Ronco Beer Stripper - Set it and forget it!

[NoMo_Caffeine]

Yeah, um, OK, so...

I have a Brewhaus column still with a 8 gallon kettle and a 4500 Watt HWH element mounted in it. It's currently controlled by a cheapo power controller I bought off eBay and works great. It heats up to produce in about 20-25 minutes, and I can turn it down to 'drip' or up to 'pencil lead' and get my shine on.

I pulled the column packing and am running it in a pot still configuration lately. I've been playing around with rum washes and am having some modest success. (Is it just me, or is the Hook Rum recipe a little heavy on the molasses?) Anyway I've been stripping the washes and collecting them for a spirit run. Anyone who's been through this drill knows there's a fair amount time spent stripping versus uhh "spiriting"? (I've been stripping 4 washes to a spirit run.) This is time I've had to reflect on the monotony of the stripping run and got me to thinking about and automating it. (It takes a few hours and I end up checking the still every 15 minutes or so. Everything's fine. Not done. 15-minutes... Everythings fine. Not done. 15 minutes... )

To that end I bought Raspberry Pi and couple 1-wire DS18B20 sensors (with stainless-steel probe tips). I stuck one through the rubber bung in the top of my column, and zip-tied the other to my Liebig in the product output stream. So far I've just collected temperature data on 10 seconds intervals throughout still runs. (It generally goes up.)

My thinking is I should be able to monitor the stripping run progress based on the temperature at the top of the column. As long as my product output is cool I think its safe to say the cooling is working. The control automation would be:

1. Run element full on until heat detected at top of column. (Something like 5 degrees C delta from starting temperature.)
2. Cut heat to a pre-determined "running" power level.
3. Keep running until a pre-determined top of column temperature. (Then cut power.)
3a. Cut power if the product temperature jumps. (Assume due to product condenser coolant failure.)

To implement this I now need my RPi to control my element power. Yesterday I ordered a DC controlled solid state relay off the Internet and am planning to PWM it to control my kettle element. (I'd retire my present power controller.)

All this has nothing to do with Ronco, except there used to be a "Ronco Rotisserie" on TV. They advertized you could "Set it and forget it." and it would cook a chicken for you. That's my goal for strippping. (Less chicken more rum.) Even if it works I don't plan to leave it entirely unattended. If I could count on my system to cut power in the event of coolant failure or preset column temperature I would improve both the safety and consistency of my stripping runs. I'd consider that progress and would certainly feel better.

Is this a topic of interest to anyone?

Is anyone else working working on something similar?

Now I'm hungry for rotisserie chicken...

-NoMo

[S-Cackalacky]

What you're talking about sounds more reasonable than some of the other automated distillation plans I've seen here. Stripping is basically a fairly simple process that may lend itself to some form of automation.

For stripping runs, the extent of my automation is a one gallon jug at the output. I sit back with the laptop browsing the forums until the jug is about 3/4 full and then check the output for tails. I can usually tell that I'm into tails because the output flow changes. Now, if I could automate draining the boiler, refilling, and changing the jug, I could count myself as one lazy sumbich.

[DAD300]

Not only are lots of people working on continuous stripping stills...the actual Ronco version exists.

The infamous AIRSTIlL....does everything you just mentioned.

The way they were otriginally designed and sold was...
1. pour your beer into the boiler
2. close and attach the catch vessel.
3. Plug it in and go to work
4. while you're at work the still boils of the alcohol, uses air to cool the product condenser and catches the product.
5. As the still boils of the charge it trips a thermo coupler that kills the power.

When you get home you have a liter of weak stripped alcohol with no cuts.

Lots of things people don't like about this, but thousands are sold every year.

All Stainless Airstill.jpg (11.01 KiB) Viewed 1296 times

Your version sounds great...temp controlled and monitored.

Look into an ethanol vapor module...could detect vapor escape and auto shut down or at least sound an alarm.

Ethanol Chip.jpg (12.61 KiB) Viewed 1296 times

[bellybuster]

I love automation but... whats to automate on a stripping run?? Turn the heat on, turn the water on, wait.... thats it.
Stripping runs can be done at the max power your condenser can handle. Mine can handle my max power, no automation necessary

How many gallons are you stripping that it takes a few hours per run????

[shadylane]

Stripping could be automated. But I'm running a still for the love of it.
I do have a 0-60 minute timer to shut off the power if I don't reset it.
If I really screw up a cheap STC-1000 controller will turn off the heater at 209F

[NoMo_Caffeine]

Thanks for your replies guys.

S-Cackaclacky - I strive for lazy. Automatic boiler and draining and refilling is pretty much a Coffey (continuous) still. (What a smart guy he must have been.) I have thought about it but I already have more liquor than I know what to do with. If I did that I'd need more friends... I can barely tolerate the ones I have now. Automatic jug changing might be do-able... I wonder if it would be easier to move jugs under the output or redirect the output across the jugs... one to ponder for sure...

DAD300 - That's hilarious. How have I not seen this before? All the fiddlin' is done already. What fun is that? I'll have to read up on the ethanol sensors though. Thanks.

bellybuster - My condenser doesn't handle full power of my boiler. You're right I could probably improve my cooling and run my rig harder. I'm definitely cooling-limited at the moment which is kinda silly since its -30C outside my house right now... I'm just looking to automate the shut-off. If I get that to work I may consider more sophisticated automation of other things.

shadylane - The timer shut-off is a great idea. That STC-1000 is really cheap. Are you using one on your boiler? I hear you on stilling for the fun of it. The control automation has fun appeal to me too.

-NoMo

[bellybuster]

NoMo, I really do love home-brew automation but I still think you'd be better served having a decent stripper first. Upgrade your condensing power and what ever else needs upgrading, then look at automation. Pretty hard to automate something that isn't up to par to begin with.
Automating the most mindless easiest function (stripping) makes no sense to me at all. Automating the more complex spirit run makes absolute sense. Theres a challenge. All the intricacies and nuances of distilling a final product. Automate that.....

[NoMo_Caffeine]

NoMo, I really do love home-brew automation but I still think you'd be better served having a decent stripper first. Upgrade your condensing power and what ever else needs upgrading, then look at automation. Pretty hard to automate something that isn't up to par to begin with.
Automating the most mindless easiest function (stripping) makes no sense to me at all. Automating the more complex spirit run makes absolute sense. Theres a challenge. All the intricacies and nuances of distilling a final product. Automate that.....

bellybuster - I really appreciate your advice. I'm without a doubt cooling-limited at this point.

My 8 gallon boiler has a 4500W element in it. My product condenser is a 24" long, 1" jacket diameter Liebig with a 0.5" product channel. I have a plastic 55 gallon drum full of water to recirculate through the condenser. I was thrilled that this was enough to condense product at "pencil-lead stream" rate. (I really need to measure the output rate.) I was happy my water-barrel heatsink only went up by a couple of degrees over a run. I keep the barrel (and its heat) in my home which makes me feel like its not wasted energy (in the wintertime anyway).

If I turn up my boiler (after heat-up) I get steam escaping the output. My Leibig isn't long enough to condense my product with 4500W input at room temperature.

What kind of setup do you use for a beer stripper? How much power can you cool? How do you do it?