Hi all. I'm new to the site and i sure am glad to be here i'm learning quite a lot i must say. I had built this valved reflux a number of years ago (from the Building a World Class Distillation Apparatus site). I think it was modelled after the Nixon/Stone off set head design. Only a few pictures have survived several moves to new computers and little careless mishaps. It had a 5 gallon stainless steel cream can boiler and a 5' column that was 2" in diameter. Insulated. I tried quite a few different packings, but ended up using marbles. I found them easier to clean. The probe on the temperature gauge at the top of the column extended down past the 2"x2"x1 1/2" T. The condenser went up to 3". I used somewhere around 25' of 1/4" soft copper for the coil and wrapped it around a 1 1/4" cold finger which extended down to the 1 1/2' vapour inlet. The cold finger had a 1/4" tube on the water inlet side to take the cool water to the bottom. I had temp gauges for everything. Mid column at the top of the packing (which was a digital temp and probe with a high temp alarm), top column, inside the condenser housing and coolant temperature. The condensed liquid dropped into a 2" end cap that i had tapped with 2 Valves. The reflux valve went into the column a couple inches above the packing. The production valve dropped into a built in site glass that had a hydrometer inside. with this still i could pretty much condense all the vapour running as fast as the turkey burner would go.
One problem i discovered was an uneven drip into the jar. The problem was with the inlets to the valves in the valve cup. the reflux cannot both be flush with the bottom of the cup. I reinstalled the reflux valve inlet a little higher in the cup so that when i choked the production valve back, the condensate in the cup would fill up a bit and overflow into the reflux valve inlet. This kept a little head pressure on the production valve and helped regulate the drip count. I never did figure out the reflux ratio but with the reflux valve closed and production valve open, i could get about a gallon an hr of 85%. With the reflux open and the production valve regulated to roughly 3 drops per second, i was getting about a litre an hr of 98.6 or absolute. I loved this still as it allowed total control of the run. When water vapor entered the column, the temp went up. Id simply close the production off and reflux till the temp went back down and then continue collecting. squeezing all i could out.
My first Valved reflux
Moderator: Site Moderator