Building a shop to do my hobby distilling.

[HungoverHog]

What kind of ventilation do I need? Should I be worried about rising gasses or falling gasses? I will be using a propane heat source.

[Prairiepiss]

How big of a shop are you building? Is it going to be used for other things besides this hobby? If your using a propane burner I would say you need as much ventilation as you can get. Both up high and down low. And a carbonmonoxide detector would be a good thing to have. Just my 2 pennys.

[HungoverHog]

It will be a 16x12 work shop with some overhead storage. Definitely going to have a carbon monoxide detector.

[Prairiepiss]

16 x 12 is a small space that could fill up fast with carbon monoxide. I would do a couple roof vents or gable vents. Maybe even look at a small power vent with a fan. Will you have electricity run? Along with maybe a couple vents along the base of the walls. That way you can get good flow. In though the base vents out through the top.

[Braz]

I have a wall mounted exhaust fan with shutters mounted high on the east wall opposite the overhead door. Opening the door a foot or so and turning the fan on works well.

Here is a site that has a handy chart to calculate the size fan you need to change the air at various rates depending on the kind of facility you have. Unfortunately, they don't seem to list "distillery" on their application list. They do have "dry cleaner" and I can't imagine anything worse than that. They also sell fans, of course.
http://www.airdistributor.net/c-11-exha ... KgodwzL_rg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[myles]

nice to be able to design from blank paper. What plans do you have for water, drains and power? It would be nice to be able to see the entire concept.

[HungoverHog]

Myles I'm not that handy. I will get the walls and roof on it and go from there. Building on a raised foundation so adding the water and electric won't be too difficult. Once it is built maybe I will come back to you guys for ideas. I am hoping to put it up in a couple of weeks or at least by the time my flute gets here. Budget is the theme on this build!! Oh thought I would mention I have never taken on a project like this before. How hard could it be

[HungoverHog]

Hey guys I am thinking about going electric over propane for the still. First of all would that be cheaper to operate and second what Would the building need to run a 5500 element for the boiler, lights, refrigerator, and an air conditioner when not distilling?

Thanks!!

[myles]

Hey guys I am thinking about going electric over propane for the still. First of all would that be cheaper to operate and second what Would the building need to run a 5500 element for the boiler, lights, refrigerator, and an air conditioner when not distilling?

Thanks!!

Never costed it to see if it is cheaper - but it is convenient. Put in a cooker circuit for each element you intend to use.

Can a standard cooker circuit with a breaker rated at 30 or 32 Amp / 240v, cope with 5 or 6kW worth of elements? Probably. A cooker these days can be 12kW if you switch on everything at once. But that does not happen often, and most cooker elements are 3kW. It is not unusual to have a cooker with both ovens switched on at the same time.

[KY1792]

I gallon of propane = 27 kWh,

In my area electric is $0.10 / kWh, multiplied by 27 = $2.70, so if propane is less per gallon it is cheaper. Unless bought in bulk propane around here is 1.85 times as costly to use when buying the 20 pound bbq tanks which cost $5 a gallon.

My last strip of 5 gallons boiled up in 45 minutes @ 2500 watts x 0.75hr = 1875 watts and cost about $0.19 in electricity or about $0.35 in propane assuming the same heating efficiency - which would be doubtful.

boiler = 5500 watts @ 240vac = 23 amps
small window A/C = 500 watts = 4 amps (120vac)
manual defrost refrigerator = 300 watts = 2.5 amps (120vac)

For a 30 amp 240 volt circuit I would use 8/3 awg cu wire on a 40 amp double pole breaker, it should be ample for a shed 100' away from the main panel (about 2% voltage drop).

[KY1792]

What kind of ventilation do I need? Should I be worried about rising gasses or falling gasses? I will be using a propane heat source.

Carbon monoxide for all practical purposes is buoyant in air, it will rise and fall depending on air temps, humidity, and convective air currents. I use 2 detectors one about head high and the other about a foot off the ground.

Propane is heavier than air and if a tank leak occurs the gas will fall to the floor - which is why it is especially deadly in a boat as it will fill the hull and explode. Most codes in the USA require an ignition source like a gas water heater to be at least 18" off the floor just for that reason.

[HungoverHog]

Great info KY1792