Air cooled electric still

[shadylane]

I made a water run and it worked.
But I've been too busy to ferment a sugar wash and try it out.

[Steve Broady]

Just a thought. Would adding a piece of pipe over the condenser help improve the efficiency? My thinking is that it would constrain the output of the fan and force it to interact with the fins more effectively.

[shadylane]

I'm sure there's ways to make it better and more airflow across the cooling fins is high on the list.
This build was a "proof of concept" I wanted to give it a try just to see if it could work.

The biggest downfall I see to using finned tubes for an air-cooled LM is height.
The damn thing looks like a cell phone tower, yet the column is only 24" tall.

On a side note, awhile back I build a CM using finned tubes.
I think it worked much better, because the RC section could be shorter.

[cob]

I have been waiting for this update. Thanks for posting. Interesting build.

[Chauncey]

I'm sure there's ways to make it better and more airflow across the cooling fins is high on the list.
This build was a "proof of concept" I wanted to give it a try just to see if it could work.

The biggest downfall I see to using finned tubes for an air-cooled LM is height.
The damn thing looks like a cell phone tower, yet the column is only 24" tall.

On a side note, awhile back I build a CM using finned tubes.
I think it worked much better, because the RC section could be shorter.

Got a thread for the cm

[shadylane]

I didn't take any pics of the air-cooled defleg.
The build was straight forward.
The tubes weren't soldered, just slip fit so I could take my "distilling erector set" back apart.
The deflg was made from four 1/2" x 12" finned tubes, two on one side of a double fan and two on the other. In other words, a 6" dia. double fan with a pair of finned tubes on each side.

[Wildcats]

Just read all of Shadys air cooled electric still... Again... Look at that one as well

[MooseMan]

Very clever work I agree. Love the "Ugly" manifold that was, I guarantee, far more difficult to manufacture than us mere mortals realise.

There is an issue with these finned tubes though, the fins are in the wrong orientation for end mounted airflow, so to get the best out of them you have to put a row of fans along the length of them. As someone already did.

Now, if I could get my hands on some, with longitudinal fins that have a gentle spiral, THAT would get me building!

[NormandieStill]

Now, if I could get my hands on some, with longitudinal fins that have a gentle spiral, THAT would get me building!

If you search youtube for videos on ground auger manufacturing you might find the technique for making such a spiral using many short sections. Soldering should be strong enough to hold them. A pvc drain pipe over the whole ensemble should allow you to direct airflow over the whole thing.

[MooseMan]

Yeah I get what you're suggesting there NS, same principle, but I'm thinking way, way shallower pitch, like one rotation per metre, just to agitate airflow a little.

I think that principle would work very efficiently. If you had a really long section of it, say 1.5m, with a push fan at one end and a pull fan at the other, I reckon it would handle a fair bit of heat energy.

I've actually already looked into the Dyson design hollow fan system as these can be mounted AROUND the condenser, completely in-line. Pricy though!

You could go one step further if needed and use a std finned Ali outer tube over the copper one, to sink even more heat away!

I also can't help thinking that a sealed liquid jacket around the vapour tube, like a CPU heat pipe system, with fins around that, would be the ultimate!

[Bolverk]

Clever, I was trying to come up with a way to use the air coil idea I'm working on for a reflux still.

[shadylane]

Just read all of Shadys air cooled electric still... Again... Look at that one as well

Are you talking about this experiment.
Bang for the buck, this air-cooled product condenser is doable.
viewtopic.php?t=56652

[Wildcats]

Thank you sir. That's the one I was looking for. Awesome work man.