Power Supply Question

Hi Folks

We've got a deposit down on our 200L SD boiler but I have some questions about power usage/run times. This set up is for gin production with two different options. Both would rely on immersion elements. Scenario 1 is that botanicals are placed in 200L water/spirit at 50% ABV. Vapour path would be via a dephlegmator, then condensers to product collector. The second set up replaces the dephlegmator with a gin basket kit.

Are any of wise folk able to shine some light on the basic equation I should be using to calculate the energy input required to collect a very short heads run, hearts of around 70L at circa 80% ABV, then tails for repurposing. Any guidance on type of element, power consumption etc greatly appreciated (we're creatives not scientists!).

Cheers

Comments

  • edited January 2016

    Camco has 5.5kW 240V elements. You can order them easy enough of Amazon. Some brew sites have them with a stainless base that prevents rust.

    Power consumption it's straight forward. Each element takes 24A.

    You want as much power possible to heat up. For your set-up it's going to have already over an hour. Here's a link to a calculator. Put the elements on SSR's or on/off switches.

    Why a deph but no plates?

  • Are you intending to put immersion elements directly into a 50% ABV boiler charge?

  • edited January 2016

    @Unsensibel, thanks for the info, will check out the link later.
    @Myles, yes that was the plan. In fact its marginally under 50%. Do you foresee an issue here related to flashpoints/combustion?

  • I see no problem with 50% with elements, if you run 5500W elements at full power, you will get some cavitation that sounds like little explosions, an agitator will solve this as well as lowering the power until you have some turbulence.

    If you have 200L and you want a basket that holds enough to do ~30g of product per liter, that is 6Kg, which is about 15-20 times bigger than the GB4, which can hold about 3-400g of juniper and corriander...

    You do not need plates for gin, you want your spirit that you place into the boiler to already be perfect (or better than perfect, as your version of perfect will shift as you get experience ;-) . and you want a full range of alcohol and water to go through the botanicals.

  • If your boiler charge is perfectly clean it should be ok. If you have any cuts left to do then you are better off staying below 40% due to tails solubility in high proof ethanol. There is also an energy efficiency issue but that may not be a major concern for you (the higher the ABV the more energy it takes to separate alcohol from water)

  • @CothermanDistilling said: I see no problem with 50% with elements, if you run 5500W elements at full power, you will get some cavitation that sounds like little explosions, an agitator will solve this as well as lowering the power until you have some turbulence....

    As alternative to an agitator, I'm re-circulating with a pump during heat up. Keeps it cheaper on the wallet. Make sure though that your hoses and seals can handle the ABV

  • @Unsensibel said: As alternative to an agitator, I'm re-circulating with a pump during heat up. Keeps it cheaper on the wallet. Make sure though that your hoses and seals can handle the ABV

    Thanks for remembering... and reminding me to buy some long 2" ferrules ;-)

  • edited January 2016

    Never heard heat induced bubbles of dissolved gasses called cavitation before.

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

  • @Unsensibel said: As alternative to an agitator, I'm re-circulating with a pump during heat up. Keeps it cheaper on the wallet. Make sure though that your hoses and seals can handle the ABV

    Recirculating could be an option. We have an air supply and could use a chemical/alcohol resistant flowjet pump to shift wash around. I'm guessing that output and input feeds should be positioned correspondingly low and high on the boiler and on a tangent with it to create a rotation of wash around the boiler (like a gentle whirlpool) and at different heights.

  • edited January 2016

    @CothermanDistilling said: I see no problem with 50% with elements, if you run 5500W elements at full power, you will get some cavitation that sounds like little explosions, an agitator will solve this as well as lowering the power until you have some turbulence.

    If you have 200L and you want a basket that holds enough to do ~30g of product per liter, that is 6Kg, which is about 15-20 times bigger than the GB4, which can hold about 3-400g of juniper and corriander...

    You do not need plates for gin, you want your spirit that you place into the boiler to already be perfect (or better than perfect, as your version of perfect will shift as you get experience ;-) . and you want a full range of alcohol and water to go through the botanicals.

    Looks like we may have to find another option for the basket although it is our intention to operate it on 50L boiler some hopefully its not totally redundant. The noises from the cavitation don't worry me too much more the fact that such a reaction can cause surface wear...I assume shortening the useful lifespan of the elements.

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