I think the basic Flute Design is flawed ...

[Odin]

That got your attention, right? And I am not joking or kidding you. It is flawed. It hit me just a few days ago, when I was in Wishataka, Indiana, and visited Virtuoso Distillers. Virtuoso runs a 600 liter, 21 plate, all copper "Flute". Yes, with a dephlag on top, to fill them plates and all. Virtuoso now also runs one iStill 250, that's not a CM/Flute design, but an LM/Packed design.

Steve and I gave a workshop where he talked about the Holstein and how to manage it. Pretty difficult. Certain power setting and a dephlag where water out is 50 degrees hotter than water in. But how about water pressure? And how about different products and different abv's? Ehm ... how about water temperature? I am sure there is a difference between it coming in at 30 degrees C and leaving the system at 80 degrees C as compared to it coming in at 10 degrees C and leaving the system at 60 degrees C. And please don't get me started about ambient temperatures that - relative to still temp - create more or less (unwanted) passive reflux?

And then there's another thing. "50 degrees difference?" Yeah, and how are you going to manage that? For sure one time the difference will be 48 degrees and a bit later 51 degrees C. And/or the other way around.

The fact that Flutes are managed by a CM (Cooling Management) system make them harder to manage, and less precise in their operation.

The solution is simple. Get rid of the CM part and replace it by a Liquid Management system. You now have a Flute where the dephlag does not control (to an extend) how much vapour comes over and how much liquids are returned to the plates. Instead, you now have a Flute (Odin's Flute?) where all the gasses are cooled down to liquids. And if you assemble these liquids on a collection plate, you now can, with a needle valve, manage your still much more precise and without things like water temp & pressure, product, abv, ambient temps having much of an influence on final product.

My point is: the original Flute design is flawed. My solution is: get rid of the CM reflux control system and replace it with an LM reflux control system.

Just sharing.

Odin.

PS: All my respect to OD, who pioneered Flute design. Not meaning you didn't do a great job, because you did. Without your increadible work, I (we) wouldn't even have the opportunity to talk about Flutes ...