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4" Crystal Dragon

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  • Thought about your rig all day long, the way you run it to get neutral, your ceiling height.
    It is above top shelf. It is perfect.

  • @Lloyd Thank you sir, it is you that made it possible! ^:)^

  • Powiedzcie mi, przy 5 lub 6 półkach 4" CD jakie stężenie alkoholu mogę uzyskać w CD? Zakładam prawidłowe przeprowadzenie procesu. Chociaż konstrukcja CD miałaby słuzyc do destylacji zbożówek i owocówek to ciekawy jestem jak czysty alkohol mogę uzyskać. Jednocześnie w niedługim czasie będę miał kolumnę puszkową, ale CD kusi.

  • @Pretender said: Powiedzcie mi, przy 5 lub 6 półkach 4" CD jakie stężenie alkoholu mogę uzyskać w CD? Zakładam prawidłowe przeprowadzenie procesu. Chociaż konstrukcja CD miałaby słuzyc do destylacji zbożówek i owocówek to ciekawy jestem jak czysty alkohol mogę uzyskać. Jednocześnie w niedługim czasie będę miał kolumnę puszkową, ale CD kusi.

    I can not translate this. What is this language please?

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  • HMMM he said something like "Yo Mama is so fat..." couldn't get the rest ....

    :)) :)) :)) :)) :)) :))

  • Tell me, when five or six shelves 4 "CD that I can get the alcohol concentration in the CD? Assume the correct operation of the process. Though construction of the CD would be used for distillation zbożówek and owocówek it, I'm curious how I can get pure alcohol. Meanwhile, in the near future I will have a column canning, but the CD is tempting.

    So he read post :) With momentum written in Polish, ehhh

  • edited November 2013

    @FullySilenced said: HMMM he said something like "Yo Mama is so fat..." couldn't get the rest ....

    :)) :)) :)) :)) :)) :))

    You used to be such a nice young man.

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  • Dayamn!

    Nicely done, fine sir. Real nice rig.

    That kinda makes me want to make a down-side that spirals around the whole column to center the gravity. Silly, I know. But I don't get paid enough to be serious.

  • Tell me, when five or six shelves 4 "as you can get alcohol concentration [%] in the CD: Let's correct the process. Though shelving column would be used for the distillation of grain and fruit, I am curious as to how I can get pure alcohol. Meanwhile, in the near future I will have canned the head to the column, but the plate is tempting.

    phew, that now it is correctly written?

    ps I'm glad I was amused Polish letters :)

  • edited November 2013

    Unfortunately Polish online-translates nearly as poorly as Russian.

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  • I've already patched :) for the future must be more careful to not kill anyone laugh. I'm confused writing from my phone;/ Returning to the subject, is there a table that lists how alcohol is [%] given by the number of shelves? Although I would have preferred examples of user experience.

  • edited November 2013

    So many variables to to determine without some pre fixed inputs @Pretender. It is entirely possible to pull 95 with minimal plates but collection speeds are greatly reduced Can you be more specific.

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  • I can see a lot more of these rigs in the future. Funny that the CD is fairly close to a Dash as a 4 plate rig, but the more plates you add the better value you get.

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  • @punkin said: I can see a lot more of these rigs in the future. Funny that the CD is fairly close to a Dash as a 4 plate rig, but the more plates you add the better value you get.

    +1 Just had that very same discussion with Ari and another customer.

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  • Yea so far i see nothing inferior with the CD comparing it to the dash units.... One of these is in my future for sure. What kind of pricing is on the 8" CD units?

    Also, with all of the Perf plate/bubble cap conversations going on I feel that there will be some bias towards the bubble plates due to their availability but a poll containing preferred style, switched from to go to "x" style, plan to try "x" style in the future poll would be very interesting. Just a thought

  • @Cambo, bubble caps are more forgiving over a broader range of boiler power than perf plates but perf plates are a lot cheaper than bubble cap plates.

    6" CD is in development now, will keep everyone posted with the progress, but it will take a few months before they can be supplied to the distribution channel.

    After then, we may explore the 3" and even the 5" size perhaps. Thinking that my limited electric can power a 5" so it may be the optimum size for me.

  • @Lloyd said> even the 5" size perhaps. Thinking that my limited electric can power a 5" so it may be the optimum size for me.

    :)) :))

  • @Myles said: :)) :))

    No, really, @Myles. With a total of 6kW at my disposal I have much more than needed for a 4" bubble column but not quite enough for a 6".
    I've ordered a 5" sight tower to be made as there are none available anywhere so this should be an interesting personal project. A 5" will add 2 more caps to the plate for about 28% more production than a 4" (I think). So instead of the comfortable 3.1 to 3.3 L/H with a 4" I should be easily pulling 4+ L/H of consistant quality from a 5".
    It will take a few months to find out.
    Of course it adds another layer of fittings and adapters by dabbling in 5".

