Drug info - heat and moonshine

[Chunkz]

does anyone know how hot a stove can get? Also what kind of a simple heat source i could use to produce heat around 170degrees F?

[Buddah]

WEll most stoves can go 500+ and well idk what exactly u mean There are ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of things u could make get 170

[Senor Gribson]

a stove is perfect for alcohol distillation. open fires have even been known to work when necessary, although in such a case one would have to be careful not to burn their end product!

[schizo_frenic2007]

umm....doesnt alcohol evaporate at about 70 degrees C? distillation is incredibly dangerous, especially with an open flame! one leak in your tubing and youll have highly flammable gas floating around your kitchen with an OPEN FLAME. I dont think id risk it unless i REALLY knew wot i was doing and especially not with an open flame.

[Chunkz]

Soorry for not replying for some time!

Any wayz, "Buddah", thats great (500 F+), thanx!

& "Senor Gribson" thanx for the confidance dude

& "schizo frenic2007", really, its 70 D Celcius?, but whats the conversion to farenheight, because im used to degrees in F? Not to mention, i just skimmed online real quick for the Moonshine recipie, so im cant quite remember the actuall tempurature.

[schizo_frenic2007]

70 degrees C is about 158 Degrees F according to a conversion table online.

Just found this though, while searching online:

It's true that pure alcohol boils at 173ºF and pure water boils at 212ºF. But that doesn't mean that they behave independently when mixed; each affects the boiling temperature of the other. A mixture of alcohol and water will boil at a temperature that's somewhere between 173 and 212 degrees—closer to 212 if it's mostly water, closer to 173 if it's mostly alcohol,

there you go! Still though i would make sure you know what you are doing, get proper equipment and dont use an open flame.

[Chunkz]

Originally Posted by schizo_frenic2007

there you go! Still though i would make sure you know what you are doing, get proper equipment and dont use an open flame.

Swim thinks swim means

"there SWIM goES! Still though SWIM would make sure SWIM knows what HE'S doing, get proper equipment and dont use an open flame"

[Senor Gribson]

swim should have been more specific when he said open fires have been known to work, he was referring to the classic pot stills of old.
distilling with or anywhere near an open flame indoors, of course, is and always has been a big no-no.

[Chunkz]

Yea, it would be kind of dumb to use an open open flame. Electric stove sounds like a good idea though.

[fallson]

swim has a ss pot with a home made gasket system that seems to work of course he only uses it out side. fill channel of pot lid with rtv [room temp vulcanizing] silicone for aquariums then make a clamp with two square pieces of 3/8 plate metal and treaded rod to sandwich the lid to the pot. there needs to be a hole in the top to allow the colomn to come out of the lid.
he make good grappa with no explosions

[bcubed]

SWIM was bored, and decided to run the calculations out.

What SWIY needs is not just to heat the brewed solution, but to get a desired rate of collection of the condensate.

Suppose your goal is to collect 2L of distilled spirits every 15 minutes (8L/hr). Additionally, suppose you collect spirits at 120 proof (60% alcohol).

Vaporizing water requires 40.7 kJ/18g; ethanol requires 39.3kJ/46g. If you do the math, 8L of 60% alcohol in an hour requires roughly 10,507,000 joules/hr, or 2,918 J/sec (aka 2,918 watts). Add on another 25% for losses plus ernergy required to maintain temperature inside the boiler, and you have about 3,650 watts required.

WARNING! Don't just up the heat, and thus the vaporization rate, indefinitely. At some point, you'll be limited by your condensor's capacity to re-condense the ditillate. Running in excess of this rate will result in ethanol vapor coming out the end. Not only is this lost alcohol, but (in an enclosed place) these highly flammable vapors can collect until you wind up blowing youself up! MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EXCEED THE CAPACITY OF YOUR CONDENSOR!!!

[fnord]

IMHO if you run your still too hot you also end up geting a yeasty tasteing end product,and having to redistill it 2-3 times to get the taste out

[Swimster]

yea, a good idea is to slowly heat intill desired heat is reached, then neutralize stability of heat to the desired temp(like 173^0 F)

[fallson]

liquids will not get much hotter than the lowest boiling point of the mix when swiy have boiled off the tails the temp will jump up to methanol and on up the chemical line. obviously a person still need to watch your temps but the chemistry is cooperating with ones efforts to seperate the goodies from the stuff that makes it hard to see

[Swimster]

...Also, watch-out for the methanol that comes FIRST in
distillation! I don't believe that i have to explain why. (google)