Vacuum filtration system

[Bushman]

I picked up a small stainless steel sink (without a hole in the bottom) for under $10.00 and plan on making a vacuum funnel system similar to the Buchner model used in Chemistry for separating particles. Once I attain the parts I need I am hoping to create a video to show how it performs. My thought is a vacuum pressured system should work better than gravity, if nothing else I will have a fancy cold coffee machine!

[Samohon]

I picked up 2 Büchner funnel's and 2 box's of filters at a trunk (boot) sale here in the UK, (Piccies to follow). Each holds about 500ml of compound, unlike the Hirsch funnel which is very similar but handles less quantities. I hav'nt worked out what I'm gonna use it for yet but it is damn good at filtering my whiskey to get rid of any wood/charcoal debris.

When I go climbing I use 96% abv in my alcohol burners for food and drink. Am I right in thinking that I could get rid of the 4% H2o in the high-proof alcohol using a container/Funnel/Flask setup with vacume applied to the collecting flask? Maybe outside the scope of home-distillation, so please forgive my inquisitive ramblings...

Sounds interesting, keep us posted BM...

[Prairiepiss]

Yes please keep us updated.

You mite look at making it so it can except the wine filter pads as well as coffee filters. Just a thought.

[Bushman]

Yes please keep us updated.

You mite look at making it so it can except the wine filter pads as well as coffee filters. Just a thought.

My thoughts down the road PP, I have a pretty good design plan but I am trying to make it as universal as possible. Samohon, I am not a chemist so I cannot answer your question, I just see something like the Buchner funnel and my mind starts looking for other applications.

[Samohon]

10/4 BM, my thoughts exactly...

I'm now off to prepare my temperature controlled fermenting cupboard for the winter...

Keep us posted bro...

[cob]

samohon dehydration of alcohol can be acomplished with lime, salt, (pun intended) benze , zeolite, straw, sawdust, corn meal, permeable membrane, (gortex? no verifcation available.) and vacuum distillation. corn meal seems the most convenient as the corn meal could be recycled into a wash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_purification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow cob.

[Dnderhead]

I agree with Cob, but there is a ketch,,once you have 100% alcohol unless it is sealed it will absorb moisture from the air and will be back to 95-96%.this has been a problem with storage of petrol/alcohol mix.petrol/alcohol does not mix unless the alcohol is 98% or more. then in storage the alcohol will absorb more water.doing so it becomes less than 98% .then it all separates.Iv been looking into this (storage for generator) what I found is "pillow" tanks.these are containers much like "wine in a box" .as you draw off product ,the bag collapse.
and no air/moisture can enter.

[Bushman]

Update: I have everything built but am waiting on a 4-1/2" cork to fit on my 4 gallon ball jar I had specially ordered. It has been over a week so I went to the tracking number and it was misrouted (not the first time this has happened to me). My part is at least in our state somewhere in Northbend! Once I get it it will not take long to finish and I will report back on how it works whether successful or not!

Second update: The corks arrived but are too small, double checked my order and according to their description they sent the wrong ones, so I sent them an email. You can imagine my disappointment after the first class mail was misrouted to begin with. On a positive note the corks are very tight so I think will work well for a vacuum seal.

[Bushman]

Update: Got the corks and assembled the system and tested with cold coffee to see how it would work. It actually was at least 4 times faster in filtering. I will post pictures and hopefully post a video later to show how it performed. But quickly I pulled it through so fast that it had very little time to make cold coffee, so this will work great for clearing liqueurs such as peach or raspberry. To make cold coffee I will probably have to let it sit in the grounds a bit longer before pulling it through, I did run it a second time and it helped but was still to light for drinking.
The first picture shows how I set it up using a vacuum pump.

This picture shows the whole operation.

I made the funnel out of a Stainless Steel boat sink drilled a hole through the bottom and used a ss drain.

funnel is a Stainless steel boat sink

The next picture I lifted the cork to show how it is assembled. I drilled two holes through the cork the first 1-1/4" to take the drain pipe, the other to the side is 3/8" to fit a 3/8" copper pipe that assembles to the vacuum.

cork

I put the coffee filter in a colander and put that in the sink to have more surface area to draw through!

[Prairiepiss]

Nice work. That's what I was thinking about doing. Just had different parts pictured in my head. That big ol jar is neat as hell. Man I like the setup. A lot simpler then what I was thinking. I like it a lot. Got me thinkin different now.

[mash rookie]

Nice work Amigo.

