Easy valved plates for solids - untested

[stillness]

Maybe this has been done or talked about, but I've not seen it. So, thanks for your kind patience.

Also, I'm not building this anytime soon. At least not before the basement remodel and I'm done excavating the back yard, and finishing my steam generator. So.. like, maybe when the kids go to college (that's happening, right? Stay on topic, damnit!). Anyways, knock yourself out and have a go at it.

OK, one of sieve plate's compelling features, in a continuous stripping column, is that they can handle solids - grain in the mash. But they need a certain speed to keep the liquid bed at a happy level. They have a limited range of stability. Too fast and it floods, too slow and it crashes. That's my understanding, anyhow. So, you end up seeing tall stripping columns with loads of plates, cause they need to flash all the alcohol before the wash falls thru the column. I think there's added speed in the height as well. But you gotta punch a hole in the ceiling, and build a dozen plates.

Bubble plates can't run solids, but have a wide operating range. Run full reflux if you want. So, you can flash all the alcohol with a short column. Just a couple of plates if you've got the time.

Up for review is a plate idea to run solids slowly, if desired.

Tada:

IMG_20210412_222754.jpg

Pretty much the same thing twice. The idea is a copper float valve, made out of 1" or 3/4" pipe. It doesn't need to seal completely (better for cleaning if it drains a little). It just needs to flood when the liquid level is low and drop the liquid level when it's too high. Need to crunch some numbers on sizing and experiment a little. But that's the idea. The one on the bottom looks dead easy to build. The pointy part could probably even be a reducer of some sort, so you don't have to mess with soldiering a cone. Needs at least 3 for stability, but doesn't need a guide.

Anyway.. ya, that's all. Point me to why this doesn't work, where it's already been done, etc (did you even use the Google search?! go read cranky's spoon feeding, you newb!!). Ok, jk. I'm out!

Ps, I usually don't post after this many, but it had to be done!