StillSmart Home distillation made easy! 2014-10-02T16:13:55+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/feed.php?f=15&t=3063 2014-10-02T16:13:55+00:00 2014-10-02T16:13:55+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=21322#p21322 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]> Statistics: Posted by ant — Thu Oct 02, 2014 4:13 pm


]]>
2014-10-02T15:44:07+00:00 2014-10-02T15:44:07+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=21318#p21318 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]>
It's now been assigned to one of our mash boilers so it's not a complete loss.

Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:44 pm


]]>
2014-10-02T13:53:39+00:00 2014-10-02T13:53:39+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=21308#p21308 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]>
It is not that different from using the still head temp control of the heaters.

So how has that worked out over time?

Statistics: Posted by ant — Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:53 pm


]]>
2014-07-21T10:02:55+00:00 2014-07-21T10:02:55+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=20109#p20109 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]> TA7-SNR Controller + 25A SSR + PT100 Probe
(3 items sold as a bundle) £29.99

Extension Lead £6.80

Waterproof Box £7.99

Glands X 2 £7.78

XLR Chassis Socket £3.19

XLR Plug £3.19

Heat Sink £6.51

Switch £0.40

Total £65.85

Now the first run.
The intention of this project was to gain a better control of the heat source.
This is how it went,
We found firstly that we needed a wash temperature of 195 F to get sufficient energy to move the vapour to the top of a 1000mm column with no packing and no coolant water in the column. At 190 F we had total reflux just short of the top.

With temperature then up to 198 F we had a steady run for quite a bit of Heads.

We continued tweaking The temperature in 1 degree steps to see if we could calculate where the three basic cuts would come.

Throughout we collected the product 100 ml at a time, smelling and tasting each one.

We stopped at 35% ABV and we were using a temperature of 206 F in the boiler.

When each of the set temperatures were reached and heating levelled out consumption was reduced to 8% at the lower temperatures and by 30% to 50% at the higher ones. The full load of the element is 1400 Watts.

We now think that we can set 3 predetermined temperatures to complete a run which would give us approximate indications of cuts. We would still continue our normal practice of collecting in 250 ml flasks for tasting and blending.

I think we have achieved a significant reduction in electricity consumption which was the ultimate aim.

Hopefully some of this makes sense. Comments would be appreciated.

Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:02 am


]]>
2014-07-19T18:27:05+00:00 2014-07-19T18:27:05+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=20071#p20071 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]> We are not trying to control the boil temperature as such, what we are doing is setting a temperature which will then control the amount of power going into the element at that point in time. As the alcohol comes off we are then altering the set temperature on the controller in set stages. These stages are governed by the flow of the product we are seeing and what is happening on the dial thermometer in the vapour stream leaving the head.

Now for some quick photo's

The first photo is the connections on the back of the controller if you are doing this with a PT100 temperature probe you need to tie 10 and 11 together the single coloured wire on the probe goes to 10 with the remaining two common coloured wires going to 12 and 13.

Image

The completed box with leads switch etc, longer term we will also add an audible alarm option

Image

XLR Plug attached to end of PT100 Thermocouple

Image

XLR Socket in side of case for Thermocouple

Image

SSR 25A Relay to control heating element

Image

Temperature reading from probe (PV Process Value) against Target Value (SV Service Value)

Image

Duty Cycle displayed in SV location against PV reading, so in the image the element would be powered at 100% for 58.1% of the time (eg 5.8 seconds in every 10 second, although the controller and SSR switch at a higher rate than this)

Image

Thanks for looking, we have also completed a run with the new controller which we will post as part of the cornflake thread.

Regards
Opus and Son

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:27 pm


]]>
2014-07-19T17:21:17+00:00 2014-07-19T17:21:17+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=20067#p20067 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]>
The wash will boil at a temperature dependant on how much water, alcohol, and hundreds of other compounds are in the solution. This will constantly change as you remove more of the alcohol and other compounds as you distil.
So the wash will initial boil at a lower temp, then will rise as the distillation progresses getting closer to 100oC.

Think about it this way, If you have a pan of water on a small camping stove and bring it to the boil, it boils at 100oC, if you stick a 5KW element into it, it still boils at 100oC, putting more power in or controlling how much power you put in does not change the temp that the liquid boils at.

Maybe I have picked you up wrong, can you elaborate more on your project.

Statistics: Posted by Capt-Cudellez — Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:21 pm


]]>
2014-07-18T20:45:19+00:00 2014-07-18T20:45:19+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=20046#p20046 <![CDATA[Re: Temperature control (Next Project)]]>

Statistics: Posted by Icefever — Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:45 pm


]]>
2014-07-18T17:53:52+00:00 2014-07-18T17:53:52+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3063&p=20045#p20045 <![CDATA[Temperature control (Next Project)]]>
Opus

Image

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:53 pm


]]>