[Bushman]

Nice work. That's what I was thinking about doing. Just had different parts pictured in my head. That big ol jar is neat as hell. Man I like the setup. A lot simpler then what I was thinking. I like it a lot. Got me thinkin different now.

Thanks I have two of them I bought off craigslist, the one in the picture is 4 gallons, I also have a 2 gallon one. I had to create a new email account so that it would not be as easy to trace what I am doing back through YouTube but the video should be up in the next 10-15 minutes.

[Bushman]

OK, just got the video uploaded it was taken with my wife's digital camera without editing. Hope you can see the difference it was pretty dramatic live! I believe this is going to have a lot of applications for me in the future, I started this because I kept clogging my coffee filters while trying to get a clear raspberry liqueur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXPd0p1 ... e=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Prairiepiss]

I like it.

Need to find me a big big jar. I think I mite give a SS mixing bowl a try? Or I mite just make somethin?

Something you mite check out. I bought a set of SS sink strainers. They are made with SS mesh screen and you just drop them in the bottom of the sink. There are 3 different sizes. The best part is I got them at Dollar General store for a dollar. Family Dollar has them too. One would probably fit good in the bottom of your sink.

[Bushman]

Thanks for the idea PP, I was thinking about using a strainer of sometype for certain applications. One safety note this jar is pretty thick and I leave it open with the vacuum at the top but if it ever clogged and with glass it could theorically implode. So I did this demo to show how it works but I will probably look for another vessel or contain for safety reasons. Actually had a member pm me with their concerns which I think are valid. I have done some vacuum forming with silicone so I am not new to this method however I am a long way from being a scientist with any background in the area.

[Odin]

BM,

Please can you explain what it does and how to use it? I see a bottle, on to a cork. In the cork a funnel (with a filter in it?). In the cork also another hole with a pipe going to some kinda engine.

Does it work like this: motor sucks air out of the bottle, thus creating a (relative) vacuum. The vacuum sucks air through from the funnel, thus speeding up the filtration process? Please correct me where I go wrong.

Where are the benefits? Faster filtration? Even better filtration?

Odin.

[Prairiepiss]

Thanks for the idea PP, I was thinking about using a strainer of sometype for certain applications. One safety note this jar is pretty thick and I leave it open with the vacuum at the top but if it ever clogged and with glass it could theorically implode. So I did this demo to show how it works but I will probably look for another vessel or contain for safety reasons. Actually had a member pm me with their concerns which I think are valid. I have done some vacuum forming with silicone so I am not new to this method however I am a long way from being a scientist with any background in the area.

How much vacuum are you pulling on it? Maybe if you put a second tube to act like a vent tube with a small orifice. This would allow you to keep a vacuum on it. But it would be kinda regulated. I'm thinking maybe a piece of 1/4" crimped over wb a small hole drilled in the end. The smaller the hole the more vacuum. The bigger the hole less vacuum.

[sparky marky]

Regarding the safety aspect of glass and vacuums I seem to remember a school science experiment that might be relevant.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_jar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

If they let us mess around with it in school then it's usually pretty safe

[Bushman]

BM,

Please can you explain what it does and how to use it? I see a bottle, on to a cork. In the cork a funnel (with a filter in it?). In the cork also another hole with a pipe going to some kinda engine.

Does it work like this: motor sucks air out of the bottle, thus creating a (relative) vacuum. The vacuum sucks air through from the funnel, thus speeding up the filtration process? Please correct me where I go wrong.

Where are the benefits? Faster filtration? Even better filtration?

Odin.

Sorry Odin, I did not get back to this thread. I make raspberry liqueur and filtering it can be a pain as coffee filters have a tendency to clog. The idea behind this is it will be faster and pull through the filter so it won't clog as fast. And yes it works just like you said, the motor is a vacuum pump and I hooked it to a 3/8" copper pipe, I put the filter in a colendar to pull evenly and not suck it through the funnel.

[Bushman]

Regarding the safety aspect of glass and vacuums I seem to remember a school science experiment that might be relevant.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_jar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

If they let us mess around with it in school then it's usually pretty safe

Sparky, when I taught design we used a glass bell jar for vacuum forming silicone molds in my design engineering classes. I am thinking the glass jars that I have are probably ok unless the filter really gets clogged as a bell jar creates a total vacuum and I am always pulling some air through. I am not a scientist so not an expert in this field but if I stay with the glass jars I will watch it like my still and if it is not still pulling through I will definitely stop it. Wearing the goggles as in your wiki is a good idea.

[Uncle Bryan]

Could you incorporate something like this in your vacuum line?

