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My StillDragon Activated Carbon Filter

I was reading Gert Strand's Activated Carbon book, and thought I'd go about constructing a filter using StillDragon parts.

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Admittedly, I had used my large TC pipe on the Dash 2 but had a spare home made 2" TC pipe to substitute.

It consists of the following parts from the top down: 4" to 2" reducer, a bit over 1m of 2" TC pipe (this holds approx. 1kg of Activated Carbon), 2" stainless plate/gasket combo with a 1/8" hole in the centre, 2" to 3/4" reducer, a 3/4 ballvalve and a 3/4" x 1/2" ferrule to attach the silicon hose.

The 4" to 2" reducer is basically the funnel. The TC pipe is filled with activated carbon, which is held into place with a stainless plate. This plate also serves as a gasket and drain hole for the purified alcohol. Below this, the 2" to 3/4" reducer is stuffed full of cotton balls to catch any stray particles of carbon.

I made the Filter stand from scrap s/s. It goes to prove that even though I haven't mastered Tig welding, it's amazing what a flapper disc and a retig can do.

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This is what I love about the SD parts. I can put them to use on something else, try another idea or join the hybrid community :)>-

I'm very happy with the performance of the filter, and it has polished it up nicely. There can be a time lag with increasing the effectiveness of your activated carbon, but I believe it's worth it.

I'm not sure if I can post the book here, or link to Gert's site?

I've been meaning to post this earlier, but SWMBO wanted Vinyl laid in the bathroom and the toilet - I spent a good couple of hours trying to get the adhesive cement of the walls, and removing the bloody air bubbles out from underneath it.... X( :))

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Comments

  • Can we get an image of the filter screen? Does it have a seal on it also ?

  • That will certainly work.

    This style might work better.

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  • +1 to you lloyd, its much much better to go from bottom to top with alcohol in activate carbon filter.. No "tubing" Cheers :ar!

  • They are both great designs. Philters will be better for those who use it occasionally, Lloyd's for those who use it regularly and can afford the benefits of leaving the filter full of vodka all the time.

    It would need a triclamp connection below the funnel so it could be swapped out with an endcap to avoid evaporation between uses.

    Looking forward to putting this line onto my site as a kit for those interested.

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

  • Not so much as a screen coops, but more like a blanking plate. I could add another small TC pipe section with a screen if required. The first pic below is the plate, and the second one is the 20 mesh. I think I grabbed 1 of each, and also a 40 mesh gasket. image image

    I did read about the commercials feeding from the bottom up, and would like to build one, but can't justify the extras just yet :)

    Having a cap would also stop the pesky flies too Punkin.

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  • Great job philter. your welding looks fine to me. A few questions If i may: - how would you describe the difference between filtered and non filtered product? - how long does it take to run a batch through? - do you run it at a slow drip output? - do you wash the carbon 1st? if so how - It went everywhere & stuck to everything when I last tried it...

    cheers crozdog

  • edited May 2013

    Hi Philter, really like the work you are doing.

    We've been working on a screen filter gasket for awhile with no results to show. The screen was just too fragile. Stronger/thicker screen mesh and the silicone wouldn't hold its shape very well to it. So we tried etching a SS disk and received this sample today.

    image

    (***Edited picture to add watermark)

    It's only 0.5mm thick but it's very strong. It fits just inside the ridge of a 2" gasket or maybe it could be inserted into the black envelope gasket you have pictured?

    2mm square holes on a 4mm grid gives 50% open area.

    Searched for a clamp funnel and they are simply too big and expensive for this project. Your reducer idea is far better. Yo could add a section of TC pipe to that to hold any volume that you wanted.

    Any idea how much a two inch carbon filter should produce in a day? It may be the case where less is better but just trying to get the idea.

    ***And posting links is certainly OK around here. Keep up the good work.

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  • i know this is abit OT but are you looking at getting those screen filter gaskets made to fit a 4" pipe? That would be real good for a packed section of 4"

  • Absolutely in 4". First we'll complete the 2", then begin and finish the 4" and finally the 3". I just feel that's the order of popularity based on the sales history of our other items. The quality and price of these just simply rock. 2" is expected to sell for $3 with it's custom gasket.

