Home Distiller

Is there a general rule for the wall thickness of a column? Is thicker or thinner best?
The reason I ask is I have some thick walled stainless pipe ...hundreds of feet of it. Its 304L
I have it in both 3-1/2" and 4" (od) and the wall thickness is just under 1/4"
This is structural tubing, not thin wall piping. My initial thoughts are that it will retain too much heat and hinder the refluxing effect?

I don't know much, but I reckon thicker is better since it has a better insulation value and should give you less passive reflux.

heavy and less overall inner volume compared to thinner walled stuff... It will perform just fine though... get to welding

I take the opposite opinion than Washashore. The thicker wall will be slower to heat up and create greater passive reflux. Meaning It will chill vapor along the wall surface faster than normal graidient reflux or forced reflux from a reflux condenser. That does not mean it will not work for you. It will take longer time to create equilibrium and allow the entire system to equealize. Once achieved it should run steady and consistent.
MR

I'd go thin walled and then insulate as required... I have a piece of stainless that I consider WAY too thick walled for use as a still column...

I think as long as you insulate it, and it might require a minute or two more to heat up,
it should work fine, if you have plenty available, I'd go with it as opposed to going out and "buying"
thin wall stuff. Course it'll be a little heavier, but, all that, depends on your economic status and
how much you value your attention to perfection, etc, etc, etc ............
Thin wall, of course, would be better ........
If it were me, and it was free, I'd be on it in a minute........
IMHO.....

...interesting...there is no end to the learning 'round here. Thanks MR, for settin' the record straight. I'm really trying to wrap my head around all the principles and theories. Some day, when it all makes sense, I'll attempt a flute build.

The biggest problem will be making sure its not top heavy. Lol
Thanks for the input. Have some night school stuff to do this week... But after that I am going to experiment a little.

Make a pot still out of it.

I plan on sticking a column on this. Yes /...I know...Two stainless steel 19Liter pails Tig welded together...
Pails were 12.00 each....couldn't beat the price.

I would take a bunch if that pipe down to the scrap yard and either cash it in and buy the right size stainlezs or copper tube or trade it on the spot for some tube if they have it

Good idea...I should be able to find a piece of copper pipe in Winnipeg somewhere....Trade for a piece of this stuff....
Ill have to cut a piece off. These are 20 foot lengths.... now if i knew if someone was building a commercial sized sytem....