This design up until now had been my planned design. However after looking at some of the pictures on homedistiller.org more carefully, I can not think of any benefits from using the above valved reflux design as compared to a "Nixon-Stone" design. Such as:
or
Infact, the first design seems to require more parts that increase the expense of the still for no apparent reason. The extra couplers, and the extra needle valve seem to add unneeded complexity. The only benefit I can see is that the first design is better for a stripping run (because of the ability to turn off reflux, it seems impossible to collect all of the distillate off of the condenser in the Nixon-stone design.) In addition to the added complexity of having to work 2 needle valves (not to mention getting the flows right to optimize things), you also seem to loose some height of your column, as the Nixon design drops the distillate right back at the top, but the valved reflux design drops it a distance below the actual t joint.
So are there any benefits to the valved reflux design except for more efficient stripping runs? (Besides that it looks much cooler...)
The Nixon-Stone design just seems far more efficient and simplistic in design and use. Are these assumptions correct or am I overlooking something?[/img]