Cautionary tale - Make sure you have a fire extinguisher

[rhumbum]

Seems obvious, but not to me until tonight.

I was doing a spirit run tonight. Maybe I have let myself become complacent, and maybe I was a little too tired to be doing a run this evening. Anyway, I feel thankfull that I have had this wake up call and been spared burning down my workshop and have wlaked away from it with no more injury than inhaling a small amount of polystyrene fumes and a making a big mess.

I had just made the cut to tails. I collect in small jars and when I am into tails I cut to a bigger 3L jar. Anyway I left the still for a mintute to empty the bucket that I use to collect the coolant overflow into a drain outside. I probably would have been better off if I had just left the still to run itself dry because what I did next was really dumb.

I have only had the still puke once before during the start of a stripping run because I didn't turn down the gas as soon as it reached a boil. I thought I had learned my lesson there and normally I listen intently for a boil to start and then turn it down to take the foreshots off slow, and then make small ajustmnents to get the desired flow of product from the condenser.

Like I said, I have just cut to tails and was getting pretty eager to go home and get to sleep and the output was starting to drop off, so for some idiotic reason unknown to my better judgement I cranked the power right up, not a reasonable increment and wait for the result but a quick quarter turn. Almost straight away I was awoken from my complacencly by the sound of the boiler charge bumping and a WHUMP as the vapours inside blew though the wheat flour gasket that seals the boiler neck to the still head and were lit up by the heat from the gas flame.

I managed to react quick enough to turn the gas off at the regulator, and it turns out that for my stupidity I only got a small slap on the wrist from the fire gods rather than what could have happened, ie; my workshop being burned down, putting me out of work, having to expalin things to my landlord (who of course has no clue that I am distilling on his property), possible criminal charges, etc.

The polystyrene insulation in the ceiling only had just started to melt before the flash fire burned out. Thank f**k I wasn't standing over the boiler when it happened or else I would have no hair or possibly no skin on my head. Needless to say the first thing that went though my head as I watched the flames lick the ceiling and walls was that I wish I had a fire extinguisher. I mean, how complacent can someone be? I made do by thowing water from the barrel which I use as a coolant reservoir all over the walls and ceiling.

So, I am lucky enough to have learned a lesson without major damage or injury, just a mess in my workshop and some frayed nerves; There is no room for complacency or impatience in this hobby - and buy a fire extinguisher!

[Richard7]

A charged water hose would be wise to. Less mess to clean up and works well to dilute flammable alcohol. Glad to hear your OK.

[ajshomebrew]

SO glad you posted your experience....SAFETY FIRST ! I read on here for months before attempting my first run and I quickly decided a FIRE EXTINGUISHER and WATER HOSE is ALWAYS by my chair a few feet ( more like yards ) away from the boiler. WOW so glad you are safe and lesson learned....Thank you for sharing !!!

[rhumbum]

This was definately a wake-up call for me. Unfortunately my workshop has no running water. I use a worm condenser and fill the flake stand from a large barrel that I top up from time to time from fresh water I bring with me to the workshop. A CO2 extinguisher would probably be best.

It could have been worse if this happened at the start of the run rather than the tails. As it happened the flames were reddish orange, presumably from being from the more impure vapour from the tails and having less oxygen from being in the exhaust path of the gas flame. I was bricking it for a while about there being any invisible alcohol fires on the ceiling and throwing water around before I calmed down enough to lock up and go home.

[Butterman]

So what happened?
You were doing a spirit run so your boiler had 40% abv in it? or less since you were at the end of your run? and then there was a vapor leak or reverse there was O2 getting into your boiler and combusted?
I guess what Im asking is how did the WHUMP happen?

Butterman

PS glad your ok and also thanks for sharing

[Richard7]

So what happened?
You were doing a spirit run so your boiler had 40% abv in it? or less since you were at the end of your run? and then there was a vapor leak or reverse there was O2 getting into your boiler and combusted?
I guess what Im asking is how did the WHUMP happen?

Butterman

PS glad your ok and also thanks for sharing

I thought that too but didn't think to ask... good question Butterman

[rhumbum]

So what happened?
You were doing a spirit run so your boiler had 40% abv in it? or less since you were at the end of your run? and then there was a vapor leak or reverse there was O2 getting into your boiler and combusted?
I guess what Im asking is how did the WHUMP happen?

