Modular build Potstill to Reflux to Potstill, need help please!
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:37 am
So as with every hobby one starts off all knowledgeable and slowly one realises how little one actually knows. Things also change and one's original intentions may well need realignment, as I have discovered.
I started off with a 30l keg a 2" column 500mm high in a potstill configuration. At the time I was going to produce the finest Scotch and it would all be a bit of a doddle. Things have changed, I realise that I really don't know much, that suddenly neutral spirits are of great interest and that I want to spend more time on neutrals and learning before making Scotch.
When I built the still I did so believing that the still would morph into a CCVM design and that I could bolt on an additional 300mm to the top, drop a coil in and off we go. So before I buy or cut another piece of copper pipe a little advice would be most welcome. So the goal now would be to get as pure of a neutral I could get with what I have.
So at the top is the ferule attached to the 54mm T Piece, the condenser comes off the back of the T-Piece. The height of the column from bottom ferule to top ferule is 680mm.
I have a piece of pipe 54mm x 300mm originally reserved for the condenser coil to convert the potstill to a CCVM. This 300mm piece would have attached to the top of the existing column. I have an additional piece of 54mm x 500mm reserved for another build but may as well be used here if necessary.
Current thinking is to become more modular for versatility while extending the column for reflux properties.
So school me. I am hoping this will suffice as a column, 680 + 500 + 300mm, as stated I can take the T-Piece out and fit ferules for versatility.
Then comes the question as to how I engage to column. Do I hang a coil in the top, what design of column should I employ for max ABV%?
All comments will be appreciated.
I started off with a 30l keg a 2" column 500mm high in a potstill configuration. At the time I was going to produce the finest Scotch and it would all be a bit of a doddle. Things have changed, I realise that I really don't know much, that suddenly neutral spirits are of great interest and that I want to spend more time on neutrals and learning before making Scotch.
When I built the still I did so believing that the still would morph into a CCVM design and that I could bolt on an additional 300mm to the top, drop a coil in and off we go. So before I buy or cut another piece of copper pipe a little advice would be most welcome. So the goal now would be to get as pure of a neutral I could get with what I have.
So at the top is the ferule attached to the 54mm T Piece, the condenser comes off the back of the T-Piece. The height of the column from bottom ferule to top ferule is 680mm.
I have a piece of pipe 54mm x 300mm originally reserved for the condenser coil to convert the potstill to a CCVM. This 300mm piece would have attached to the top of the existing column. I have an additional piece of 54mm x 500mm reserved for another build but may as well be used here if necessary.
Current thinking is to become more modular for versatility while extending the column for reflux properties.
So school me. I am hoping this will suffice as a column, 680 + 500 + 300mm, as stated I can take the T-Piece out and fit ferules for versatility.
Then comes the question as to how I engage to column. Do I hang a coil in the top, what design of column should I employ for max ABV%?
All comments will be appreciated.