Yttrium2 - 5-9-2021 at 19:23
Succinctly put,
How can I power a condenser off the grid? (Cough)
Sulaiman - 5-9-2021 at 20:26
A long pipe cooled by ambient air will condense water, ethanol etc.
Metal is prefered (and for ethanol copper is useful)
eg for a small scale 'experiment' a 6ft/2m length of copper pipe will work - at frustratingly slow take off rates.
Speed of distilate collection will be increased by;
. Longer, larger diameter pipe (surface area)
. Thinner wall / higher thermal conductivity tubing
. Colder ambient temperatures
. Higher air speed accross the pipe.
The pipe does not need to be straight (eg helix)
but it must slope downwards all of the way to prevent puddles blocking the gas flow
You could also use any vessel with a large surface area cooled by ambient air as a condenser.
But use only copper, stainless steel or glass to avoid contaminants
Avoid lead based solder if food grade product is required.
If water is available then use it as its easier.
OR
Google 'alcohol moonshine pot still' for ideas
Yttrium2 - 5-9-2021 at 21:21
From what I hear PVC is fairly immune
What kind of plasticizers are in the tube, that may or may not leach?
Dry ice acetone? Or bag of ice?
I don’t think the tube needs to be downward angled immediately, the vapor will travel up
Any reason why my coil couldn’t be used for reflux??
Same thing? Droplets form in the small diameter tubing and spurt?
Why do moonshiners always use water cooling?
[Edited on 9/6/2021 by Yttrium2]
[Edited on 9/6/2021 by Yttrium2]
Fyndium - 5-9-2021 at 22:14
Air cooled condenser would have to be exceedingly large to condense all, if you intend to have reasonable output rate, and even then work only in cold
climate.
Resistance of plastics, including PVC will be strongly reduced by increased temperature.
The most simple off the grid condenser can be learned from moonshiners indeed, get a barrel, fill it with cold water and make a coil from suitable
resistant material, preferably copper or stainless steel or teflon, and immerse it in it.
Coils, just like graham condensers, are good at takeoff, but do not work for reflux, because they condense over longer distance and the diameter is so
small that it will clog quickly from the returning liquid and will increase in pressure and eventually just shoots everything out.
For reflux, you can learn from the bokakob type moonshine still structure. Tightly fill a tub with fine sand, and bend it to desired shape. I've done
many of them.
[Edited on 6-9-2021 by Fyndium]
karlos³ - 5-9-2021 at 22:28
The condenser unit moonshiners use, I was surprised actually about the name and simple design, is just called wormbox and its literally aa vessel
water flows through,with the worm being the condenser coil(I guess).
And I agree on the long tube, I still use one 50cm liebig condenser where parts of the cooling mantle did break but its still g long and good ground
glass tube and thus suitable.
It depends though.
You want to distill and not reflux,, so you want a body of water nesar, and ideally, it should be flowing, very quickly flowing.
Remember what Texium said to you.
So you want something that is not plastic.
Copper maybe.
This way you could cool a condesing unit which is likely suitable to cool your distillate.
It was naphtha you want to distill, so I would say, pay attention which fractions it contains, and buy a naphtha that already consists of lower
boiling fractions.
Doesn't have to be pet ether though.
I would just take care thte distillate to condense will be well in the capaacities of the condensing unit.
And since they are build for ethanol, try not to use a less volatile fraction, e.g. not washing petrol which is around 130°C or such, no, just want
much more volatile stuff..
Furthermore, you should consider that it will be all in all more expensive to build than a cheap chinese distillation kit does cost.
Yttrium2 - 5-9-2021 at 22:56
Thumper makersoonshine stills more complex for me what’s that for?
And what determines output rate of the distilling flask? Simply size? The water I only gets so hot no matter how much heat is applied, what makes it
boil faster???
Yttrium2 - 5-9-2021 at 23:02
I’m still considering the 24 USD distillation kit which includes a stand, however the condenser is only 100mm, is this possible for steam
distillation or water distillation or naphtha distillation? If so Text how can I power it via usb water pump which power bank is suitable for
say 8 hours run time? - really what this thread was geared towards asking
Thanx
[Edited on 9/6/2021 by Yttrium2]
[Edited on 9/6/2021 by Yttrium2]
Yttrium2 - 5-9-2021 at 23:27
How can I tell which power bank is suitable for powering a usb water pump?
Is it this: fountain pump has to utilize less voltage than bank outport and then divide mAh by mAh of the device?
Eeek please help.
Additionally, would a 100mm graham condenser work for condensing volatile liquids from a steam distillation ?