Home Distiller

I've read and read and read, searched and searched and searched, and still can't seem to find a decent answer. I know this is a simple first question for a newbie but here goes. Why are the cooling pipes on some internal reflux stills routed through the column? Is this what is causing the internal reflux? And then some stills that aren't thru-piped have copper mesh in the column for reflux? Once I wrote this I think I answered it myself.

Partsbill

The answer to your question is yes. The packing alone will cause some very limited reflux. A combination of packing and cooling is necessary for full reflux to occur.
There is some debate on the efficacy of cooling tubes through the column. I don’t care for the design myself and see it as mostly a cost saving shortcut.
Most of the guys here run a reflux coil at the top of the column or to the side in an offset Nixon/Stone design. Cooling in the middle of the column will screw up your plate distribution.

Cooling tubes near the top are reported by some to be functional. Cooling tubes further down were probably put there ar a structural item to hold the condenser up while feeding water to it. Cooling tubes through the middle of the column are most likrly a bad thing.

partsbill wrote:I've read and read and read, searched and searched and searched, and still can't seem to find a decent answer. I know this is a simple first question for a newbie but here goes. Why are the cooling pipes on some internal reflux stills routed through the column? Is this what is causing the internal reflux? And then some stills that aren't thru-piped have copper mesh in the column for reflux? Once I wrote this I think I answered it myself.

Partsbill

You many not have all your facts straight yet because all reflux columns have packing in them not just the internal reflux models. Without the packing you would have almost no reflux no matter what you did to return condensed spirits down the column.

As Rocky Creek said, cooling tubes are more efficient near the top of the column. I build my reflux still by this way. I followed the plan from the e-book "Building a home distillation apparatus", but I changed the place of cooling tubes to set them upper in the column. Also I added a valve to control cooling water flow. It works very well when packed with SS scrubbers. If you want, check pictures on my weblog.

Here are some drawings of the still :

[quote="Bujapat"]Here are some drawings of the still :


Thanks for the drawings! I also went to your website and scoped out the pics there and also like the simple potstill. Does it produce ok also?

The potstill isn't finished yet becouse I can't find a ( ) piece of 34 mm copper tube to achieve the condensor!