Glass Porn!

[Odin]

We already had copper porn. And SS porn didn't look bad either. How about glass? I think it looks increadibly sexy with the SPP visible and all.

Here are some pics!

Odin.

[Bushman]

Your 3rd picture is that a corrugated copper coldfinger for a condenser? Also what diameter are you using for it?

[Odin]

No it is very thin SS actually! A bit over 1 centimeter in diameter. It is the fact that it is very thin that makes it great for cooling. Welding it, though, is an art form.

Forgot to post the picture of the whole system.

Here we go ...

[hellbilly007]

That is a work of art, Odin. Beautiful.

[Odin]

We feel it will make a great addition for distillers that want to enhance their customer experience! And this model is managed via a tablet computer. Remote access & control, wifi, internet, touch screen, apps, instructional videos ...

Odin.

[drinkingdog]

That is a work of art, Odin. Beautiful.

I agree 10 fold. Absolutely beautiful

[rtalbigr]

That's quite a setup there Odin!

Big R

[Prairiepiss]

Looks great. Is that copper SPP?

[Odin]

Thanks guys! Yeah we fitted this set up with an additional glass section, filled with copper SPP. The other glass segments are filled with stainless steel SPP.

Regards, Odin.

[Stainless dude]

Very cool Odin, well done...

[midwest shinner]

Damn Odin, once again i am blown away. Absolutely beautiful man. That's the same kind of corrugated stuff that Dad uses for his condenser controlled vm if i remember correctly

[Odin]

I am not sure what corugated means ... It's SS, but very, very thin for good heat transfer.

Thanks for the compliments. I pushed hard to get it done, but, hell, does it pay off!

We had a meeting yesterday where people were saying that they would buy one just to put it in the living room to look at. Good idea, well, if you can convince the SWMBO!

Anyone interested in me shooting a movie of how she runs?

Odin.

[Richard7]

Anyone interested in me shooting a movie of how she runs?

Odin.

I'd love to see it run Odin. Especially the condenser and the SSP.

[Sungy]

Totally AWESOME. Hell ya I wanna see it RUN.

[hellbilly007]

Hell yeah we wanna see it run. I'll get my popcorn ready.

[Odin]

Another addition: a new boiler. Au bain marie, double boiler, water jacket. For indirect heating. Nice for distilling on the grain or with fruit pulp in the boiler (for extra taste transfer). Or to make a gin with berries in the boiler. The water jacket is filled automatically, prior to when the run is started. Heat input, water temperature, and water pressure are also automatically controlled. In case of over pressure (something the automation adequately prevents, but better safe than sorry ...), steam is injected into the wash boiler.

The double boiler is another long time dream I had, because I feel that distilling on the grain brings over more taste. And now I can do that with my new glass column! It also means that I can start making bigger batches of Genever (Dutch Gin) with herbs in the boiler for extra taste.

[Odin]

Okay, back on topic. Glass porn, right?

Here we go. Picture of the standard (?) boiler for the glass column.

Odin.

[Richard7]

I was confused for a moment. You were talking about your Au bain marie and the next post had windows in it! I was trying to figure out how that worked....Then I realized two different boilers!

Both are very nice. Have you used the see through boiler yet?

I also have a question about the Au bain marie, does the extra water/steam input to the boiler have any effect on the ABV or taste of your final product?

I know these are new toys so if you don't know yet that's cool. Looking forward to hear your results.

[Odin]

Sorry for the confusion, R!

I should have posted the Au bain Marie somewhere else, maybe, but yes you are right they are two different boilers.

The Au bain Marie version is automated, so in every days practice it never develops over pressure. But you can see it as an extra mechanical fail safe. Does it dilute the wash, if it were to vent? Theoretically yes, in practice no.

I will try to explain. First of all venting allmost never takes place. Secondly, if it were, it would be sorta direct steam injected distillation. The hot vapours from the water (between 102 and 104 degrees C), entering the wash boiler and adding energy to the wash. Now there are machines that are completely based upon direct steam injection. Not ours. Ours is an indirectly heated, water bath. But some stills work with direct steam injection. It is actually the only way they are heated, so you have to imagine steam being injected on purpose and for the whole time. In this type of heating, the total wash volume (as a rule of thumb) is increased by the steam (condensing to water) by 8%. Off course the boiler is becoming more and more empty, because gasses are taken out, but if we do not count that, there would be an 8% increase. Say you distill 50 liters, then direct steam injection would add 4 liters of water for pretty much a complete run.

So, how would that translate to additional amounts of water to our wash boiler? Well, maybe something like ... 0.0000x%.