    The 3" might be able to be etched but I'm thinking the 4" will need to be laser cut because the material will need to be thicker.

    Punkin told me just today that a $3 SD filter/gasket will make a very low cost gin basket. I'm sure he's right.

  • Those screens will be very useful, I will certainly want some of the 2" ones.
    The only real issue I have with the carbon filtering when I tried it, was the terrible smell when you washed and dried it in the oven. SHMBO was really not impressed. Have you found a solution for cleaning and reactivating? I didn't try the steam method.

  • I just read Gert Strands eBook on carbon filtering. Thinking out loud if the new gin basket, if it ever is ready, would be handy for steam cleaning the carbon.

  • I like the filter plate.

    The filter fed from the bottom would be the best method. For a commercial distiller filtering larger quantitys. Like Harley. But for a home distiller it seams as though it would be a waste of product. By the time you add enough to it to get any out of it. You would have used about as much as the average home distiller would be filtering. So for the home distiller in the top out the bottom would be the more logical setup. Just my two nickles.

    And if you were going that route for home distillers. In the top out the bottom. I would think a few sections with an orifice plate between them would be nice. Something like the one posted earlier. So the flow is restricted. Giving longer contact time. Say 4 orifice plates in a 3' tall filter. Made up of 3 12" sections.

  • Screens LOOK AWESOME.... How small are the holes/// ie screen mesh? My estimate is that the holes are about .75mm in size or aprox. .030 inches? and you can etch thicker material as well i got a quote on etching holes in 1.5mm SS sheet and copper both... etch time i was told is about .001 per side per minute in ss sheeting so a .060 sheet would take aprox 30 minutes etch time ... the part i had quoted was 50 parts to the sheet so it was about 36 seconds per part to make them...

  • edited May 2013

    Hello, I will have 4 "stainless steel tube that is 1 meter long filled with the Active carbon and I've 6pc totalobliquely cut at the bottom with a 2" input there and a 4 "ferrules at the top, these will be connected in series so the total carbon bed becomes 6 meters ... and all spirits are purified from below and up ... I will also have so I can back flush the activation carbon from top and also re-activate it with steam from top ...

    I will clean between 200-300 liters at a time ... My 2" filter need to have so small hole as 0,5- to max1mm, befor all good activate carbon have a lot of small parts in it, here in Sweden....

    Cheers :ar!

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  • edited May 2013

    Wow, threads develop quickly when you're not looking :))

    @crozdog - I've only ran one batch of some semi-ok through and it polished up quite well. I want to put another through to test It properly. Before running a batch through, You firstly fill up the TC pipe with water, then pour in the carbon slowly. This removes the air pockets that form if you put the carbon in first. Once the water is drained and dripping, then you pour in your alcohol. The combination of the 1/8th hole and cotton wool slows the process down, but you will still need to throttle back the output. I run it at a pencil lead thickness ;). It's probably easier if I post the book with a link to Partyman's site. The book describes how to achieve 100% and 150% effectiveness out of your carbon, by washing it first with boiling water and letting it soak overnight etc. It still seems to have that static cling though, but not as bad. You have to wash ALL of the impurities out of it before using it.

  • edited May 2013

    @Lloyd - Your etched disk looks fantastic! I prefer your The gasket/mesh combo that I have are 5mm (1/64") thick and I did have trouble fitting & tightening the tri-clamp. I'll have to check the height differences with my mesh and solid plate. If you etched a thicker disk, I guess you could also bevel the edges for a larger size plate to fit the gasket?

    Did I read $3? Fark. For 3x mesh gaskets & 1x solid plate (with the 1/8) hole + freight was about AU$80. These 1/8th holes are bloody expensive!!!!

    The book doesn't really go into detail on how long the carbon zones last, but he recommends 1.5 m (5 feet) - 2.5 m (8.2 feet) high with a minimum of 38mm (1.5") wide pipe. I'd say you could filter a "large" amount of product in a day before the carbon is exhausted. "For a pipe holding 1.7L (0.45 gal), maximum purification occurs at 4 dl (400mL) per hour with 40mm (1.57") pipe and grain size 0.4 - 1.4mm (1/64 - 3/64") wide.

    I already have a SD 510mm TC pipe and did intend to use it for this purpose, but I'd have to climb a ladder instead of using a chair :-O

    Oops I just seen you read the book

  • edited May 2013

    @Myles - This is only my first run with a large filter. Thanks for the heads up on cleaning the carbon. I won't be cleaning it, instead opting for the bin. :-& It may be a waste, but I have to keep the little lady happy. The activated carbon I used was bought from my local HBS with no indication of grain size, grade or material - just distillers activated carbon. Do you have any more experience with the carbon?

  • edited May 2013

    @Prairiepiss - That's an excellent idea. Do you mean similar to the centre-ing rings used packed columns? At least you could change out section by section as the consumed zone travels lower, with the added benefit of reducing tunnelling.

  • edited May 2013

    @harley - You don't take small steps when you're making gear ;) 6 metres is huge.

    Will you also have some material to hold the carbon back where the 2" feed is (apart from your plate with very small holes)?

    I also read on a distilling forum somewhere, that because of oxygen exclusion in the pipe, pitting can develop? Have you heard of this?

  • edited May 2013

    Link to the Gert Strand's Website

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  • @Philter said: @ Lloyd - Your etched disk looks fantastic! .... Did I read $3? Fark. For 3x mesh gaskets & 1x solid plate (with the 1/8) hole + freight was about AU$80. These 1/8th holes are bloody expensive!!!!

    That's why Punkin and Larry have been pushing me to get these done. The first attempts failed yet we all knew the filter gaskets offered by others were overpriced and flimsy. Making good progress now and we expect that the other 'screen gasket' vendors will either lower their prices and raise their quality or bury their heads in the sand.

    Either way, the 2, 3 and 4" SD filter discs will be completed in a few weeks and available a few weeks after then. StillDragon will change the filter gasket world.

    Better, stronger, cheaper.

    I watermarked the picture because I'm wanting to see how long it takes before others try to copy us - I give it 6 months - and someone proclaims it was all his idea.

  • @Philter Yes sort of. I was thinking more of for restriction. Creating more contact time. Channeling could be a problem. That mite be avoided by using multiple smaller holes in the plate. But still enough to hold liquid above it. So really the top plate would need bigger holes in it then the ones under it. Hole size decreasing as you go down. So that each plate would be able to hold liquid. If all the plates had the same hole size. There wouldn't be any restriction past the first plate. And it would flow right through. But if the plate under the top had smaller holes you would get restriction again. So on and so forth down the column.

    And with 3 separate sections. They could be changed out at different times. I would think the top section would take the brunt of the filtering. So it could be changed out more often then the bottom one.

  • edited May 2013

    @Philter said: @ Harley - You don't take small steps when you're making gear ;) 6 metres is huge.

    Will you also have some material to hold the carbon back where the 2" feed is (apart from your plate with very small holes)?

    I also read on a distilling forum somewhere, that because of oxygen exclusion in the pipe, pitting can develop? Have you heard of this?

    Hey, I actually do not hear about it as you say, so if this happens then I see what I will do about it then.

    I have made ​​6pc 4 "1 meter and expect to start with 3pc to spirits and 3pc to clean incoming local water from chlorine-Klor, we have great good public water but there is a slight bit of chlorine (which bacterial cleaner) in there and this does not matter when I ferments, etc., but when I have to mix the whiskey and vodka to about 40% then I want to remove all chlorine.

    So I shall therefore only clean my water that I dilute with and this is allowed to stand and run-drip slowly overnight so I get together what I need.

    I intend to try it with only 2 "gasket with integral fine mesh, has got hold of these here in Sweden, but they were not free direct ... ridiculously expensive ...

