Yttrium2
Perpetual Question Machine
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Improvising The Bucket Still
http://www.stillcooker.com/improved-bucket-still.php
Here it is, for those who haven't seen it.
Any word on methanol? if forget the criteria in which is used to determine what needs to be pitched
This brings a question to mind, how come most alcohol stills aren't plastic?
And how could an alcohol still be created with an immersion heater or something?
I plan on trying this out, any suggestions?
The instructions are kind of confusing(such as when he talks about the glass plate, or tiling to vessel, or the flux (I think it's mostly vocabulary,
upon reading it a second time it seems to make more sense, also this is confusing when he says: " Seal the hole in the rubber bung with silicon
sealant or tape to make it airtight".) but the picture seems to make sense
I'd like to generate some discourse on plastic distillations. Reading comments brings me joy.
Will activated carbon remove the smells of other solvents too?
Seems like a good experiment
Additionally, I think I'll go with the domed lid with a heat gun improvisation.
However, I guess what im wondering is how come one can't use a bucket with the mash at the bottom, along with the heater, and a polypropylene tube
running from the top to another vessel? Im a lil confused. Will have to do some more thinking.
If anyone has tried this im curious as to the flavors of the alcohol. If peach or something was in the mash do the flavors carry over well or do they
go out the airlock? Cough
Also wonder how much alcohol vapor travels out the airlock. Wouldn't a sealed vessel work better?
Also, it seems that the higher the distillation vessel the stronger the juice would be, how come that is? I can't out my finger on it, can someone
explain this in chemistry terms why the drips from the lid are higher proof then the condensation in the bucket?
and in chemistry terms, if you had the bucket in the bucket with the lid closed with no heater, what would make alcohol condense in the 2nd bucket at
a higher percentage then the starting mash
I just did a fair amount of reading on the bucket still, which seems to be a variant of the wok still. Interesting topics on distillation came up,
including fractional crystallization or freeze distillation, if i'm not wrong. -- I wonder if freeze distillation can be used for *****
a bit of dry ice in a wok a top a large pot might be the solution to get me the few hundred mL's of solvent i'm after.
same thing with iodine sublimination, a bit of dry ice and acetone in a watch glass atop of a beaker might be better then using regular ice and having
condensation get your iodine wet.
[Edited on 12/23/2019 by Yttrium2]
[Edited on 12/23/2019 by Yttrium2]
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B(a)P
International Hazard
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This is an interesting piece of gear. I do all of my ethanol distillations through a 1.2 m long 50mm copper reflux condenser packed with copper wool.
I will be interested to hear your results.
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markx
National Hazard
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In essence you have a simple distillation setup made from two buckets. The inner one with the submersion heater functioning as the boiler and the
outer one as the condenser, cooled by ambient air. The process is woefully slow, but can be left pretty much unattended. Due to the slow nature the
bulk of the collected “distillate” is rather enriched in ethanol and very little of the higher boiling congeners come over. But the low boiling
heads or EAF (ester aldehyde fraction) shall surely contaminate your product if you do not devise a way to separate it from the rest. About the
quality of the product....it might be consumable, but I doubt it could be called “a mighty good drop”. The problem with plastic setups and high
abv alcohol is that plasticisers tend to dissolve into the product on prolonged contact. Will not be deadly, but if possible to be avoided.
Exact science is a figment of imagination.......
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SWIM
National Hazard
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The principle reminds me of solar survival stills for making fresh water on a lifeboat.
They're like a double layered plastic bag where the seawater goes in the inner bag and the fresh water condenses in the outer bag. (The bags are
inflated to hold their shape)
Cold weather ought to make this still design you posted able work faster as the condensation rate looks like the limiting factor.
Putting the outer bucket in a tub of water ought to help too.
I've had plastic milk jugs ruined by storing 180 proof ethanol in them long term, but it was in there for some months.
Not sure how long they were leaking before I noticed. (they were stored outside)
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