SoundClown
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Water Pump
So I recently purchased a high pressure water pump with the intentions of recirculating its flow through a scrupulously clean bucket as a source of
water for my condenser. To my dismay, there was no power supply that actually came with the pump to ensure a smooth flow of electricity and upon
further use I found that loose cords make it very problematic when dealing with distillations. Is there anybody more experienced out there that has
more or less constructed their own power supply and if so what are the materials necessary? I thought I saw a video somewhere of a guy simply using
two pristine nails in a slab of wood and simply wrapping the wires of the pump around the nails and charging electricity through the pump via a small
control switch connected to a battery charger/jumper of some sort that seemed to store a single or couple of 12v batteries. If anyone has done
something like this I would love input.
[Edited on 23-7-2019 by SoundClown]
[Edited on 23-7-2019 by SoundClown]
[Edited on 23-7-2019 by SoundClown]
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XeonTheMGPony
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for condensers you do not want high pressure, you want volume, in a closed system you do not need to worry about vertical lift only dynamic flow
resistance.
I use an MPC650 12v pump, and smallish tubing, more then enough flow, next is putting in a chiller system.
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Sulaiman
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Even a 5V (usb) water pump is adequate, but I use one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/240L-H-Ultra-DC-12V-3M-Garden-qui...
Consider the heat flows involved ;
At least half of the electrical heating power goes to heat of vapourisation,
which needs to be removed to condense the gas/vapour.
e.g. a 200W heating mantle will heat up the cooing water at an equivalent of 100W or more (a 1500W hotplate may require 1kW of cooling)
This heat will result in your recirculating water heating up.
So you need to cool the water.
Ice works, but a long distillation can use a LOT of ice,
I route my cooling water from the condenser(s) through an old central heating radiator
(I think that an automotive radiator with fan would be even better)
This removes a lot of the heat, requiring much less ice (or none at all for higher b.p. liquids)
I have implemented a recirculating cooling water system that uses a radiator and TEC-based cooling - 4x (eBay TEC1-12715 with cpu cooler fan/heatsink)
It works well, but is possibly too complex/expensive for a simple setup.
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
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Herr Haber
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It can sometimes be important to consider that your water pump will heat the water so a smaller pump may be desirable.
More important, if you are using a vacuum pump it will also give off heat in the room (and maybe melt some of your ice).
You may use a water cooler / chiller that will also add to heat in the room. And noise... so for long distillations it might become a nuisance.
The spirit of adventure was upon me. Having nitric acid and copper, I had only to learn what the words 'act upon' meant. - Ira Remsen
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thors.lab
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Buy a 12v power supply that outputs the amperage you need. They are CHEAP! Seriously. I bought a five pack of 12V 1A power supplies for like $10 a
long time ago and I still have them lying around.
For my high pressure pump I need a 12V 5A power supply. Bought one on Amazon for like $11.
Then, I chopped off the DC plug (that little barrel plug that comes at the end of most of these 12V PSUs). You'll see two wires – red and black.
Simple strip back the insulation and solder them to the leads on your 12V pump. Voila!
I then electrical taped the loose pieces. It would be better if you had heat shrink tubing, but I didn't have any lying around.
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XeonTheMGPony
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Heater core and a couple good 12v fans been a solid go too.
I'm going with a refrigeration system, so I can turn it on advance and let it freeze a solid chunk of water.
Since I use a closed system I used a well cleaned sterile bucked with methanol and some preservatives. Bio films are a nightmare to clean out of any
thing, never mind a cooling system!
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TheMrbunGee
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Really cheap power supplies on ebay here
Buy 2 if you think one can break, but I have few different power ones, and 360W 12V one holds up quite good, have it running full power for months,
with added fan to keep the temperature low.