    Arivate carbon is very cheap here in Sweden...

    Gert Strand is a swedish company and a have talk to them more than one time.... No problem with language directly ..

    Cheers :ar!

  • The book doesn't really go into detail on how long the carbon zones last, but he recommends 1.5 m (5 feet) - 2.5 m (8.2 feet) high with a minimum of 38mm (1.5") wide pipe. I'd say you could filter a "large" amount of product in a day before the carbon is exhausted. "For a pipe holding 1.7L (0.45 gal), maximum purification occurs at 4 dl (400L) per hour with 40mm (1.57") pipe and grain size 0.4 - 1.4mm (1/64 - 3/64") wide.

    Just to clear this up, a DL (decilitre) is 100ml or one tenth of a litre, so 4 dl would be 400ml/hr

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

  • Thank you Punkin. From the metric impaired. Or at least me.

  • If you are filtering top - down you don't need any orifice plates. You just fill the tube with vodka so there is a reserve above the top of the carbon and use a small valve on the bottom to set the flow rate.

    Start off with the enough "storage" quality vodka to saturate the carbon in the filter tube, and carefully pour the stuff you are going to filter on top of that. Once you have drawn off your "storage vodka" you change containers as the storage stuff gets put back into the filter at the end, to keep the carbon saturated.

  • Just a short hint:

    If you want to mention someone, leave out the space between the "@" and the username. Doing so will automatically link to that member's profile page, and that user gets notified that he has been mentioned. Once you write the "@" followed by at least 3 characters you get an auto-completion list with fitting member names to the right in the text entry box. Some nifty things that forum software is doing for us. ;)

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  • edited May 2013

    Here in Sweden so cleans almost all from the bottom up, we have done so for many years to avoid channeling and many have 2-3pc separate tubes filled with the Active carbon and then change to spot, last will be first .... and they put new carbon in the last tube before the next treatment, and many people have spirits standing in the pipes between purifications so the carbon is always wet .. etc. ..and is it too large holes in the metal filter then use almost all peopel "filter paper" ( gert stand have that) before the plastic or metal filter with too big hole in it... then it is no problem. Sweden is located in the vodka belt ...

    Cheers :ar!

  • edited May 2013

    @Moonshine - thanks for the handy tech hint :) I type, and click the name in the top right hand corner or just keep typing their name?

    @Lloyd - Good thinking on the use of your watermark. I'm glad you said "filter gasket world". Your gaskets will appeal to not only distilling, but to winemaking, softdrinks, food & Beveridge just to name a few. I reckon they'll try and copy your gasket in much less than 6 months...

    ps Can I put my name down to buy 2 of each please :D

    @Prairiepiss - Now I understand. Apparently, channelling is only a problem under 38mm pipe.

    @Harley - Thanks for the info ^:)^ Do you think Gert would mind me posting his book above? Is $20 per Kg comparable?

    @punkin - Shit, glad you picked that up. That is way slower than I ran mine. Can you edit my post above please? Done.

    @Myles - I prefer your idea rather than filling the tube with water first, then the product, and then water again to push the alcohol through. At least if required, there is always a "reserve" of purified product to "tap" into :)) I'll swap the ballvalve over to a needle valve.

  • @Philter said: Moonshine - thanks for the handy tech hint :) I type, and click the name in the top right hand corner or just keep typing their name?

    You can do both, as you like.

    BTW It's way easier for others to follow if you not just mention someone and answer to a previous comment, but use the "Quote" function which shows up to the left after each posting. Going back up the page you can click "Quote" on several comments and each gets added to your "Leave a Comment" box, making it possible to answer to multiple quoted comments in a single answer (look out for adding a blank line after each quote, otherwise your answer gets added to the quoted message).

    Our forum software has a lot of refinements, I'll just mention hints whenever I see something that can be optimized. ;)

    Your Place to be >>> www.StillDragon.org <<< Home of the StillDragon® Community Forum

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