour or a bit faster. This unit easily makes the 195 196 ABV at a slow drip per second.

My Thoughts: Taking the time to ferment dry, to a low SG has its benefits as does the thorough clearing of the ferment. I believe these benefits are a lack of “tails” with this particular wash. I do not collect this product in small containers once past the head’s collection. I find that I can collect all the way down to whatever ABV I want and not taint the collection with any tail taste. I attribute the suspended particles in a less clear wash and possibly any unconverted sugar still in the wash if the ferment is not taken down to a very low SG being the reason for the tail taste with this minimalist neutral wash?

I sense the wash likes to be treated nicely, heated slowly and its working temperature maintained gracefully (smile)

I am tempted to list my failures (nothing not drinkable smile), you know the ones our mentors continually seem to have to address…..smile. I am still a raw newbie, but now I make an awesome neutral no hangover spirit!

Folks, this is what I believe I have learned from my short tenure as a stiller. I would be pleased to try to address any questions connected to this post. Regards, O’Mahony


On to Whiskey my first love and no doubt a much larger and longer learning curve!

[Caprimulgus]

Aah, I have been waiting for this one Great post.

For reasons I could not avoid, I had to store 4 washes in my cold attic for quite a long time. Those 4 turned out beautiful and with less tails. So I second what you say about the clearing.

I've enjoyed following this one. Thank you for sharing.