please help

Alcohol is an inexpensive, clean and renewable fuel source.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Kickballrocks81
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:28 pm

please help

Post by Kickballrocks81 »

Hello, I am in the process of building a still for the purposes of making my own fuel ethanol, Ive bought several books on the subject and have started to make my first still.. because of the cost of copper, brass, or stainless steel, I have decided to go with alluminized exhaust which I have read would make for suitbale (Not pretty) but effective material in doing so.. is that a correct assumption ? my second question has to do with column diameter, I am aware that the hieght of the still Has a lot to do with the purity of the product ( taller the still , cleaner the distillate that comes out ).

I am attempting to make a valved reflux still with a colum six to eight inches in diameter, because I am under the impression the larger the diameter of the still the higher GPH I can distill.

unless otherwise directed, I plan on using a 300 gallon chemical tank ( been cleaned out) as my boiler, with a six to eight inch diameter column 5 feet tall packed with copper pot scrubbers for surface area inside the column, the condenser will consist of a 6 inch diameter head with 1/4in copper tubing in a standard coil, cold water entering from the top, and exiting the bottom I will have two thermometers, one on the boiler, the other on the condenser.. am I on the right track ?

I have all the plans already for several stills, ranging from Charles 803 reflux stills, to pot stills, to stills with vapor management, so I guess if any one question I needed answered it would be.. does increasing the diameter of the column increase the GPH produced by the product, and if so .. at what rate ? if a 3inch column reflux still is capable of producing 2-5GPH of 180 proof ethanol, what will a 6 inch still be capable of ? thanks in advance for any and all information you could give to help me :D
HookLine
retired
Posts: 5628
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 8:38 am
Location: OzLand

Re: please help

Post by HookLine »

There is a forum dedicated to distilling ethanol fuel.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/alcoholfuel/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

They are very knowledgeable and helpful, and are your best bet.
Be safe.
Be discreet.
And have fun.
Post Reply