As a chemist, I obviously want to make a refluxing still. Unfortunately I only just finished my second year of university, and don't have enough physical chemistry knowledge to really design this stuff on my own, so I turn to the masters to look at and then shut down my stupid ideas!
The questions:
When processing small amounts, is it possible to scale down the column to a stovetop size (~40cm, i guess), and still make a drinkable and safe product? Would turning up the reflux ratio and using a fatter column work better in this scenario? This should increase the number of theoretical plates, at the cost of extending run time, right?
Or... can I spiral the column? I haven't seen anything like that on this site, but I don't see why I couldn't, except for potential clogging problems.
My other option is a simple pot still I guess, but since I want to make vodka and rum, I would much rather run a reflux (also it would be a lot more fun
)