Can recommend these for everyone, who needs DC voltage. (although I am not sure, how smooth the output is, might not work for whimsical devices)
Also there are fully adjustable ones. (These also have a trimmer, to adjust voltage ~ +/- 2 V)
[Edited on 23-7-2019 by TheMrbunGee]
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SoundClown
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Thanks for the replies and advice everyone! Very helpful indeed. I'm currently dealing with jumper cables from a friends car battery jumper lol. This
is the specific diaphragm pump I ordered for those interested: https://www.ebay.com/p/12v-DC-60w-Home-High-Pressure-Diaphra...
Imagine running that under your condenser with jumper cables on your workspace with nothing but the clamps attached to your pumps wires. Then picture
your face/lab being aggressively S P L U R G E D with water because you didn't secure your zip-ties tight enough around your condensers inlet or
outlet. Scary rookie mistake stuff. I'm thinking I'll be looking into TheMrbunGees/thors.labs' tips on investing in a small AC 24V power supply and
test out my soldering skills, but I will also most likely re-invest another $20 or so on another more quiet pump specifically for distillations and
use the one I have now for reflux rxns. THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE I'll try to post an update of the complete project for other beginners that are
interested
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XeonTheMGPony
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ya that is a very bad choice for running condenser water, as that can break glass wear, from the pulsations.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/DC-12V-G1-4-Low-Noise-CPU-Cooling-Wa...
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Micro-DC-Water-Pump-Computer-Water-C...
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/DC12V-Ultra-quiet-CPU-Cooling-Water-...
But you can see the theme by now.
Heat Rejection:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/240MM-Water-Cooling-Tube-CPU-Cooler-...
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/120-240-360mm-Water-Cooling-Tube-CPU...
[Edited on 24-7-2019 by XeonTheMGPony]
[Edited on 24-7-2019 by XeonTheMGPony]
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SoundClown
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I believe I found a more appropriate pump for my distillation needs: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Low-Noise-DC-12V-Solar-Hot-Water-Ci...
This one actually comes with a small power supply I can simply plug into a wall! Wish I would have saw this earlier. @XenonPony Interesting setup!
I've ran water through my 400mm liebig and it seems to handle the rather fast flow pretty well, but in this case I definitely would also recommend a
smaller pump setup.
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XeonTheMGPony
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Quote: Originally posted by Felis Corax  | | A bucket of ice would work better than a passive heat exchanger if you don't mind changing it when it melts too much. That's what I've been using,
though I'm going to be upgrading to active cooling with a thermoelectric heat pump when my cooling block arrives from the mystical east.
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Winters here are -30 average, I have to heat the water so what I distill doesn't freeze!
But summers I prefer refrigeration plant, Pelts are just too crappy efficiency wise, and a small Carnot cycle based system is superior and not hard to
modify, that and you can usually all ways find some one tossing a water cooler
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unionised
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I can see why.
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happyfooddance
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| Quote: Originally posted by Felis Corax | | Quote: Originally posted by XeonTheMGPony | Winters here are -30 average, I have to heat the water so what I distill doesn't freeze!
But summers I prefer refrigeration plant, Pelts are just too crappy efficiency wise, and a small Carnot cycle based system is superior and not hard to
modify, that and you can usually all ways find some one tossing a water cooler |
Brrrr. Air-conditioned/heated basement lab for me, thanks!
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A 20°C lab and using -30°C seasonal outdoor cooling are not incompatible in any obvious way, to me. Most laboratories (professional or amateur)
have some means to run lines for gasses and liquids outside and back in, if required.
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XeonTheMGPony
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Pelts have more thermal transfer capabilities, you need massive power per unit heat moved
Water cooler will blow a pelt out of the water per W burned. and you need very heavy cooling on the hot side of the pelt to get a good delta T
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Abromination
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I have made the mistake of using snow to cool my condensers as it is quite abundant in Alaska (or at least it used to be). I know have a horrid layer
of biofilm in all of my columns and will have to strip it with piranha solution. My poor water pump could use some maintenance too.
List of materials made by ScienceMadness.org users:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nmJ8uq-h4IkXPxD5svnT...
--------------------------------
Elements Collected: H, Li, B, C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, I, Au, Pb, Bi, Am
Last Acquired: B
Next: Na
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