quadra wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:27 am
damn sexy, I am sure it will be well received too! what sort of capacity/BTU boiler have you designated for this? That condenser looks like it should be fun to watch... I am not going to guess, but that column needs some KBTUs to run and the cooling capacity of the condenser will require some chiller capacity!!
all of the Seagrams ,Chuck Cowdery, Boston Apothacary, stuff I have read include a low wines tank/ re circulation loop ( post condenser )... obviously this is an economy of scale detail but how is that managed in this still?
Boiler wise it just won't take very much considering each chamber has an 18 gallon total volume. So perhaps a 12 to 15 gallon working volume.
Then factor in the preheat functionality.
If the end user doesn't have a proper steam boiler, I have the mini steam generator that is electric fired. We use that one to drive the 4" continuous still. It is set up with 4/ 5500 watt elements. So 22,000 watts or 75,000 btu/h. So plenty of heat there.
I reckon with the thumper the system should render over a barrel strength finished white dog.
Leopold keeps his barrel strength a bit low because he doesn't want the wood to mask over the grain notes. And I have to say that I like his thinking here. Last years ACSA whiskey medal winners were entirely too over oaked for my liking and so I just don't like that trend at all. So many of the medal winners taste just like tooth pic wood to me. So I do like the idea of laying it down at 100 proof for a longer period of time.
I'm not smart enough to calculate the cooling requirements but anecdotally speaking, I'd say a 5 ton chiller and an 800 gallon buffer tank should work pretty well for at least a day / shift worth of processing without over taxing. As far as running this system non stop goes,,,I'll let a proper chiller company make those conclusions.
We did engineer the condenser so that coolant runs through the worm / coil and vapor enters into the glass shell. This will allow the condensing vapor to be viewed dripping off of the coil. We also installed the vapor inlet with a tangential orientation on the top side reducer to ensure vapor can be directed to swirl around the coil upon entry in order to optimize surface area contact. We may need to install a liquid trap just before the parrot to ensure no vapor escapes? I suspect we'll try and achieve this by installing an elbow turned upward so that there is a pool of liquid accumulation in the glass shell. The elbow will have an accommodation ( more like a tee) that a valve can be installed to bleed off heads constituents.
I haven't tested the PC's knock down capability yet but am prepared to replace with a proven condenser design should this one here end up being only just a pretty face.
Trample the injured and hurdle the dead.