so i was over looking at AD and saw this idea about a solar still.... very interesting
i am not a member over there but thought about the idea as here in QLD we get plenty of sunshine like today :)
http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3 ... =21&t=4502
so grabbed a standard SS (35cm?) mixing bowl lined it with al-foil (home-brand and not real shiny), cover it with cling wrap to keep the heat in and stuck my temp gauge in it.
I have it on my front veranda and the air temp inside it is 80'C with no insulation and crap design
i would think a better design would yield more heat, a quick google showed me one that can make 3KW of heat....
over on AD the OP was thinking about vapour loss and how to get around it, i was thinking about using this idea for stripping low wines during the day, using a a brown 5L demijohn with a small "lid" and pipe running down into a "thumper" style set up that would go outside the solar still. Vapour rises and then goes out the tube and runs down to the thumper
if you primed the thumper then it woudl act like a condenser just not letting the vapor out collecting the low wines
thoughts ?
would the thumper idea create a pressure lock stopping the vapour coming out ?
photo to come later :)