Yummyrum wrote:Zombie
Surely you have had a look at the plated column section on this forum.Although every one is slightly different , they are all based on the same formula....Its not to hard to figure it out........and all the stills built work .
Its all tjere...plate spacing...downcomer diameters and hieght ....plate holes and grid.Plate thickness..
They really seem to be a very tolerant beast...I don't recall anyone building one that they wern't happy with
Yes I did. I do seem to find lots of partial info that I have to piece together too. Some of it later proved out to not be as good as first thought. For instance MacStill posted in a thread how he is done trying Perf. Plates in stills. Doc, and several others have pointed out how slight modifications make huge differences ect...
I'm just attempting to round up all the best design info in one build
.I think what makes all of the builds at least work are a few constants in "hobby" still parameters. For instance... Vapor speed. All the stills built here are relatively similar in power, and column size/volume. Plate spacing seems to be largely based on Modular parts available. Of course all the mashes/washes have similar Alch./water content, and specific gravities.
All these variables are so close to each other that failure is almost not realistic. I get that part.
I think what may be missing from how you fellas may perceive my incessant questions is the fact that I never heard of fractional distilling until I decided to distill neutral type spirits, and presented MY version of what I thought might work. Of course I read all the wrong info, and watched all the wrong videos.
Now I have jumped into the DEEP end of the pool, and want to learn everything about the formulas that make industrial / advanced hobby distillation work.
To this point I have learned soooo much it is makes Me laugh at what I thought just a few months ago.
I found some good info on industrial plates that explain how/why they work as well as potential problems with each type. That is what led me to the Perf. Plate I linked, and my questions about hole spacing, and diameter.
Apparently (not thru reading it all yet) too many/too large, combined with too slow vapor speed does not allow the plates to hold liquid. Plate thickness has a direct relationship here.
Plate spacing affects speed, and density also (I think).
I realize many of you here could easily get a degree from what you learned and I want to join that group. I don't want to just make hootch.
Rather than copy a design I want to design a still and know exactly what is happening the entire way. That is the fun part for me. Building is just proving my idea, and making hootch is just a by product. I have a pot still for hootch. Now I want a one of a kind still for really great Vodka/Gin.
To cut a long post shorter. I will focus on adapting proven designs. No need to re-invent everything. I keep forgetting that part.
Thanks again. Please keep any thoughts coming because every post has helped me realize how much more there is to know. Thank you all for helping.