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I'm almost finished building a new reflux still. It's 2" diameter with 6 feet of packing. I have marbles to pack it with. I also have insulation for the column. I don't have a thermometer for it. I don't know if I'm even going to bother. I just need to figure out plumbing from the output of the shotgun to the collection vessel. Cleaning runs scheduled for next weekend and first proper run over the holidays.

Really really nice

Just beautiful LHCB! Can't wait to hear how she runs...

Nice!
How are you going to raise/lower the RC coil?

kimbodious wrote:Nice!
How are you going to raise/lower the RC coil?

I have a 2"x12" that spans the stairs. This is my view when standing on the board.

Nice work Chris..

Mars

Top job . You should be very happy with the results

Please be careful when you’re walking the plank

Wow, and I thought my build was tall at 72" in total with 49" of SPP and 2lbs of mesh as the packing. I need a little 2 step ladder to adjust my coil lol. That is a very nice build you have there, I'm curious to know how that amount of marbles as your packing performs.

CirBeer wrote:...I'm curious to know how that amount of marbles as your packing performs.

Me too. I have ss scrubbers as well for comparison. I plan to do a side by side eventually, once I get the hang of running the still. I have had to push cleaning runs back a little. My fermentation barrels are full of whiskey mash at the moment. I thought I would have time to run it off by now, but ended up not getting the chance. I decided to add a slant plate LM head with a thermowell between the sight glass and the tee "valve". I would like to have it built before I do the cleaning runs. I ran out of ferrules and had to order a couple more. If everything goes well this week, I should have a full performance report after next weekend or the following week.

I am not the OP, but I have a setup almost exactly like this. 2" CCVM with 72" of marble packed column, sight glass at the top, SSCT reflux condenser, liebig product condenser, all on top of a 15.5 gallon Sanke keg boiler with a 5500 watt electric heating element and controller. The column is insulated in a very high tech way by wrapping a sleeping bag around it and securing it with masking tape.

Yesterday I performed a spirit run on about 11 gallons of sugar wash low wines at 20% abv (watered down from about 40% abv). After equalizing the column in full reflux for a bit and then bleeding off the first part of heads pretty slowly, I pull the condenser all the way up to achieve the minimum reflux ratio possible, with roughly half the vapor going to the product take-off. The power is regulated such that I see liquid splashing at the top of the marble packing and the marbles at the top softly rattle in the turbulent flow. The power input needed to do this on my setup is about 2700 watts or so.

On this run my take-off rate, once in full-on run mode, was about 13 minutes to the pint and the temp corrected proof was a rock steady 95.5% or so from the start of the run until tails. I increase the power incrementally in tiny bits over the course of the run by about 100 watts total to maintain a relatively steady output even as the boiler charge reduces in alcohol concentration. When actual tails come on output drops precipitously along with proof, and I shut down at this point.

All told, over a four hour run I took off about 9 quarts of distillate, and cut out 2 quarts of heads and 1 pint of tails, leaving 6.5 quarts of hearts at 95.5% abv. That proofs down to 3.88 gallons of vodka at 80 proof or a bit over 5 gallons of gin base at 30% abv. I am happy with the whole setup for making vodka/gin. I can run a bit slower (lower the reflux condenser some) and get azeo, but I like running the way I described.

Without a valve on you VM port, won’t adding the slant plate mean you will be collecting in two places at once when you are pulling from the LM output? Alcohol vapor is heavier than air, so the rising vapor will want to flow down your VM port first and only the excess vapor will make it to your RC to be condensed for your LM takeoff.

Otis

OtisT wrote:Without a valve on you VM port, won’t adding the slant plate mean you will be collecting in two places at once when you are pulling from the LM output? Alcohol vapor is heavier than air, so the rising vapor will want to flow down your VM port first and only the excess vapor will make it to your RC to be condensed for your LM takeoff.

Otis

First I must say that I have never run a CCVM. This will be a first for me. I have no experience with this kind of still.

My understanding of how this works is that the RC is the valve. When the coil is in the lowest position, it descends a few inches down below the VM port, completely covering it. In theory, this should block all the vapor from escaping from the VM port and condense the vapor before it reaches the outlet.

Longhairedcountryboy wrote:

OtisT wrote:Without a valve on you VM port, won’t adding the slant plate mean you will be collecting in two places at once when you are pulling from the LM output? Alcohol vapor is heavier than air, so the rising vapor will want to flow down your VM port first and only the excess vapor will make it to your RC to be condensed for your LM takeoff.

Otis

First I must say that I have never run a CCVM. This will be a first for me. I have no experience with this kind of still.

My understanding of how this works is that the RC is the valve. When the coil is in the lowest position, it descends a few inches down below the VM port, completely covering it. In theory, this should block all the vapor from escaping from the VM port and condense the vapor before it reaches the outlet.

You are correct on how the CC works. With just a little power, the vapor is knocked down in just the first few inches of your RC. Apply more power and vapor will climb further up the RC. You are fractioning, so there should be a fair amount of vapor rising up to the RC. I just thought there was not a lot of space below your VM port to hold the tip of the RC (you said your slant plate would be just below the tee, above the sight glass). So if you are not running with a lot of power it could work. Too much power and vapor could reach the VP output. Just something you need to consider and plan for.

Otis

Quick update:

I finally finished the LM head. I left plenty of space above the top plate so can slide the reflux condenser down past the VM takeoff (thanks Otis).
I used PVC as a template for the slants. I don't think I've seen that done here. I took a piece of 2" pvc, cut it at an angle on a chop saw and sliced it down one side so I could open it up a little to fit over the 2" copper.
I still have a couple projects to finish before I can fire this one up. My electric controller is in pieces. I want to get that finished up before I run this one. Hopefully I can get to it soon.