plate design

[googe]

Hi all, have wanted to build this for ages, had a spare plate so thought it's now or never, it's got a silicon sheet, I know it's not recommended, this is just a test. I'm hoping the sheet will cause a vapor lock with the liquid bath holding the sheet down against he plate. I'm running in soon to test.

[MitchyBourbon]

Bubble plate, nice... someday, someday.

[googe]

There easy to build mate, go for it .

Just ran this, ran well, had a little.trouble loading the plate at first, probably cause of the 1/2" downcomer. Other than that it ran awesome, very active, 2~3 times more active than my single bubble cap.

[flyingdutchman]

Very interesting design. Reminds me of a sort of modified valve plate.

[googe]

Your right mate, I thought of it when studying valve plates.

[googe]

Made 2 more plates today, ran 3 plates before, got a steady 93% out of it. The plates are hard to load, I think the sheet is to thick and stiff and it's by passing the downcomer. Ran great once the plates were loaded though.

[bellybuster]

its stuff like this that'll open up plated stills to guys like me that like to keep things simple.
Excellent thread Googe.
I've often though of thin copper "reeds" radiating out from centre like spokes on a wheel with a central downcomer. The reeds would cover slots instead of holes. This is probably showing my ignorance but my brain cell trys hard

[flyingdutchman]

Hi googe,
sorry for the silly question but..
I could not see how your down comers are setup but out of curiosity is it weeping thru the holes instead of filling the downcomers (cups or j hooks?)? Then once the downcomers are filled the plate begins to fill and the liquid pressure creates the needed seal to prevent weeping?

thanks!

[googe]

Thanks belly, if you've got the imagination then go for it, only way you'll know it works.is to build it and try it .
dutchman, the downcomers are 3/ 4" with a 1" cap. Not a silly question at all dutchman, your spot on!, that's why I said I think the sheet is to stiff because it's thick and it's not seating against the plate properly. thin soft sheet would sit very flat and need bugger all distillate to hold it against the plate. I'm very excited about trying some thinner sheet and hole differences, this could easily be made into either a fast active plate using many small holes and a shallow bath, or large holes and deep bath for more flavor. Even sheet size will make a difference!.

[Hound Dog]

Any way to attach a small weight to the flap over the hole so it would seat a little better?

[googe]

Hounddog, I don't want to add extra things and take away from the simplicity of it, ill try a thin sheet first before I go any further with it. Thanks for the suggestion though

[flyingdutchman]

This may already be standard SOP for a plated column but I wonder if prefilling the traps on the downcomers would speed things up by..
a) Eliminationg time lost filling traps by reflux
b) Increasing vapor velocity (to reduce weeping) in plate holes by eliminating the parallel vapor flow thru downcomer

I think you are dead on the thinner silicone gasket is the way to go. Perhaps the distance of the holes from the center of the gasket might also make a difference but that is a whole lot more work than the gasket. I could even envision 4 smaller gaskets arranged almost like a bubble plate configuration provided the gasket does not cause too much back pressure.

ps
I posted a paper a while back on variables in sieve plates that might interest you. It talks about hole diameter and depth of liquid beds and how it effects plate efficiency.

[heartcut]

Very cool design. I like simple.

[googe]

Filling the downcomers would help.alot Dutchman . Hole placement is something I want to play with, just alot of work. Sheet size is the best bet, I need it far enough over the holes to make a.good seal, but close enough to get good active action. I could see small ones working, even having the sheet clamped down on one end instead of the middle would work I reckon. Lots of scope for changes. Thanks heartcut.

[googe]

Doing a.rum.run, coming.out 92%, with full flavour like.my single.cap.can't achieve. Trying cork sheet this.time.

[DAD300]

Very nice...still watching....

[googe]

Thanks.dad. Next trial is center downcomer with a slip fit to try different bath depths.

[jarheadshiner]

Would have enjoyed that much more if I didn't hear the birds chirping in the background. Reminds me that my balls still have a couple months before they will thaw out.

Seriously cool stuff you got going on googe. Keep it up!

This stuff keep you up at night?

[FreeMountainHermit]

The plates are hard to load, I think the sheet is to thick and stiff and it's by passing the downcomer. Ran great once the plates were loaded though.

I wonder if some SS shim stock would work. It comes pretty thin. Flexibility would probably be determined by the length. Not too short, not too long just springy enough to retain flexibility and return to seal like a reed valve on a two stroke engine..

FMH.

[BDF]

Is the cap on the bottom of the downcomer to prevent vapor from traveling up that instead through the plate? If so, does it need to hold as much liquid as yours does to ensure a seal?

[DAD300]

BDF, yes the cap on the bottom is to ensure vapor doesn't just use the downcomer as the path of least resistance. So, the amount of liquid in it is adjusted by the length of the downcomer and the depth of the cap at the bottom.

[BDF]

How does the length of the down comer make any difference? Wouldn't it be exactly the depth of the cap?

[DAD300]

Length controls where the liquid splashes to lower plate. Keeps it away from next lower downcomer.

[googe]

What dad said. They don't hold.much bdf, maybe 10ml or so.

[googe]

Thanks jarhead . That could work fmh, all it needs to do is creat a lock, you could adjust power to get it to then back it off to run.

[googe]

Finally going to run this Friday, was having mental issues trying to find the best way for the downcomer so it didn't drop distillate straight down the downcomer on the plate underneath. Then 'tickle' posted a pic of the way he did it using a tee on top of the downcomer!, simple but awesome, thanks tickle

[googe]

Ran this plate today, centre downcomer works great, thanks to tickle for the idea of using a tee . Every flap plate design I've tried gives 2~3 more ABV than my single bubble cap. They run great!, very stable!. Was watching it bubbling away, and thought, maybe I don't need a downcomer, maybe the distillate will by pass between the plate and the flap, like it does when loading, will be my next experiment.

[googe]

For anyone interested, did it without a downcomer today. Ran well, bath depth was a bit deeper than I usually do but ABV was fine.

[emptyglass]

So, are you saying this is a "no downcomer" plate googe?

is this some revolutionary idea never heard of before?

if so, I refuse to believe that its possible

[googe]

Yes empty, no downcomer, revolutionary, one of a kind, order 3 and I'll throw in one extra, limited offer