DIY Distillation Columns - Page 3

 

In article
<ctjfk5teg4hb67mfju42glaluuk22ih4ho@4ax.
com>,
 wrote:


Once upon a time some 30+ years ago,
when I was doing the alternative energy
thing (mostly educating campus folks and
nearby farmers) we were heavy into the
notion of farmer alcohol production.
Somewhere in the process I uncovered
information on a farmer in I believe
Minnesota who was doing the freezing
thing. I don't know the efficiency or
anything else about it, but the notion
has always stuck in my head.

I can't address the bacteria problem
except to think that keeping the process
as sterile as possible should help, but
I really would like to see what kind of
numbers you come up with

 

Malcom,

I started of cheesy spread-sheet this morning to take a rough look at
heat energy savings and came up with an initial heat saving of ~250%,
that number is NOT correct, but is large enough to push it some more.

I'll post the sheet out here so everyone can beat it up when it's
done; the question remains, will the heat savings outweigh the need
for a larger crop to compensate sugar lost to bacteria in the wait for
freezing ambient temperatures?

The bacteria I'm referring to is present in the feedstock, the
bacteria that cause stuff to rot, and generally starts on sugars
first.

That answer should be easy to get with few experiments though.

Curbie

 

In article
<0khhk5p5r4801oi99hhe1dp8br4sv2e0cu@4ax.
com>,
 wrote:


Thanks for the update.

Is there no reasonable solution to the
bacteria problem? I'm thinking anaerobic
storage or even freezing (which of
course has a big energy hit). Or maybe a
simple bactericide.

 

Malcom,

I think the first question that needs an answer is "how big of problem
is there?", I think only then will I be able to weight the rough cost
of any particular solution, and then the total effectiveness of the
freezing concept.

Curbie

 


To put the difficulty in perspective:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshine