I'm in the process of deciding what style of still to build and how best to go about it... I have pretty much decided to build an "Offset-Head Style Still". But being a typical Aussie tinkerer I can't help wanting to modify the designs a bit, rather than just copying someone elses whole design.
The main modification I have been thinking of trying is a water jacket style condenser around the head, rather than the coil style condenser in the head (that everyone seems to use).
I would make the head out of 50mm(2") copper pipe, maybe 200mm(8") long, and make a water jacket around the head with 75mm(3") copper pipe with drilled endcaps. The head would also be packed with scrubbers.
To start with I was worried this may not give the same cooling surface area as the standard 6mm(1/4") coiled tube stylecondenser, so I did the maths.....
For the calculations I have used the measurments from the "Valved Reflux Still" plans (with Tony's mod), which had a 150mm(6") long 50mm(2") diameter head, with a condenser coil made from 1200mm(48") of 6mm(1/4") pipe.
The surface area of the coil condenser would be about 22608mm2.
The surface area of the inside of the head would be about 23550mm2.
so they both seem to have about the same cooling surface area....
Other than the fact it's likely to need more water flow, is there any reason why this wouldn't work, or why a standard coil style condenser would be better?
Also... is the valved reflux style much of an improvement over the standard offest head style?
Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou.
Matthew
(P.S. I'm quite happy to use a coil condenser, but as I said I just can't help wanting to make my own mods
)