Click

[Bushman]

I thought I would bump this old thread as it seems like many people are in the processes of working with fruits. If you are flavoring by maceration there are a lot of helpful suggestions in this thread.

[bearriver]

I've heard of this thread on several occasions, just to now finally read it. Seriously good stuff there Bushman! It should be a sticky.

[hamshine]

How much vacuum are you pulling on it? Maybe if you put a second tube to act like a vent tube with a small orifice. This would allow you to keep a vacuum on it. But it would be kinda regulated. I'm thinking maybe a piece of 1/4" crimped over wb a small hole drilled in the end. The smaller the hole the more vacuum. The bigger the hole less vacuum.[/quote]


or a second tube with a valve so you could control your vacuum. if you were concerned just don't totally close the valve. like an adjustable carb for a bong.. lol

[Bushman]

With the colander I have been using it now for 3 years and haven't had an issue. As mentioned earlier the colander equalizes the vacuum pull so everything doesn't get sucked through the drain.

[dstaines]

I have a vacuum filter system as well that doesn't use a motorized pump. I have a little brake line bleeder hand pump like this one, much cheaper than a motor

http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-blee ... 69328.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It also has a vacuum pressure gauge built in to tell you exactly how much vacuum you're pulling, which I consider an important safety feature. Something like this could be plugged directly into the system pictured above, which is similar to mine in function but a little larger. I wouldn't personally want to use a hand pump like mine to filter more than about a quart at a time, might cramp your hand up

[Bagasso]

Thought about making a thread but figured since there isn't much to it this might be a good thread.

I have been playing around with plain printer paper for filtering. I take a sheet of plain printer/office paper, cut a square and fold it so that I have a triangle that fits in a funnel. It is real slow but the results are nice so I fugured that Bushman's vacuum filter might make it worth while. Maybe some other type of readily available paper might work better.

Uncleared wash on the left and filtered on the right.

[Bushman]

My vacuum pump was given to me, I also have a smaller one that was given to me by a veterinarian shop when they upgraded their system just had to modify the box.

PS: I have multiple uses for them as I have created vacuum vises that they hook into and it is great for wood working projects. When I was still working I designed vacuum vises and different jigs and fixtures to hold down material while doing CNC milling.

[Bushman]

This is a shameful bump but I thought with spring coming on and more new members doing sometype of Tincturing they might find my vacuum filtration designed from a Buchner style filtering system helpful.

[japsinok]

This thread has me thinking about upcoming fruit season and filtering. I made a peach brandy last summer and filtering by gravity took forever through many coffee filters, that had to be replaced constantly. So, in looking around for what I have on hand, I remembered I have a couple of Millipore SS pressure filter holders for 90mm and 142mm filters that I picked up from surplus a long time ago and have never used. One thing I'm wondering is about positive vs negative pressure. I don't have a vacuum pump, but could use my compressor to generate positive pressure. I have a couple glass carboys and don't really want to run the risk of implosion, so thought pressure rather than vacuum might be worth a try. Am thinking a cheap 2.5 gal paint sprayer canister from HF and food grade pressure line (beer tap comes to mind) to the filter would push rather than pull liquid through the filter, driven by the compressor connected to the canister.

Another possible use would be for filtering wash/mash. As it is, I squeeze the grains after fermenting but distill immediately without allowing time to clear. I have never had issues with yeastiness in the distillate, but wonder if filtering out the yeast would make for cleaner product and less puking over into the condenser, meaning I could run the stripping run faster. I realize there are a few issues here. So...

1. Would this work? We use syringe filters in the lab all the time and this is just a much larger version, the way I see it.

2. Both of these can tolerate a pressure differential of 100 psi. So if the answer to Q1 is no, I guess I can mount a hopper over it and still use vacuum like a Buchner style filter as in this thread. Would just need to find a vacuum pump, and would still worry about glass implosion. (Note: I would put the carboy inside an enclosure if vacuum is the route to take)

2. Would that 2.5 gal HF canister have any nasty coating inside? Obviously, ss would be preferred if I could find one that could be cleaned sufficiently (if that is even possible). Is anyone familiar with that canister?

3. Would this be a way to rapidly clear the mash without having any detrimental effect on the final product? That is not really a problem for me but I just wonder if completely removing the particulates this way (using coffee filters rather than Millipore micron filters) as compared to gravity, vs what I am doing now to clear (which is nothing) would make a big difference in taste.

What I'm really asking you creative minds is... how would you use this kind of filter apparatus?