Pot still with long stainless shotgun

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

Hey all,

Was considering a new Pot still design, looked around for what materials i have and decided i want to make a shotgun condenser from stainless. have everything already. had a few extra minutes so I drew it up, any suggestions on lengths i have? comments, criticisms? welcome to all. havent started building so im open to anything - including coming up with a new design if it looks THAT bad...

Happy Stilling

[okie]

I'm doing the same basic idea as you have here except I'll be propane and my lyne arm will be longer and the column shorter and the shotgun will be at a 45. I'm also going copper to stainless. My column height is going to be less than a foot. I don't need the tall column.

Are you welding a new 3" ferrel to the keg or using a reducer?

[rad14701]

That's probably way more than enough shotgun considering how the magic flutes manage to knock down 100% of the rising vapor with 8" or less of shotgun/dephlegmator...Because of the multiple tubes the efficiency is vastly grater than a single tube liebig due to decreased vapor speed and surface area... Perhaps as short as 18" would work so you've got more than enough cooling...

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

I'll be doing propane also. I already have a keg with 3", got tired of two tortilla seals on the reducer. Only reason I don't like the angle in the Liebig or long Lyne arm is for compact storage. What is your reasoning for shotgun at 45? More room for shotgun? I thought about making the head have an extra set of clamps so I can do short or tall but that gets difficult with verticle condenser. What length shotgun are you thinking at 45? What dia? How are you attaching stainless to copper? Tri clamp?

[okie]

I'm ordering from SD their shotgun. I wanted an angle so my product is away from the heat and flames some and I can collect it safely. Just my thoughts anyway. I intend on making it modular with several tri-clamps so I can store it away in a desk drawer and away from prying eyes.

I've read a bunch and addressing the safety issue is my concern because I'll be inside with propane. I am buying the blichmann floor burner because I spoke to several who use them and they use less propane and are quiet, not like a jet engine. They are stainless and have a shroud too.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/blic ... urner.html

Pricey, but worth it.

Oh, I'll go a 45 degree angle so I won't need a siphon break. Shooting straight down from a shotgun can cause air locks inside the cone at the bottom. Probably not good.

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

i know what you mean about the angle. i just like it vertical, compact, not sticking out for me to bump... as for air-lock deal... half inch tubes probably will have no issue with this, i would have to be pumping lots of vapor through for 8-10 1/2" tubes to plug, but could always have a little 1/4" line off on the side with a small over hang, discourage vapor/liquid from going down there and air could come through....

but like i said, i dont think i will have an issue with the amount of tubes and the size.


I was at work today.... piece of 6" stainless pipe .25" wall. bout 4 ft of it. would a very wide and short shotgun work as well as a narrower long? like 8" long but have many many tubes? or even shorter? 6" would there be enough time for vapor to condense? just thinking out loud....

[Bushman]

When rad mentioned dephlagmater at 8" he was giving an example of a reflux condenser then he moved on to a shotgun (product) condenser at 18". For a product condenser 6" is going to be too small I believe on a 3" still. 18+ sounds good 36" will work but is probably more than you need. The question is at what height do you want to collect your product?

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

for a 3" shotgun the length will be dependent on how long my column is. ideally i would collect 8-10 inches shorter than my column. i was just thinking that if the area was 4 times greater (going from 3" to 6") then could my length be 4 times shorter (going 18" to 6" er... third.. whatever) with 4 times as many tubes. have the flow across the tubes rather than down them.

[bluenose]

I've read a bunch and addressing the safety issue is my concern because I'll be inside with propane...

hope you have lots of ventilation, or lots of life insurance

[1bottler]

I have a SS shotgun, 36 " long, 1.25" OD with 5 x 0.375 OD pipes welded into a ferrule on each end, the business end has a SS connection to mate with either the 4" Pot or the 3" Reflux, this is sufficient to cool the distillate to ambient no matter how fast I run them.

[maheel]

heres a easy way to do a shotgun no ferrules needed as the ends of the shotgun become the ferrules
it happily knocks down 3600w (240v) making 6L -8L an hour

if your end plates are thin copper then you might need to wrap a ferrule gasket in teflon tape to make it a little bigger
if it's "thick" plate then standard ferrule gaskets work (plate from 4" tube works very well)
i rough out my discs and then put them on my lathe

make some discs the same size as a ferrule

stand the tube on it and solder it on

drill holes and insert your tubes (they can also be pre-drilled)

solder in the tubes and sand down

make some "easyflange" ends and use a few elbows etc to create this (or buy some SS ones)

[johnhopper1957]

Maybe something like this? Maybe a bit longer column if you are running gas?

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

Been working on it in my spare time... making two units for now....here it goes so far.

First i used CNC plasma cutter to cut my plates

Realized my inner pattern was a bit tight for water flow into center, so i plugged a center hole. also decided to plug two on the outer rim so my fitting on the pipe can protrude a little and direct flow better and create more turbulence.

Got all the tubes tacked in place. they are 20 inches from plate to plate, with two half plates in the middel as baffles to help create flow turbulence. they are below in the picture so you can't see.

Once welded together i fit it into the pipe. the pipe is 24 inches long and will be placed in 2 inches on both sides.

Next step is to weld in the tube and drill holes for fittings. once fittings are in place i can pressure test the inner chamber. once that is all checked i can weld the ends on.

one end will attach to a 3" tri clover clamp

the other will go to a 2" pipe with a cap (all stainless). the cap will allow for better cleaning if i ever need to get in there for any reason.

[seabass]

That's some nice work!

[drinktofabfabtodrink]

thank you! I will post more pictures when i finish...