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The Dragon Breathes Fire

Its been a while coming but finally the gas firing is OK to go! Water commissioning run No.1 with gin basket in the line. 2 x 28 jet duckbilled burners. No problem getting up to temp!

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Comments

  • Nice.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited December 2015

    What's with the conical fermenter? That's the gin basket?

  • What is the heat up time with that pair of manifolds?

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • You mean liftoff time? The guys from SpaceX want their booster engine back....

  • Is there an exhaust? my experience is everything within a few feet gets way, way too hot..

    I have a professional brewer friend with a milk tank beer boil kettle that has a convex instead of concave bottom, and a jacket around it that is vented to the outside... it allows the drain to not be affected by the flame, and provides a path for exhaust gasses, I think the jacket has a spiral baffle to slow down the gasses...

    Not the greatest pics... he has one burner that looks similar to those two..

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  • Those flip flops are not OSHA compliant....

  • Look like regular work boots to me.

    Loving the beast @HurdleCreek , it looks fantastic. The conical gin basket looks just like i imagined it would when you were telling me about it.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • Grim's right, I've adapted the conical to be the gin basket. Its a bit of home brewer's bling - 304, clamp down lid & even came with 1.5" triclovers on the drain, racking point and head, 50Lt brim full. Was going to put vapour in through the racking point by the angle meant it would've needed a second condense drain. Instead used a T onto the drain point with a single condense back to the pot

    Cotherman, There's a 6" flue hiding behind the column. Comes out of a box tacked onto the skirt & straight up through the roof an a meter or so above it. Would've like a convex base but that was getting to complex. May look at some internal baffles at some point

  • How did you arrive at the elevation with which to set the tips of the jets away from the belly of the kettle?

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • edited December 2015

    @Smaug said: How did you arrive at the elevation with which to set the tips of the jets away from the belly of the kettle?

    Nothing very scientific. We built the frame using the steel frame the pot arrived on. Estimated the height we'd need before we saw the burners workin - made it higher rather than lower so we could cut it down if needed be. It seems to work.....

  • Thanks, I have had questions about the optimal height and just wondering how well your established elevation works.

    Would you say that your jet tips are perhaps 2" (50 mm) away from the belly?

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • The conical is the best idea yet towards a larger gin basket.

  • edited December 2015

    @grim said: What's with the conical fermenter? That's the gin basket?

    Vapour inlet to gin basket

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  • edited December 2015

    @CothermanDistilling said: Is there an exhaust?

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  • @grim said: Those flip flops are not OSHA compliant....

    Official work boots round here!

  • Are you on the book of faces as a distillery Simon? Can't find you under your distillation business name.

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • edited December 2015

    @punkin said: Are you on the book of faces as a distillery Simon? Can't find you under your distillation business name.

    I am but not the distillery yet - been waiting for photos of an operating still and artwork (still in progress). Probably get around to it in next week...

  • edited December 2015

    @Smaug said: Thanks, I have had questions about the optimal height and just wondering how well your established elevation works.

    Would you say that your jet tips are perhaps 2" (50 mm) away from the belly?

    Maybe closer to 80cm ~3" on the inside and 100cm 4" on the outer

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  • I'm surprised all the electroheads aren't going apeshit over your open flame!

    Those burners are awesome. I love applying high BTUs to metal like that. Does the boiler metal glow red, or do the flame defusers take care of that? Bet it sounds like a hot air balloon lifting off when you're heating up to temp.

    I'm more like I am now than I was before.

  • I bit my tongue.

  • Well as long gone as the skirting is done properly and there's good ventilation I'm happy, though I would totally use this as an excuse to build a sweet brick furnace around it... you're sure as shit not gonna find a steam or electric Charentaise.

  • edited December 2015

    @Kapea said: Does the boiler metal glow red, or do the flame defusers take care of that? Bet it sounds like a hot air balloon lifting off when you're heating up to temp.

    So long as there's enough liquid in the boiler nothing glows - haven't tried them with the boiler empty! The boiler guy who did the installation was more concerned about the skirt weld cracking due to differential expansion so min fill height it above the weld line. Have a couple of burns that testify to the heat in the skirt! The roar on full power is impressive.

  • @Kill_Devil_Spirit_Co said: Well as long gone as the skirting is done properly and there's good ventilation I'm happy, though I would totally use this as an excuse to build a sweet brick furnace around it... you're sure as shit not gonna find a steam or electric Charentaise.

    Lloyd and punkin designed the skirt. Its solid and a good air gap. We put in a 6" flue that draws well. May build a brick hearth in future but for now it will make mods to the burners or the boiler v difficult. Insulating the skirt and boiler sides with glass wool batts improves efficiency by about 20-25% so for now may have to design a removable fireblanket overcoat to put on it when the burners are running - maybe with a big SD logo on it

  • I see you figured out the double space thing Simon.

    Tell us about the agitator you had built in, have you tried it yet?

    StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

  • @punkin said: I see you figured out the double space thing Simon.

    Tell us about the agitator you had built in, have you tried it yet?

    If you look on the rhs of the boiler you'll see a tangential 1. 5" pipe about halfway up with a butterfly valve on of. . It works just like a brewery whirlpool except you pump out of the center of the dish (so no trub cone) and back in through the side entry. Keeps everything moving the same way as an agitator.

    Have tried it pumping through hoses with water but not with a hot wash yet. I've got a big centrifugal pump which makes it really spin if I open the outlet valve fully and some great new brewery hoses we picked up at Grays online from a craft brewery that ran out of finance before it got to brew. So it should be OK but never happy about pumping hot product around through hoses so will try to hard pipe it first if I can find the time...

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