Why are people Insulating their Reflux Stills?
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Blog Post: www.opensource...
I'll show you how to insulate a reflux column and show you my insulated boiler. I discuss the benefits of insulating your distilling equipment.
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Do you insulate your still or do you go naked?
Insulated still and column. 1/2" pipe insulation on column, glass/'metal foil on still
Never thought to do it,but that notion of doing it very much interests me, it seems that it would streamline efficiency, plus aid in not roasting the inside of my apartment
When i reflux, i use neoprene lagged copper 2"
I'm only 41 seconds into this and subscribed! I'm in an apartment, just started distilling about 8 months now and wanting to step it up a bit
I must give this a try, I think this video may have solved an issue I've been having since purchase of a larger still. I'm not getting a good separation on a Boka with 1m 2"column, for a long time I've felt very defeated due to this. Thanks.
Interesting. I had not given it much thought to keeping the vapors in the column for more interaction.
I insulated my still and got an incease in collection speed. I also insulated my lyne arm but didn't find much difference there
good video
BRB, heading to Home Depot
I got insulation for my 2 inch column from a plumbing supply store. My local Home Depot didn't have it in that size. Happy Distilling!
The column on my customized Mile Hi 3 gallon mighty mini; consists of 4 2 inch sight glasses with copper bubble plates. So I don’t see how I could insulate those sight glasses. Although being blind, I don’t need to see the action in the sight glasses, but if I have a cited helper assisting me I could benefit by hearing their description of what’s going on in each site glass. You see what I’m saying? So I don’t know if I would benefit with insulating said site glasses? What do you all think? Great video!
Thanks! I should have made it more clear in the video that I was specifically talking about packed columns, as opposed to columns with bubble plates or bubble caps. Since there are such distinct phase changes in very particular places when plates are used, I'm unsure what the benefits are of insulating those columns. In an uninsultated platted column, I suppose some power would be lost from the still into the room the still is in, but on the flip side, you wouldn't need as much cooling since the room would be helping with that. Insulating a packed column helps reduce passive reflux from forming on the inside of the column wall, and helps keep the reflux and vapor interacting with the packing. Plated still work a little different. Of course, you don't want to cover up sight glasses if you have them :) They are pretty cool to watch and help you adjust your power too right? Happy distilling my friend.
It would seem that insulating a sight glass would defeat the purpose of a sight glass. If you are truly blind then kudos to you and being able to distill. I think I would blow myself up if I tried distilling without my eyesight😜
it's more efficient only on energy usage, not on separation. The separation efficiency comes both from column aspects and heat input only (to create a temperature gradient and let gravity make it's job), if you wanna save some energy/fuel you would like to insulate it, mainly if you have a digital controler system, if you do hand ajustments to heat input you may notice a longer lag between your ajustment and the flow out of your still
Hey Jesse, thanks for your comment. I suppose you could say that insulation helps with separation by helping keep the reflux column in equilibrium. Insulation helps shield the still from outside influence that may influence negatively affect the still. It may help you get a cleaner product and save energy. Aside from insulation not looking very nice, I struggle to find another downside of adding it to a reflux still. As for a pot still, that could be a different story. Pot stills have many different shapes for different purposes. Cheers and happy distilling!
Joey Joe Joe Jr
@@OpenSourceDistilling It's more efficient because you have to put less heat to achieve a better sepparation, but if you put too much heat it's not going to separete so well. In a column still it's useful because you can get the exctly same product because the system always work the same way. In a pot still however you need the metal to be exposed because these heat exchange will do the reflux
@@jesse.marques When you say you NEED exposed metal in a pot still exactly what do you mean? Are you talking about an onion that provides passive reflux (not everyone has those)? Are you saying that it's detrimental to insulate that boiler on a pot still? I think certain pot stills would benefit from insulation and others wouldn't. Scotch whisky stills have specific shapes that provide character to the spirit and you could not insulate that type of still without affecting the final spirit, but a home still with a shotgun condenser could benefit depending on what spirit you are trying to make. For example, my stripping run setup is fully insulated and has no ill effects. What type of pot still are you talking about?
@@OpenSourceDistilling you got what i meant, even I don't explained right. Every pot still column has its effects based on its shape, insulating it will change the profile IF you keep the same heat input. We always need to think in terms of temperature gradient. If you put insulation in a tall column its almost the same as reducing its height.
Home distillers can choose what pleases them most, and if the wort to be distilled tastes good, so will the result spirit, considerind all cuts to be done..
for a strip still the insulation is all benefits
just to be clear, I'm talking these based on what i've learned on my chemistry grad and some distillers knowledge.
I'm not distilling yet, but my father makes cachaça and other spirits (we are in Brazil, its legal to distill here) my still is planed to arrive around march/2020 (150L)
On lab we only insulated the still/column if the heat source wasn't good enough or if the product could suffer some reaction
I don’t all my piping wall thickness are 2 millimeters. I might consider.
I remember the column insulation being pretty cheap. I got it from a plumbing contractor supply store. It was something like 8 feet of it for under $20.
wow 2mm thick . that should keep heat nice and steady
I use gas. So I'm thinking of using non flammable insulation like glass fiber or glass woll. My friend must have seen you video because he did insulated with Eva. It melted
I got my pipe insulation from a plumbing store. The foam stuff is really cheap but they did have fiberglass as well in all sizes. I'm not sure what Eva is but I'm sure your local plumbing store could help pick out the right insulation for your column. Thanks for watching. Cheers!
@@OpenSourceDistilling thanks!
There's also this concern about how to impress people and the circumsized pipes does that job better