Microstill - Website defunct

[ThomasBrewer]

I ran across this video today. Looks like a neat short column continuous stripping still. The website in the description (www.microstill.net) appears to be gone, so there aren't many details.




Edit: Found more information - https://www.instructables.com/Microstill/

[NormandieStill]

It's not a continuous column still. Wash is injected into the bottom of the column and there's no reflux, the output goes straight to the condenser (via a silicone tube! ). I guess the packing is largely to ensure that the liquid injected into the column hits enough heat to vaporise.

The problem is... you can't make any cuts. You're not heating the entire wash in one go, so each drop of wash turning to vapour will contain the full complement of "stuff" from fores to tails. It's like you potstilled your wash in 100ml samples, collecting everything that came off the still.

Cute build though. Shame about the silicone... it might have been a fun toy for someone but I wouldn't want to drink the end product.

[Yummyrum]

It looks like a Continuous stripping still to me .
Wash is pumped into it from the taller jug , stripped alcohol was being collected via the copper pipe into the glass while the stripped beer /wash was being collected in another shorted jug .

Yes it still has to be pot stilled and cuts done on it .

[ThomasBrewer]

It's not a continuous column still. Wash is injected into the bottom of the column and there's no reflux, the output goes straight to the condenser (via a silicone tube! ). I guess the packing is largely to ensure that the liquid injected into the column hits enough heat to vaporise.

Normandie - Nope. Wash is pumped and preheated through the outer jacket of the Liebig on the right, and enters the column a few inches below the takeoff. Spent wash leaves the the system through the vapor lock bend on the left. As with all stripped runs, it would need to be run again for proper cuts.

[LWTCS]

Continuous stripper still is still a continuous still.
Say that 10x fast.

The design? Less than optimal from what I see.

[ThomasBrewer]

Continuous stripper still is still a continuous still.
Say that 10x fast.

The design? Less than optimal from what I see.

It definitely pales in comparison to your Still Dragon 100L+ installations! Running 1L/hr of wash @ 200W is pretty fair though.

[LWTCS]

Only 105.4263565891 watts needed to do the same thing.

Edit:
External heater and the lack any kind of heat recovery
( notwithstanding the insulation) makes for an antiquated design.
No comment on the pump and hoses.

[NormandieStill]

My bad. I wasn't distinguishing between a stripping still and a continuous column. We agree that there's no active reflux going on here right? Just the balancing act between the temperature of the incoming beer and the energy in the column from the heating element.

I could be amused by the idea of a small scale continuous stripping still, although given one of my standard washes would take about 20 hours to strip I don't think we could claim that it would be supervised the entire time. Barring that safety issue I could go for a dedicated, small device that was easy to set-up and take down.