Bunch of pictures of my 100% aircooled "shotgun style" dephlegmator on top of a 3" x 52" packed column and 15.5 gal keg (5500w)
Pretty satisfied as is. It will sustain 95% ABV at 3L/h
The 2" triclover Condenser/Dephlegmator are made of sections of new Derale brand transmission coolers (7000 series). Copper tubes have very thin walls so it makes them efficient for an aircooled setup. Derale's engineering confirmed it is leadfree and the brazed connections are made with high temp silver solder.
The deflegmator with the 4 fans roaring at full speed, is able to hold 100% reflux up to 2500w.
Shit I bought but shouldn't have :
1. Amazon 30L pot distiller
2. T-500 reflux column (good product but expensive)
3. Large 60L stock pot + 2" column
Now using 15.5gal KEG + 5500w electric + fully aircooled reflux condensor and product condenser.
Very impressive. And you haven't had to wind a single copper coil. I've seen many posts here about people wanting to reduce water usage. This seems a much better long term solution than rigs with water reservoirs and topping up with ice.
Given that your reflux condenser is doing such a good job, I think you could probably get away with a product condenser about half that size, especially if you were to change it from vertical to about 10 degrees off horizontal so the product flowed slowly through it. Also, the triclamp fitting below your condenser seems to restrict flow to some of the pipes. There's plenty of metal there so have you thought about using an angle grinder to open them up a bit?
I'm slowly moving towards air cooling, so far just with a smaller computer radiator and 120mm fans to drop the temperature of gas at the base of the column 8-10°C even here in the tropics. Whack on one of these and you'll get that head to cope with the full 5.5kW, I reckon. I'll be taking inspiration from this rig to move ahead with my next project.
Tropic wrote: ↑Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:05 am. Also, the triclamp fitting below your condenser seems to restrict flow to some of the pipes. There's plenty of metal there so have you thought about using an angle grinder to open them up a bit ?
The triclamp attachment is the end part of a 2" glass sight with the condenser bolted to it where the glass should be. The outer diameter of the glass is 2.5" so there is no restriction on any of the condenser tubes because of the 1/4" deep recessed flange that hold the gasket for the glass. You just cannot see it on the pictures.
Shit I bought but shouldn't have :
1. Amazon 30L pot distiller
2. T-500 reflux column (good product but expensive)
3. Large 60L stock pot + 2" column
Now using 15.5gal KEG + 5500w electric + fully aircooled reflux condensor and product condenser.
If someone else want to try something like that, the Derale 7000 series coolers are easy to cut and solder into a different configuration. The reflux condenser was a cheap 6 pass cooler that I cut in 3 pieces using a hand grinder and a thin cutting wheel.
Shit I bought but shouldn't have :
1. Amazon 30L pot distiller
2. T-500 reflux column (good product but expensive)
3. Large 60L stock pot + 2" column
Now using 15.5gal KEG + 5500w electric + fully aircooled reflux condensor and product condenser.
Interesting idea smog .
Wondering how hot does your room get ?
Do you have a special exhaust vent to out side ?
How does the ambient room temp effect the cooling effectiveness?
How noisy is it with all those fans going ?
Yes the temperature in the attached garage will raise during a run. In my case, I just open the door between the house and the garage to recycle the heat to warm the house (I am Canadian).
The ambient air temperature doesn't seems to change enough to require messing with the fan speed to maintain the reflux ratio. It might be another story during our hot and humid summers. Not sure how good it would be on a hot day in Brisbane AUS.
To be truthful, when I go in full reflux mode, the high flow fans can be noisy. I tried to use quiet computer fans but it couldn't push enough air to be effective when I needed more cooling air flow for the product condenser.
For the Metric crew, the Derale 7000 series Transmission Coolers use very thin wall 10mm diametre copper tubes with aluminum fins tightly attached to the copper tubes. It is a lot better at conducting heat than the regular copper plumbing pipes that are made of a heavier gauge.
Shit I bought but shouldn't have :
1. Amazon 30L pot distiller
2. T-500 reflux column (good product but expensive)
3. Large 60L stock pot + 2" column
Now using 15.5gal KEG + 5500w electric + fully aircooled reflux condensor and product condenser.
Tropic wrote: ↑Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:05 am
Given that your reflux condenser is doing such a good job, I think you could probably get away with a product condenser about half that size, especially if you were to change it from vertical to about 10 degrees off horizontal so the product flowed slowly through it.
Too late now lol.
Seriously though, there is no such thing as too much knockdown power.
With respect to Air cooled condenser's, I'd say it could stand to be bigger than that if your looking to run flavored spirits without "walking on eggshells".
Big Worm used to talk about doing a strict heads cut but then really put the heat to the body of the run after. A good technique for fruit imo. Prolly whiskey too.
Not trying to be contentious. Just sayin that with respect to cooling capacity, if you can afford to go bigger, go as big as you can afford to go.
Some ducting to a more serious mains powered remote fan could be used to increase air flow, mitigate noise and remove a bunch of electrical wires hanging off the still, same deal with the ducting for the exhaust side to reduce radiated heat and noise in the stilling area (as you said, not all of us live in a freezer lols)
Possibly cheaper than using good 12v fans, those suckers can get dear