On the glass boiler ... nope, haven't done a run yet. I am always the last guy to get to give it a go, since my chief of production wants to make sure everything is working in prestine order before he gives it to me. Well, that's just the way it is. Maybe I can shoot a movie tomorrow. Or the day after. On the one hand, I really want to see the glass column in operation ... on the other hand I am a bit afraid I will never use my "old" still again. And we sorta developed a really nice relationship over the last months ...

Odin.

[Stainless dude]

Love to see a video of that baby runnin

[Odin]

Okay, I will be trying to give it a go tomorrow! Just need to replace some hoses for the water. And I need to move my "vision" distiller about a meter. But if I can do that, I will. I think I should call the movie something like ... "Everything you ever wanted to know about distilling (but were afraid to ask ...)".



Odin.

[FullySilenced]

"Everything you ever wanted to SEE about distilling (but were afraid to LOOK FOR" ...)

[Richard7]

"Everything you ever wanted to SEE about distilling (but were afraid to LOOK FOR" ...)

[rumplestiltskin]

Very nice. Im not going to pretend to know what all that is , but I'd love to see it run also. Any way to narrate it for us newer folks.

[lampshade]

Hi Odin,

I noticed that your column has multiple segments. I was wondering what you do to keep the SPP packing contained in each column segment. In other words, how do you keep the SPP from falling out of the column segment?

Thanks,
Lamp

[Odin]

There's a cross welded at the bottom. On top of that we put a pad and then start filling the section with the SPP. When the segment is almost full, another pad. Pad = like a flat scrubber. Around 1 centimeters high.

Odin.

[heartcut]

That is a beautiful piece of art.
I would think the corrugated tubing in that Graham condenser would have a little pooling. Any smearing between cuts?

[Halfbaked]

I think what Midwest shiner was saying was DAD used SS gas pipe for his VM and what you are using looks like SS gas pipe also. When I saw that I thought exactly the same thing. Maybe yall are on to something. I think the only way to tell is leave it at my house for the winter. If someone sees it I will tell them its what keeps me warm. Looks real nice.

[Odin]

I do not expect any pooling and smearing, guys. But let's see and find out! Why I do not expect smearing? Because I did some calculations on cuts and they seem to be increadible. Due to the SPP and the automation off course (and a lack of pooling ).

As a reference I used Ian Smiley's calculations for a scrubber packed Nixon/Stone LM off-head: 3% fores, 17% heads, 57% hearts, 23% tails. After around some 50 to 60 minutes of stabilization. The cuts on my rigs is 1% fores, 6% heads, 73% hearts, 20% tails. Based on the programming, but also on smell, taste, temperature gradient in the column, and - most importantly - after downing so large a quantity that it should give me a hangover if it were a commercially distilled dink. Never encountered any problems! That was on my SS column that's technically the same as the glass one.

Anyhow, I will try to shoot & post a short vid tonight. Boiling boiler, reflux and gasses interacting with the SPP, column cooler doing its job.

Corrugated, corrugated, even if I translate it to Dutch, I get a word I do not understand. Anyhow, the cooling tubes are made out of 0.5 mm thick SS and are very efficient due to easy energy transfer of the smallness/thinness of the material.

Regards & see you all later,
Odin.

[Odin]

Update on the movie we are shooting. Shooting already? Well, yes, actually. The still is heating up. Very interesting to see. Boiling action is clearly visible already. Reflux from the SPP warming up and sending down cooled liquids ... The action at the collection spoons is really great too. And it is fun to see the SPP and gasses and liquids interact. Best part? The product cooler filling up somewhere just before fores were taken. We missed that on camera, unfortunately!

Wow, this is really cool. I would have expected more action in the boiler and glasses maybe fogging up, but that's not the case at all!

Okay, we are going to put some shots after one another and give you an update!

This is very addictive!

An edit in the same post, just to keep you ... posted? Yeah, I guess so. I looked at the SPP and it is exactly as I thought! The real difference between scrubbers and SPP is not about square inches, open space, etc. It is - as I always said - a completely different beast. Scrubbers get wet and allow for a really big amount of square inches where gasses and liquids can interact. SPP is truelly a semi-fluidized bed. You (sorry, I) can actually see them springs holding like a droplet of reflux in them and the gasses make them bob & weave. Fluidized bed = like the action above a plate in a flute: gasses rising up thru liquids. Non-fluidized bed = gasses travelling up, meeting refluxing liquids (reflux falling down in a rising gass environment. This is in between. Reflux is being held inside an spiral and brought into movement by the gasses, thus exchanging molecules. In fact, I think it is safe to say that every little spring is a sorta distillery on its own. If it ain't being held in place by rising gasses anymore, it trickles down. Must be some logic. Temp gradient, drops being all water and then falling down (heavier than when they are pure azeo).

Regards, Odin.