It was originally used in a laboratory to distill water on a continuous basin until a certain volume was produce. Water was piped into the bottom of the coil through a rotometer to maintain a set flow. Then from the top of the coil the now warm water was piped into the bottom of the small column on the side witch has a port into the pot to maintain the level of water in the pot. There is a drain ¾ of the way up the small column to drain off any excess water flow and keep the pot full to that level.
I would like to try using it for finishing. I cleaned it up, it was choked with calcium deposits, and replaced all the rubber with Teflon. I was planning on packing the column with chore boys but beyond that I am at a loss as how to make this work. One of my concerns is how to keep the condenser cool enough with as slow a feed of wash as I think would be needed? Do I run the wash faster through the cooling coil and recycle it back to whatever reservoir I am using? Or should I abandon the idea of using the wash for cooling and just run water through the coil? I was hoping to recover some of the heat and reduce the energy needed so I was trying to avoid using water for cooling. Also, how do I collect the foreshots and heads so they don’t get into the finished product? What do the commercial distillers who run continuous stills do about the foreshots?
Or should I just put it on a shelf to look pretty?
Interesting novelty piece, RevRich, but we don't necessarily condone or encourage the use of glass labware stills for the production of alcohol... Any attempts to modify it, like adding structured packing, can cause stress that could cause a catastrophic failure so I'd suggest not attempting modifications... In fact, I'd just sit it in a corner or on a shelf as a conversation piece and build a safer still that suits the intended purpose... Playing with water in a distiller like that is one thing but using it to produce volatile alcohol vapor and liquid is yet another...
I can not see the waterflow and your discription for me is not clear enough. Hot water from the top of the spiral. Is that supposed to be distilled????
And as you already pointed out: there are no taps for heads or tails. So at best it could be used for simple stripping.
Lab glass will probably be reliable, but modifications are a problem.
Maybe for some special products, but I think I would put it on some shelf to show it.
If you had a safe area to run it in, it could be used as a gin still, but you would need a different and much larger still to produce the base spirit with.
I think I will just use it for what it was designed for, making distilled water, if anything. My current still works well for my needs, I don't need to experiment with this one.
Why not take the glass dome,riser,and condenser off and use for a cool display and use the boiler? Might locate a Ss salad bowl to replace the glass dome and then add your stillhead and condenser of choice. I would like to have it for that alone.
Does it have any way of controlling the heat input?
Remember not to blow yourself up,you only get to forget once!
Deo Vendice
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jb-texshine wrote:Why not take the glass dome,riser,and condenser off and use for a cool display and use the boiler? Might locate a Ss salad bowl to replace the glass dome and then add your stillhead and condenser of choice. I would like to have it for that alone.
Does it have any way of controlling the heat input?
It has a bi-metallic thermostat that is pre-calibrated to a certain temperature, I assume 212ish deg F. It would be rather easy to add a rheostat to it though. The SS boiler holds only about a gallon, so unless you were running it as a continuous still it would not really be worth the effort.
You got yourself a nice piece of equipment there.
Unfortunately, it's not quite big enough for a decent production still.
However, a gin still as suggested would be a good option..provided that you can run it somewhere safe, cause a glass still ain't what we recommend members using (for obvious reasons).
It could also serve as an experimental still for new stuff you like to try, without risking a large batch if it should be a failed attempt.
