Steam strip modifications… safety check request

[Stags]

Hey yall!

Since I’ve been doing honey bear left and right (all hail SCD) I’ve far surpassed my ability to make sugar heads with the spent grain and I’ve been absolutely itching to find a way to steam strip economically. I think I may have finally cracked that code but I figured it would be much to my benefit to ask this group for a good old fashioned safety check before I go buck wild

Current set up is a NG still co 10 gallon primary/ 5 gallon thump/ 3 gallon sealed worm (.5” id coil) powered by 2x 2000w elements. 12” cap on the primary with positive and negative pressure relief valves on top. All connected with triclamps. I like her a lot she makes pretty damn good hooch

I’ve historically disliked running grains in that thumper because it’s a nightmare to fill, drain, and clean with solids in it. As a result most of my fixation has been on adding a 15 gallon keg steam generator and running that into my existing primary. But I don’t have a keg in hand and I’d rather not spend the money if I dont have to.

What do I have? I have an old Vevor still I got started on. With a 13.2 gallon primary boiler, gasketed lid w the mods. That’s easy as shit to load and clean. And I have a bunch of insulation to use to make that efficient as hell

My idea is relatively simple-
Purchase 2 sets of triclamps, 8 or so feet of 1.5” copper piping, and a 1.5 inch hole saw and convert the old 13.2 gallon primary to a steam stripping thumper. And then I can strip my 20 gallon mashes in 2-3 batches instead of 8

Any safety concerns I may be missing? Any practical things I may be missing?

[LWTCS]

I've been wondering why no one has answered since you posted? Usually the steam topics have quite a bit of dialog.
Perhaps your question needs to be a bit more specific?
Or , maybe everyone is out with family and making merry?

I'll start with the obvious. Make sure you protect yourself from an over pressurization situation.

[Dancing4dan]

Post a sketch of your planned setup. Makes it easier to understand your intentions.

I’m definitely into steam distilling

[Bolverk]

Yeah im having a hard time following what your idea is, a pic would help.

Basically just need to make a boiler and thumper setup but you'll want the thumper to be larger than normal. Oh and add some sort of manometer or prv for safety.

[shadylane]

Yeah im having a hard time following what your idea is, a pic would help.

Basically just need to make a boiler and thumper setup but you'll want the thumper to be larger than normal. Oh and add some sort of manometer or prv for safety.

And design the thumper so it's easy to fill and drain.

[Bolverk]

And design the thumper so it's easy to fill and drain.

Yes absolutely! at least a 4" service port (6" would be better) in the top and a 2" drain.

[Twisted Brick]

And design the thumper so it's easy to fill and drain.

Yes absolutely! at least a 4" service port (6" would be better) in the top and a 2" drain.

+1 to the 6" top ferrule. This makes insertion of a steam wand (with multiple nozzles if using) much easier.

[Old Forschotz]

I was running a steam strip of my first Honey Bear Bourbon when I stumbled across this post!

Stags, your proposed setup should work as you want it to.

The one benefit of using a keg is that you can run it with some pressure. This is helpful because it increases the steam temperature, which in turn, reduces the amount of water condensate you collect in the mash. I don’t think your Vevor would be safe to run under pressure though.

I run mine around 12-14 psi which gives a boiling point of 245-248 F. Today, I had roughly 14 gallons of liquid to start, about 16.5 gallons remaining, and collected about 3.5 gallons. That means about 6 gallons of water created all the steam used. BTW, I usually run it on the grain for rye mashes, I strained this one originally to run direct on my electric still configuration, but changed my mind at the last minute because I got worried about having it scorch.

Here is my steam head unit with PRV and diaphragm valve:

I use a 25 gallon aluminum pot with an added gasket and copper manifold at the bottom:

I also cover everything up with old comforters to reduce heat loss.

[Born_Free]

Here is my steam head unit with PRV and diaphragm valve:

Hello Old Forschotz,

This is steam injection correct?

Is that diaphragm valve do anything on a steam injection setup, or am I missing something (happens more often lately)?

In the operating range mentioned, the pressure downstream of the valve will always be the liquid depth of the still, say ~ 16"H2O?

Born Free

[Old Forschotz]

Yes it is steam injection. The diaphragm valve allows me to dial in the pressure in the keg and sets the flow rate into the still.

The hydrostatic pressure would be less than 1 psi from 16” of water. The steam has to expand after the diaphragm valve because the pressure drops, but quantity of heat energy doesn’t change.

[Bolverk]

How do you like this diaphragm valve?

I just got one of these to control the feed rate on my beer pump, but I'm not ready to test it yet...

[Born_Free]

Yes it is steam injection.

What am I missing?

I agree there is no significant net energy loss across the valve, but building boiler pressure to then drop it across the valve has two drawbacks with no upside.

(1) Unnecessary pressure risk.
(2) Increased heat loss in the boiler.

Take the valve out and you’ll get the slightly more heat transfer to the still. No?

[Tammuz]

Besides volume I am surprised you used an aluminum pot , especially with the kegs you have. Some of our wash/mash's get pretty acidic which will leach aluminum into your wash. The valve could be problematic for some but it's your shed. I would love a 35 gal boiler rather than my 15. I have been looking for a used 150 stainless steel steamer for tomales.