Butterman

PS glad your ok and also thanks for sharing

I was into tails so ABV of the boiler charge at a guess would be no more than 10% by this point, and the output would be maybe 50-60% ABV.

Just before the fire I heard the boiler charge bump. It is a distinctive knocking sound that I usually only get when I am heating up at the beginning of a run. What happens if the power is suddenly turned up is that some boiling vapour at the bottom of the boiler is superheated, as the extra energy input can't be evenly distributed fast enough. This causes the boiler charge to foam up and there is a sudden increase in pressure when the foam hits the constiction of the lyne arm/off take at the still head. I run my spirit run with some dunder (aged backset from stripping runs) and that will make it more liable to foam or puke that a charge of pure low wines or low wines + water.

My boiler is a stainless milk churn with a copper kettle adapted for the still head. The seal between the two is flour paste and the still head is held down with a a couple of bricks, except I only used one brick because this was a spirit run where I expect less risk of foaming and puking compared to a stipping run. The flour paste gasket was blown out completely around much of the joint.

Using boiling chips would have reduced the risk of something like this happening as it would reduce the 'bumping' that caused the boiler to puke so violently, but the actual mistake I made was carelessly cranking the power up in one go instead of by careful increments like I normally do. I don't know why I was so stupid to so that. I haven't done it before and I certainly wont do it again.

[HolyBear]

Hmmmff, yep, been there, makes ya pucker don't it???

I've been a firefighter for many,many years. Not to toot my own horn, just the facts, fit far in most every state in our nation, even been in Canada and Mexico fitn far... I've seen the beast run 60+ mile an hour, 500ft flames, make its own tornadoes, and even produce its own lightning... yep, I've seen it do some crazy shit. But, even with all that experience, when it happens in yer stillin shed, on yer stove top, or in her favorite holler, it still makes ya pucker... don't feel bad, jes learn from it... ...

SAFETY FIRST. A fire extinguisher is absolutely minimum. Charged hose at the ready is even better. Heavy leather gloves and eye protection should be at hand...

Thank-you for having the ba11$ to post yer mistakes, maybe someone else will learn from it and not make it themselves...

[mtnshiner85]

They can be real life savers, got one in my shop even painted around it on the wall so my friends can see it easily, i carry one in all my vintage cars, just in case. It could save my ride or a fellow person traped in one just a cheap piece of mind.

[Husker]

Thank-you for having the ba11$ to post yer mistakes, maybe someone else will learn from it and not make it themselves...

I fully agree. People, we ARE dealing with flamable, and EXPLOSIVE material, and can only do this nearly-safe by following exacting procedures.

We keep our boiler charge to a minimum (35-40abv max).
We never leave the still alone.
We never design or run a 'closed' still (i.e. a still not open to the atmosphere).
We never leave the still alone.
We keep fire extinguishing materials (water and an extinguisher together are best), close at hand, and READY to use.
we never leave the still alone.
We put a safety catch pan under our collection containers
We never leave the still alone.
We check to make sure our still is leak free
(There are more .....)

No matter how safe we are, there 'CAN' be issues. That is why the 'we never leave the still alone' was mentioned more than once. If the same event as it happened, but you were a minute or two away, I would bet that the final outcome would have been MUCH worse, possibly catastrophic. You got away with nothing more than a little 'distiller road-rash' by being able to kill the power, and douse the flames, BEFORE any other structure started to combust.

Water is MAGICAL when it comes to putting out an ethanol fire. A full 5 gallon bucket (or couple of them), that you can kick over towards the fire (as you run out the nearest exit), will in most cases instantly put an ethanol fire out that is on the ground (broken collection jar, overflow, boiler breakage, etc). But the 'magic' of water can ONLY only be assured to work if the fire is ONLY an ethanol fire. Once any other materials start to maintain their own combustion, all bets are off on how well, or how horribly water alone will work.

It sounds like you caught this in time. There may have been some heat damage, but it sounds like it did not really 'catch' on fire, just melted and released some fumes. Shutting off power, and dowsing the still and surroundings were probably the best method available. Like HB mentioned, thank you for sharing this experience with others here on the site.

[jbird1992]

Yes thanks very much I haven't got to run my still yet but these stories have made me design in some safety features I would have otherwise never thought of