  • I am in the same boat as you Lloyd.

    I have 6kW and my column (although hexagonal) is the equivalent in area to a 5". It is actually 5.35 but it is close enough.

    It started life as a 6" but after reading the reports from the folks on here that run 6's I decided it was too much. So I re-calculated and decided that I should be able to manage a 5" on a 100 litre keg boiler. :)

    I will be running mine with 6 of your caps and 1 downcommer per plate.

  • I'm hoping to get 7 caps and 1 downcomer on the 5" plate but won't know until the parts begin to arrive. Planning to put this on my new 70L boiler that should be ready around January.

  • It's a luxury you can afford when you can put in a new product line just to suit your personal needs :))

    But seriously i think 5 " will be just that bit more manageble for hobby size than a 6" which i don't believe is workable on a keg boiler.

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  • @punkin said: It's a luxury you can afford when you can put in a new product line just to suit your personal needs :))

    Perks of being the boss :))

    I think the 5" is going to be a very popular choice for the home distiller. It makes sense when you look at power requirements, circuits etc. It may not be an issue for gas heated operators but for those using electric I think it is spot on.

    @Lloyd - I looked at the suggested 7 cap configuration using both a central downcommer and a downcommer in an outer ring of caps. To me it looks like the spacing is a bit tight - but you might have a different configuration in mind.

  • edited November 2013

    image

    Using a 4 and 6 inch bubble plate I drew a circle between them since we have no 5" samples of anything yet and arranged the caps as shown.

    image

    Just having a 5" ferrule in hand would simplify the layout but hopefully in a few days it will arrive.

    bubble_caps_layout.jpg
    800 x 600 - 54K
    5inch_bubble_caps_layout.jpg
    800 x 600 - 52K
  • @Pretender said: I am curious as to how I can get pure alcohol.

    This is a link for information regarding plates and purity. Maybe it will help.

    Ethanol/Water Distillation Equalibrium Demonstration

    Only wish the graph would show more details in the upper end of the spectrum.

  • I thank for the link, much of interesting information. I still have a question, whether somebody applied caps 22 mm in column 4 ''? In CD 4 '' is 6 caps, however caps put 22 mm in order to oneself 8 pieces. Only will such a structure be good? Riser of 10 mm inside diameter?

  • I so love the look of the CD, almost have SWMBO convinced one would make a great combined christmas and birthday present. After repeatedly watching the vides of the plates loading I noticed gas escaping from the screw in the top of each bubble cap, would it not be better for it to seal, I know it's not much but with multiple caps on multiple plates it way make a difference.

  • We used to have washers under there but the quality of the stainless we were recieving was not up to scratch so the washers were deleted. Could easily be done with some 316 washers or even some punched from teflon sheet.

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  • edited December 2013

    @what said: After repeatedly watching the vides of the plates loading I noticed gas escaping from the screw in the top of each bubble cap, would it not be better for it to seal, I know it's not much but with multiple caps on multiple plates it way make a difference.

    Great topic this is, @what. First know that I avoid tightening my caps fully because I tend to recycle my parts over many different setups so that would explain some of the bubbling. I allow just less than 1mm compression between the cap and riser and if I crank it down tight every time it would not fully tighten in the future unless I reshaped the cap.
    And I actually do have a tool to reshape the caps to get that ~1mm back if needed.

    image

    One whack with the wooden mallet and done.

    Also, the cooler reflux will hit the much warmer lower plates and some of what you see is the normal flashing back into vapor. The warmest part of the plate will be the tops of the bubble caps because they are above the fluid bed.
    Either way I see this as just more bubbles :)
    To insure an airtight seal would be easy with just a wrap of teflon tape on the screw, a tiny o-ring or a very small silicone washer.
    That's the great thing about the Crystal Dragon, it lets you see everything.

    Like Punkin mentioned, we tried using a lockwasher and that was a failure. The compression stress on the stainless lockwasher made it discolor after only a few runs. Folks who really understand stainless steel were telling us that this was normal but others jumped on us with clubs in hand so we eliminated the lockwasher. The split in the washer was also a natural place for the vapor to escape.

    I don't feel the need for a perfect seal here but its easy to do for anyone that wants it airtight.

    caps_reshaping_tool.jpg
    800 x 450 - 41K
  • Ok, that explains the marks on the caps in my bubble-ball :-) Always wondered what those come frome.

  • Cool Lloyd I knew you would be onto it. I know the 6" CD is in the pipeline but have you considered a 6>4 reducer/adapter so I can use a couple of 6" CD sections under my 4" CD :D

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