StillSmart

Personally I leave the coil free and open, that way it cools more efficiently than if it were packed.

vino-tinto wrote:Personally I leave the coil free and open, that way it cools more efficiently than if it were packed.

So half shouldn't be a problem, just haven't got my head around the science of reflux and the packing. thnx

Reading through the above leads me to believe that the reasons people pack their column varies considerably. The primary reason for packing a column is to increase surface area. If you have a SS column, copper packing gives you the benefit of copper in the line.

The surface area provided by a mesh is so far greater than marbles, saddles or whatever. Increased surface area will allow for greater reflux. Reflux will lead to purity.

The column needs to be packed from top to bottom, but not mashed in there. You want the vapor to be able to move through the packed column. You don't want tight loose tight loose packing. Keep it as uniform as possible so you don't get turbulence in the column. The same with cold spots. Insulate the column.

Unless I am making a neutral for vodka or gin, I remove the all packing and do not use reflux at all. Reflux gives you a cleaner product, but that is not what you want in a rum or whiskey.

Configure your still for the product you intend to produce. For neutral I triple the length of my column and it is packed. I let it run for an hour until it has reached equilibrium before I take anything off. And then only very slowly so as to maintain equilibrium.

For rum, I use a short column with no packing and run it wide open.

Very interest, google shall help with equilibrium.

So maybe i should get some more copper saddles as its hard to pack scrubbers in the top section around the cooling coil, so many varying answers. I am only doing nuetrals so i want the best set up for those.

Best of luck with a google search for equilibrium.
As I understand it, here,in terms of reflux stills;-
It is the point at which the power supplied to your boiler,and the cooling power supplied to your column balance each other out.
i.e. You have vapour in the column,condensing and falling back down towards the boiler and not reaching the product condenser.

Robert.

@ EasyD: I didn't realize that equilibrium would be such a misunderstood factor. Perhaps it is one of the reasons why so many "distillers" need to carbon filter their product.

You state: i.e. You have vapour in the column, condensing and falling back down towards the boiler and not reaching the product condenser.

Almost correct - The vapor does reach the condenser. Necessary for it to fall down toward the boiler (a reflux still). This action of repeated trips up the column is what eventually gives you the cleanest possible product.


@Tasturbo: I have never used or even seen a T500. But it is a column still. To arrive at a good neutral, you will need to pack the majority of the column. As I said yesterday, the mesh is to maximize the surface area within the column but should not be packed so tight that the passage of vapor is restricted.

To be able to arrive at the highest possible ABV %, your still has to go through the process of achieving equilibrium. At that point, by very slowly drawing off the spirit and not disturbing equilibrium, you should be able to collect a very clean, 96% ABV product throughout the run.

Great info thanx, i have a better understaning of equlibruim now and will give it a go next week on my 3rd run.

My first and second runs did give me 94% so thats not to bad, just trying to learn some good practice.