My cooling setup for the fsd neutraliser

[Matt_Pl]

Hi all,

I'm lucky enough to be able to distill inside in the NT due to the current wet season.

There's been a few questions about cooling tanks and setup so I thought I'd post mine.
220 litre picked onion drum, Bunnings 350w submersible 240V pump and a oil compressor radiator and fan which I removed from a unserviceable compressor at work which was to go to scrap.

Currently stripping TPW and it's working a bloody treat.

image.jpg

[GroggyAl]

That's a neat little cooler unit. :text-coolphotos:

I bet that room will get quite hot distilling indoors with that cooler inside as well :-D
I love the compact arrangement the external radiators can provide. Cheap and super efficient cooling without the need for a bulky IBC for those that don't have the room or live in rented a accommodation.

[WalterWhite]

I need to work out some sort of cooling solution like this .... My water gets quite hot and the temperature increase means I can only really do a single run. Trouble is I have no bloody idea where to even start! A step by step guide to making one would be awesome

[Darwin award]

I'm using 2 IBC's..with RC return going into one, the PC the other and pumping from the PC tank...a siphon setup links the two together...if that makes sense....Anyways seems to work well.

[rumsponge]

I like it too. With this setup, did you notice/measure any temp changes in the reservoir during a run ?
Whats the rated cooling/heating capacity of the of the oil radiator ?
Cheers, rs

[Matt_Pl]

Yeah well I finally did my spirit run using this setup.

It was an amazing failure. Worked great on the stripping run utilising a PC only.

the radiator knocked down about 3.5oC between inlet and outlet.

On my final run I noticed after about 30 mins of 100% reflux on 2400Kw I noticed I had an output from my still : (

the water temp in the 200 litre drum had risen from 28oC to 34 oC and wasn't able to give me 100% reflux.

I switched to mains water, back to the drawing board.

Cheers,

Matt

[GroggyAl]

Matt, that's not a good outcome but there is still hope.
If you got full reflux with the mains water I suspect you may need to get more flow through the system.
If it is the 350w Ozito pump then you have only got 5metres of head to play with. If you have a lot of pipe & fittings in the circuit that will give you a lot of restrictions.
As a matter of interest, what was the ambient Air temperature going through the coolers radiator? I see you are in the NT and the cooler will only get within 1 or 2 degrees of ambient anyway.
Measure how much water (litres per minute) returns to the tank with your pump/cooler system and then compare the flow you were getting with the mains system.
If you cannot provide the condenser with colder water then you have to increase the flow rate.
Cheers
Groggy.

[Darwin award]

Have you got room for an IBC?
I may have one spare you can have as a recent realization has necessitated some changes in my residential and marital status :laughing-rolling:

[Matt_Pl]

I'm only renting in Katherine for another couple of months then I'm heading to the big city of Darwin to live!!

Hopefully I can find a place with a decent shed and set myself up properly!

The ambient air temp passing through the radiator would be approximately 21 oC as it was drawing inside air through and pushing it outside. Next run Im going to use ice in the tank and drop the water temperature as low as possible ( Ice machines at work so no costs).

I agree my only three variables are water flow rate, water temperature and ambient air temperature as I haven't yet built my element controller so Im stuck at 2.4Killer wasps.

[GroggyAl]

Easiest fix would be improve the water flow rate. Reduce length of hoses, check that none of your fittings have very small orifices (drill them out if necessary) and if you mounted your cooler on top of your tank you could discharge straight into it with minimal pipe or fittings. If your pump is not that old maybe Bunnings will agree to swap for the Commercial Electric brand or a bigger Ozito.
Cheers
Groggy Al.