We don’t condone the use of Continuous Stripping stills as a method of running 24/7 as this is a commercial setup only .
Home distillers should never leave any still run unattended and Continuous strippers should not be operated for longer periods than a Batch stripping session would typically be run to minimise operator fatigue..
I'm new to the site, thank you for having me. I'm not sure if this idea has been discussed yet but here goes.
Concept: a continous stripping still which resembles a spiral staircase inside an outer tube. Mash would be pumped up the center of it to help preheat and then trickle down the staircase (about thirty steps or so). The heat would be applied by steam in a slot cut under the stairs so would never be in contact with the mash.
Could be constructed on a 4 axis milling machine with tolerances to an FN fit. Prototype in aluminum (cheap, easy to mill and I have some) production still in either copper or stainless.
Cncgordon wrote:
Totally open to criticism here let er rip
Gordon
you poor bastard .....you asked for it
Aluminium and continuous still should get you bashed to death...but I'm keen on your idea , Aluminium aside
EDIT:....seriously , I've always thought there is something in a spiral design . Most commercial strippers need at least 20 plates to strip most alcohol out of a wash so thirty should do it but... You might need to show us a pic of your idea so we can see what you are thinking .... to me it just sounds Not quite right .
I'm not sure if your idea of bubbling steam through each level in the spiral will be the same thing as having the steam blow through the bottom plate only and subsequent plates have vapour from the plate below bubble up through them .I'm not seeing the ability of phase change being able to occur on each increasing level in the spiral.. There is also the entrainment thing where you need a space vertically between the plate below and the plate above ( but angularly displaced in your case ) ....Sorry I'm no expert just thinking out aloud and hoping fore some further ideas
I think you have a good idea and are quite capable of making what ever is necessary but don't think it will work in my mind ATM ....Pics Diagrams please
I think the OP is describing a continuous boiler scheme, and not a reflux tower. The new wash is added to the top where is slowly waterfalls its way down to the bottom, where presumably the alcohol content has been largely stripped from the remaining liquid. At the bottom level of the waterfall, the spent liquid is discarded. Somewhere else in this scheme would be a condenser, receiving the vapors from this boiler. Is that the idea?
I've also been puzzling over some different ideas for a continuous stripper, although most of my concepts revolve around repeatedly processing small quantities of wash.
I think it could work. The staircase concept might cause the liquid to progress through various levels of alcohol concentration without too much mixing. The lowest steps (least alcohol) will have the highest boiling point, which could be a heat/balance issue. I would imagine that there will be precipitation during continuous boiling that might need to be cleaned out from time to time. It is probably worth making the staircase accessible for cleaning. A final unit with machined SS or copper could be expensive.
Cncgordon wrote:
Concept: a continous stripping still which resembles a spiral staircase inside an outer tube. Mash would be pumped up the center of it to help preheat and then trickle down the staircase (about thirty steps or so). The heat would be applied by steam in a slot cut under the stairs so would never be in contact with the mash.
Direct steam injection works well with continuous distilling.
when Trickling the fall of the drops is too fast for proper exchange with the rising steam.
When running down a slope the liquid doesnt mingle enough with the rising steam.
You either need packing to slow and split the descent of liquid or trays to bubble the steam through the liquid.
+1, on what Manu says. The OP used aluminum as a prototype I have no problems with that and if you are thinking about working with a 4 axis CNC machine would be interested in your plans. I taught CNC programming but in a school setting we only had the ability to work in 3 axis (cost). If you have the ability to do that you must have some drawings you can share with the rest of us.
let er rip
