Big still - small quantity

[moonstruth]

hello all, I'm fairly new to this and plan to post some photo's when I have a bit more to contribute. Until then:

I have a big still and such a small amount of alcohol that when it reaches the correct temperature and starts to produce vapours there is to much space for the vapours to be forced up through the swans neck and into the cooling chamber.

What would the effects be to the head and heart if I added some water to reduce the air gap within the still ?
I hope to give it another go in a few days !

[rtalbigr]

You're gonna have to provide a lot more details before anyone can help you, like what kind of still....

Big R

[moonstruth]

home made (well in the making), see the photos.
- I know heat rises, and ideally the lid itself would be a funnel, and I know it would be better if the funnel was at the top. But my thinking is if the air gap is small enough the vapours will be forced out that way . Currently I'm experimenting and it was just cheaper to make it like this ! will the vapours escape more fluidly if I remove the cooper funnel completely until I'm able to design a more aerodynamic lid ?

The aim is to produce ethanol on the cheap. My electric heat ring got approx: 20 litres to 72 degrees c (6.33 off where I needed to be !)
Right now I'm working on a new heat source for the pot still. With a small amount of liquid in it (about a litre) it was all vapoured up but too much space in the still to force them out.

I guess I'm going to have to play with the quantities in relation to the available heat I'm able to put through it. But the key question is:
What would the effects be to the head and heart if I added some water to reduce the air gap within the still ?

[whiskeytripping]

Is that a galvanized steel trash can?

[whiskeytripping]

You need to do some serious reading in the beginners section, and the rules we live by now, or your gonna hurt yourself

[rad14701]

This is a very good example of everything NOT to do when building a still... I would recommend doing some serious research before proceeding further in this hobby...

Posted the same time as whiskeytripping...

[Oxbo Rene]

Yep = you're just asking for trouble with that thing .......................

[rad14701]

Here is just a short list of items base on a quick glance...

• Galvanized boiler
• Worm doesn't have a continuous downward slope
• Shock cooling from using ice in too small of a worm bucket (flake stand)
• No apparent means of sealing the boiler lid

[Prairiepiss]

+ Trying to control temps. Or the lack of understanding what controls temps.

[moonstruth]

so maybe back to the drawing board.
It is seriously a budget job materials wise. Most of the money has gone into the tools !

The galvanised bin (boiler) has been made water tight so presumed air tight too (the test would have told)

There is a digital thermometer inside the boiler with the monitor displaying externally (not included in the pictures as it's not finished, the pics are just a quick assembly). This would monitor the temperature of the liquid, which will be heated by an ethanol burner (outside) underneath. Is that acceptable or do I also need to monitor the temperature of the vapours as they leave the still and enter the chiller ?

I was going to use installation foil tape to seal the lid until the design was finalised. Then I was not sure, I could have welded it on.

So while I start to read a bit more and look at some other designs (including extending the condensing chiller, I've got some straight cooper pipe left):

My still is for making fuel so the new design will also have an approx. 80L capacity. Now if for some reason I ever did want to run smaller quantities (such as testing the ethanol mash) what would my options be ?

thanks for pointing a ruckie in the right direction

[stillvodka]

is this for real ? this has to be a wind up

Could be they could poison themselves, or if that don't get them , they'll blow themselves up

[Dnderhead]

fuel..is not worth making unless you git sugar/heat for free.most have 4-5$ a quart/liter, so thats somewhere around 16$ a gallon.

[Prairiepiss]

which will be heated by an ethanol burner

My still is for making fuel so the new design will also have an approx. 80L capacity.

Ok you will use more ethanol to heat it then you will make?
And a pot still is not a good choice to make fuel. You will need some kind of reflux column. And that will use up even more ethanol to heat.

Not to mention the time you will need to spend manning the still. To produce the ethanol just to run the still.

[moonstruth]

hmmm,
this still is a practice, if it works and runs my engine then I will weld up a reflux model (with an electric heat source if it costs as much as you say to burn)

I don't quite get the poisoning part (blowing myself up, who knows !), even if i where to drink it.
Galvanised means zinc plated (used in catering all the time).
The zinc is only poisonous if it melts (and it needs to get a lot hotter than the boiler ever will). So why would it be poisonous ?
The solder is lead free.
The the weld will be done with standard electrode rods.
What would be poisonous ?

[Prairiepiss]

Here we go.

Please take the time to do a search on using zink in a still. We just had a big blowout thread on it not to long ago. Not to mention welding it puts off poisonous fumes.

And you need to crunch numbers and see how much it will cost you to make fuel per gallon. It's not worth it unless you live somewhere gas is $10 or more a gallon.

So is your experiments for fuel or drink.

[moonstruth]

It is for fuel, just good to know if I used it for alcohol if it would kill me or not.

Right so if I :
- loose the funnel
- weld on the lid
- finish bending the pipe into a swans neck
- make the condensing chiller a little bigger
- add an internal immersion heater instead of bottom burner
I can do a few test runs to see if it is worth building a quality still for ethanol (instead of this cheap bodge job)

I'm going to stop posting now as it seems I'm no where near ready to contribute to this forum like you guys. Maybe in a few months or years when I've learnt something

[King Of Hearts]

Turn that trashcan into a smoker for meat, about all it's good for besides trash.

[OBX Phantom]

Prairie is exactly right about welding galvenized steel. It will put out a poiseness gas that will make you so sick that you will wish you were dead. Also even though I am a novice myself, I can tell you that the way you have that funnel is noy going to collect anything. The bulk of your dteam is going to collect above the funnel.
Just my 2 cents!!!

[rad14701]

I'm going to stop posting now as it seems I'm no where near ready to contribute to this forum like you guys. Maybe in a few months or years when I've learnt something

Sounds like a plan because you seem determined on playing down our serious concerns... You're not the first novice, nor will you be the last, who thinks they know more than the cumulative knowledge that the HD membership has to offer...

Good luck to you... I think you're going to need it...

[UKChris]

I don't usually feel the need to comment, But WOW

[urrazeb]

It's a worry that u threw that together and your only concern is running a small amount of alcohol.

You have alot more to worry about before even considering running that clusterfuck and are the reason alot of in novice guys get so much stick from the pros.

[King Of Hearts]

I'm telling ya, make this instead. http://cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/elecsmoker.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow