We make a distillation column with our own hands - step by step instructions. Do-it-yourself reinforcing column: what and how to do it correctly Film column with reinforcement instructions

You can often find such a thing as moonshine stills with a reinforcing column. What actually is such a column and what is it for? A strengthening column for a moonshine is sometimes also called a distillation column by some manufacturers. However, these two concepts are far from corresponding to each other, although the basic principle of separating liquids into components is used in both.

Reinforcing column for moonshine

It is obvious that the strengthening column is not suitable for obtaining rectified alcohol, for this it is necessary to have a rectifying column, and the strengthening column has a slightly different purpose. In order to fully understand this concept, it should also be noted that sometimes it is called a beer column, or tsarga, and is used to get a stronger drink, up to 85%.

The principle of operation of the king is very simple. Steam leaves the cube through the column and cools, partially condenses on its walls and enters the cube. The more water-saturated part of the steam, which contains a large amount of fusel oils, condenses and flows down, because their boiling point is higher. The lighter fraction flies upward and enters further into the dry steamer, or coil. Thus, the output product is stronger, with a lower concentration of fusel oils.

The larger the tsarga, the higher the strengthening, but the lower the efficiency of the apparatus. Therefore, the height should be within reasonable limits. It is believed that it should be no more than 90 centimeters, but there are nuances in this matter.

The need for a column

The length of the washer column must be clearly defined. She is responsible for the frequency of purification of the final product. For example, a 15cm length gives 20x cleaning, while a 35cm length gives 50x cleaning. The longer it is, the more slowly the process of fraction separation will proceed, and as a result there will be less impurities at the output and a higher strength of the drink.

An excellent product can also be obtained with a standard length of 15–35 cm. But in order to use such a drawstring, it is necessary to clean the product with potassium permanganate or coal. If you want to get a high alcohol content, more than 90%, after the first distillation, then you will need to purchase a distillation column, because the usual one will not give such an effect.

What requirements should the king meet?

• It must have a height of at least 50 diameters of the width. Although this, of course, depends entirely on the desire of the moonshiner and on what kind of product is needed at the output. How clean should it be and what should be its fortress. A reinforcing column with a height of less than 30 diameters does not make sense, since its effectiveness will be very low.
• The drawer must also have a controlled dephlegmator. Its design can be any, made on the basis of a dimroth, a shirt or something else. It does not matter. The main thing is that it completely extinguishes the power that is planned to be supplied. There can be several of them, for example, primary and secondary. This structure allows for more stable operation.
• The reflux condenser must have a finely adjustable cooling capacity. To do this, you need a tap that allows you to dose the flow of water. It is better that it be needle-shaped; ball-shaped ones are not suitable for this purpose. If you choose from the available options in the domestic environment, then the most suitable is a faucet for a heating radiator.
• A thermometer must be installed before entering the condenser. This is necessary for columns that operate on the principle of steam extraction. If a film column is used, and a liquid withdrawal reflux condenser, then the installation of the thermometer is determined by the design.
• It must have a refrigerator that would be able to cool all the steam supplied to it. Liquid sampling columns also require a refrigerator to cool the product.
• The water supply of the reflux condenser and the refrigerator are carried out separately.
• Tubes for hot water and the product only silicone is allowed, PVC is allowed on the cold water supply.

Column device

First you need to define what it is. This is a structural unit that allows you to clean moonshine from impurities. When the drawer is installed on the moonshine, the output is almost pure alcohol. The process of making moonshine is the heat exchange of alcohol-containing vapors and condensate, which leads to the fact that the product is cleaned 10-15 times better.

Purification of alcohol occurs when there is a flow of steam from alembic and flowing condensate at the head of the column. The selection of alcohol is carried out only from the liquid phase.

If the steam is not refluxed, heat exchange is impossible and the separation of alcohol from other substances will not occur. In order to feed the phlegm, a dephlegmator is needed. After it, a condenser is placed, which is a hollow part of the tube, where the liquid is cooled to a certain temperature. Along with the reflux condenser, air vents, the so-called alcohol traps, were to be installed, which draw out substandard alcohol and bring gases out.

Since alcohol in this case is collected in the liquid phase, a small refrigeration unit is enough for its next cooling. The main difference between the tsarga intended for rectification and the usual one is that the process of reflux is very slow. At this time, the constant heat exchange of vapor and liquid provides a better separation into fractions, a cleaner product.

There are many requirements for making a column. To simplify the design, many depart from them. What causes violations and deviations?

• Among such deviations, one can single out a reflux condenser, which can be uncontrollable. Such a beer column was installed in the Malyutka device, where controllability was abolished in order to make the apparatus more compact, and the dephlegmator and condenser were a single container to which running water was connected. Such a scheme does not allow to regulate the process with the help of a reflux condenser, so the separation is worse.
• Another deviation is the low utilization capacity of the dephlegmator. There are such devices where everything seems to be present, but the dephlegmator is so low-powered that it does not allow for a normal separation. One gets the impression that the manufacturers of these devices absolutely do not understand why a reinforcing column is needed and make its presence useless.
• Small column height. The low height usually allows you to make the device compact and allow installation on a gas stove if there is a hood above it and so on. However, in this case, the separation will be much worse and this must be understood immediately. It can be said that the re-distillation will be more efficient than such a strengthening column.

Thus, it should be emphasized that many additional devices to the moonshine still make sense, including the strengthening column. It allows you to get a much purer product and do it in a double distillation. This cannot be obtained on a conventional moonshine still without being left with a large amount of fusel oils and other harmful impurities. It is easy to make such a column on your own, its design does not present such difficulties as a distillation one. However, it does not produce rectified alcohol at the output. But the distilled product on a moonshine still with a strengthening column will have its original aroma and taste, for example, when prepared from fruit or grain raw materials.

Analyzing the search engine queries that get visitors to my blog, I came to the conclusion that the essence of the work of the reflux condenser and the film column itself is not fully understood by everyone. Accordingly, the difference from a conventional apparatus on the one hand and from the recolonna on the other.

Let's try to understand in more detail what is the matter here. Let's start with terms. As Wikipedia tells us:

Rectification(from Latin rectus - direct and facio - I do) - this is the process of separating binary or multicomponent mixtures due to countercurrent mass and heat exchange between vapor and liquid. Rectification can be carried out periodically or continuously. Rectification is carried out in tower column apparatus equipped with contact devices (plates or packing), distillation columns.

Distillation (lat. distillatio - dripping) - distillation, evaporation of a liquid, followed by cooling and condensation of vapors.

From a comparative analysis of these terms, it can be seen that in one case there is a direct passage of steam to the cooler / condenser (distillation), and in the second case, part of the condensed vapor returns as a liquid back, repeatedly / repeatedly reacts with the newly formed vapor (rectification) and only then goes to the condenser. The result of this multiple re-evaporation is a qualitative separation of the mixture into its constituent parts (and a significant strengthening of the product with a simultaneous decrease in overall performance). Those. as a result of rectification, we get a set of different products (alcohol, water, fusel oil separately), and as a result of distillation, a more or less homogeneous product (alcohol, water and fusel oil together). Let me remind you that the term "fusel oil" is collective and denotes a certain complex of substances and compounds that make up the distillates / rectified alcohol-containing raw materials in addition to water and alcohol itself (see). In addition to components that are harmful to health, the sivuha also contains flavoring components, the presence of which in the finished product is often welcomed.

Thus, the separator of the concepts of distillation and rectification is "countercurrent mass and heat exchange between vapor and liquid" . How and when does it occur? Or, otherwise:

What is a dephlegmator?The reflux condenser is essentially a refrigerator / condenser, which can be structurally made according to different schemes. Its main purpose is to condense part of the passing vapor flow into a liquid (which is called phlegm) and direct this liquid back into the cube against the vapor flow. When meeting with steam, phlegm heats up and all/partially turns back into steam. And again it condenses with a reflux condenser and again flows into a cube, and so on and so on. Here it is important to understand a number of conditions that maximize the benefits of such a design:

1. For the most efficient reevaporation, the thickness of the stream/reflux layer should be minimal and the area of ​​the stream should be maximum. Therefore, in hollow pipes, phlegm should flow down evenly in a thin layer along the inner wall of the pipe, forming a film - hence the name "film". If you use a column filled with any packing with a developed surface, you can significantly increase the contact area of ​​the phlegm enveloping the packing and the steam – hence the name “packed”

2. For the formation of a stable film, the pipe must stand strictly vertically - hence the "column". With even a slight inclination of the column, the phlegm tends to form a stream on one of the sides of the inner surface of the pipe and the film ceases to form.

3. The column (or rather, its part in which the contact of phlegm and steam is carried out) must have a height sufficient to stabilize the processes of heat and mass transfer of steam / phlegm. Not less than 50 diameters. Due to the stabilized heat and mass transfer and at a sufficient height of the column, a zone distribution of fractions according to the evaporation temperature (i.e., the actual separation) is formed in it. The lowest boiling fractions occupy the upper part of the column, as they reevaporate faster and easier, while the higher boiling fractions roll down. Accordingly, low-boiling ones are the first to be selected, and then the next in terms of boiling point, etc. We get a well-separated product, selected in different containers according to the boiling point.

Why are columns divided into beer and distillation?

Firstly, to obtain rectified alcohol (SR), the separation capacity of a film column is not enough - a packed column is needed.

Secondly, if mash is used as a raw material for a packed column, and not raw alcohol (SS) of the first direct-flow distillation, the packing will become dirty very quickly and stop working in the normal mode.

So it turns out that the beer column is film, and the distillation column is packed.

However, the dephlegmator is an integral part of both designs.

P.S. In the one I wrote later, there are illustrations showing how the jacketed reflux condenser of the film column works.

How to make a dephlegmator yourself to the beer column, you can see in paragraph 2 of the section.

As always, I welcome questions, comments and criticism.

The evolution from grandmother's serpentine to home distillation columns followed bizarre paths, spawning many dead-end branches and "monsters", but sometimes useful hybrid designs were developed. One of these devices was the beer column (BC), the popularity of which among home distillers is growing every year. However, such a device requires an understanding of the theoretical foundations and proper operation, otherwise the result will be disappointing.

The history of the appearance of the beer column

What did not suit the good old serpentine? First, poor performance. Secondly, even with fractional distillation, the distillate contains a significant amount of harmful impurities. Distillation column(RK) copes with these shortcomings, but has its own problems: expensive equipment, after rectification, the drink does not have the smell of the feedstock, and it still needs a distiller for the first distillation.

The advent of once-through and shell-and-tube refrigerators solved the performance problem. These designs of coolers made it possible to distill the mash into raw alcohol relatively quickly, and an empty pipe was added to the design to overcome splashing. So the distiller of the new generation has acquired a finished form.

The pipe served as a dry steamer - not allowing splashes from the cube, which are formed in wild phlegm, to fall into the selection. Such a distiller easily coped with any heating power available in everyday life. There was also a slight fortification of the product to reinforce this, as previously thought, useful property- a reflux condenser was used, which gave rise to a whole family of distillers with fortification, related by the common name: “mash column”.

Attention! The continuous beer column (NBK), despite the similar name, has a completely different purpose and principle of operation.

Film mash column

The main scheme was the BC with a shirt reflux condenser, shown in the figure.

Available materials, ease of manufacture and strengthening of moonshine up to 90-91% contributed to the growth in popularity of such a scheme. With operating experience, the main requirements were formulated.

A film mash column was considered good if:

• the diameter was 25-28 mm, and the height was 30 to 50 times the inner diameter;
• there was a sufficiently powerful and well-controlled dephlegmator capable of extinguishing the working heating power;
• there was a fine adjustment of the flow of cooling water to the dephlegmator using a needle valve;
• implemented a separate water supply to the refrigerator and dephlegmator;
• a thermometer is installed above the reflux condenser in the steam pipe;
• there was a sufficiently productive refrigerator to work with full heating power both in the second and in the first stage.

Working with the film column was not easy and required the owner's constant attention. During the first distillation, the reflux condenser was not turned on so as not to increase the boiling time of the mash, but during the second distillation, the reflux condenser was already working, making it possible to select the “heads” drop by drop and strengthen the “body” up to 90%. True, it was not always possible to achieve the intended goals with the help of a reflux condenser, then heating was used, which eventually became the main one for the BC. However, the product obtained as a result of distillation on film BC seemed to enthusiasts to be significantly better than moonshine after fractional distillation in a conventional apparatus.

Euphoria can be explained by the fact that the high strength masks the unpleasant smell of the drink. True, after dilution with water up to 40-45%, all the shortcomings of the distillate manifested themselves in full in a couple of days. Users consoled themselves with the fact that they did not seek to obtain alcohol, but wanted to drink well-purified moonshine with the aromas of the raw materials.

Film column disadvantages

"Strong does not mean clean"- this simple idea did not immediately capture the minds of moonshiners, but there were sensible skeptics who gave the product for analysis. The results were amazing: laboratory testing showed that the removal of impurities on this equipment is a myth.

Moreover, if the film column still somehow allowed to select the “heads”, then there was almost more fusel in the selection than in the feedstock. This made me think and understand how harmful impurities get into the selection, then determine the reasons and try to overcome them.

1. Sensitivity to water pressure. Even a slight decrease in the flow of water in the dephlegmator is enough for all intermediate harmful impurities accumulated in the pipe to instantly slip into the selection. It is enough to open the faucet in the bathroom or flush the toilet so that the water pressure in the system drops, and the drop-by-drop selection of “heads” turns into a vigorous stream.

Rational proposals fell like a cornucopia: stabilization with the help of pressure regulators, water supply through an intermediate tank under the ceiling or an aquarium pump, autonomous cooling systems, etc. In general, things that are very useful and applicable not only for BC.

It seemed that the problem was solved, but in addition to stabilizing the flow of the supplied water, it was also required to control the reflux ratio with its help, and this is very inconvenient due to the large inertia of the system.

2. Small holding and separating ability. Trying to fit coils or a couple of washcloths into the column improved things a bit, but not enough to solve the whole cleaning problem. As a result, the “heads” were selected carelessly, and even despite the drop-by-drop selection, the necessary esters responsible for aroma were also removed along with harmful substances.

Due to the inability to concentrate "heads" in the selection zone in in large numbers due to the practically absent holding capacity, it was necessary to select them in excess, losing a significant part of the alcohol. The transition to the selection of the "body" by increasing the heating power instantly sent intermediate impurities accumulated in the pipe to the selection.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that during the selection of the "body" the separation fell to 2-3 plates and could not hold up the sivukh. When the temperature in the cube approached 90-92 °C, if they did not switch to the selection of “tails” in time, the remains of the fusel oil flew into the receiving tank, leaving only water in the “tails”.

Even in the best samples of moonshine obtained on film columns, the content of fusel oils is at least 1-2 thousand mg per liter, more often much more. Due to the design features of the film BC, the distillate is unbalanced - with a clear skew chemical composition towards the sivuha.

The emergence of the modern brew column

The solution to the problem of cleaning from fusel oils matured quickly - you need to fill the drawer with a nozzle. As a result, the BK has turned into a mini RK (distillation column) with the same rules and equipment requirements. The differences remained only in the versatility of the design, which allows the use of BC for the distillation of mash. The traditional BC selection by steam is also used, although many distillers appreciated the convenience of liquid selection and installed it on their columns, while others began experiments with selection by steam to the dephlegmator.

After that, the BC in the classic form of a film column with a selection of steam above the dephlegmator solemnly marched to the museum of the history of moonshine, where it took a place of honor. You can object: "Full is for sale!". The answer is simple: you never know dealers and collectors of antiques who sell and bribe not only obsolete things, but also their fakes.

Requirements for a good mash column

In most cases, a modern BC has a column with a diameter of 40-50 mm and a height of 75 to 100 cm, as well as a cube of 20-30 liters, liquid extraction and automation. In general, this corresponds to the standards and requirements for the Republic of Kazakhstan, but the main thing remained for the beer column: the versatility of the design and the desire to obtain a well-purified distillate with the taste and aroma of the feedstock, which can be drunk immediately without a long correction-aging in oak barrels.

However, during operation, ordinary users had a problem: using standard rectification technologies during the distillation of mash, they received not the expected well-purified and fortified distillate, but dirty alcohol, which they called NDRF semi-contemptuously - under-rectified. It seemed that the evolution of the development of beer columns had reached a dead end.

Then BK fans began experiments on the use of low reflux numbers in the distillation of raw alcohol. Everything fell into place. Smaller volumes of still bulk and short sides, which do not allow pure alcohol to be obtained on the BC, have become a strong point for the production of distillate. The high side of the RK has a separating ability that is excessive for the distillate, cutting off not only the superfluous, but also the useful.

The low side of the BC made it possible to implement the technology of a balanced reduction in the concentration of all impurities in the product with the removal of some that are definitely not needed. This was facilitated by the use of larger nozzles. So, for 50 mm BC, SPN 4 x 4 x 0.28 is used instead of 3.5 x 3.5 x 0.25 in the Republic of Kazakhstan. For certain tasks, tray columns and copper rings as packings have proven themselves well, but this is a topic for a separate article.

How to work on the beer column

Beginners often complain that despite all their efforts, they get pure alcohol on the beer column, and not delicious drink. There is no universal technology, since many of the nuances of distillation depend on the design of the apparatus, however, following the basic rules, you can make a fragrant and well-purified distillate on the BC.

1. BC and RK are devices that implement heat and mass transfer technologies, so the requirements for preparing equipment for operation are almost the same for them. In order to confidently manage the reflux ratio during operation, you need: stable, controlled heating and cooling, as well as good thermal insulation of the cube and column.

2. Calculate the planned rate of "body" selection. We proceed from the fact that the reflux number should not exceed 2. For example, if the operating heating power for a 50 mm column is 1700 W, then approximately 4.93 x 1.7 = 8.3 liters of liquid per hour evaporate from the cube. We must take away a third, and return two-thirds with phlegm back to the column and cube. This means that the planned selection rate is 2.8 liters per hour, and the reflux ratio is (8.3 -2.8) / 2.8 = 2. Greater accuracy is not required.

3. A long and dull selection of “heads”, adopted during rectification, removes not only aldehydes, but also esters responsible for the aroma of the drink. Therefore, "heads" should be selected no more than 2-3% of the AC (absolute alcohol) in bulk. The rate should be approximately 25-300 ml/h (about 10% of the "body" withdrawal rate).

4. We set the starting speed of the “body” selection equal to the planned one (in our example, 2.8 l / h). And after the start of the selection, we adjust it so that the yield strength is 90-91% with a bulk strength of 40%.

No more speed change! By the end of the “body” selection, the speed will drop anyway, and the strength in the stream will decrease to 87-88% (with a residual strength of raw alcohol in a cube of 5%). The speed compared to rectification is enormous, but this is precisely what allows medium esters and a moderate portion of higher alcohols to pass into the receiving container. You need to finish the selection of the "body" at a bottom temperature of no higher than 95 ° C.

5. If we distill grain raw materials, then we select the “tails” fractionally (2-3 portions of 100-150 ml each) at a speed two to three times less than the starting one when selecting the “body”. "Tails" will go the next day for blending or for further processing in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The main thing is not to be afraid of a high selection rate: if you underestimate it, then the output will no longer be a good distillate, but poorly purified alcohol, which is quite suitable for a barrel - impurities are not completely removed, but only “slightly combed”, freed from excess fusel oil and aldehydes.

If the goal is a distillate for consumption without long exposure, then you can experiment with adjusting the reflux ratio, remembering that the higher the reflux ratio, the greater the degree of purification and approximation to alcohol.

For the distillation of sugar raw materials, only the maximum purification from all impurities and the distillation technology adopted in the Republic of Kazakhstan are suitable. If the volume of the bulk does not exceed 15-20 volumes of the packing in the column, this packing of the SPN is of the size corresponding to the diameter of the column, and the column itself is at least 1 meter high, there are chances to get quite decent alcohol on the BC from raw sugar alcohol.

P.S. Thanks for preparing the material for the article to the user from our forum.

Although most often this question sounds like “how does a reinforcing film column work?”, I deliberately did not separate film (wash) and packed (properly distillation) columns in the heading. The fact is that from a fundamental point of view, the essence of their work is the same. Let's start, though, by looking at the operation of a film column with steam extraction.

Let us take for consideration the section of the refluxing part of the column.

This shows the moment of operation of the column at the beginning of the process, when the full flow of cooling is supplied to the dephlegmator, and the heating power supplied to the cube is completely utilized. The column, as they say, works for itself. This means that the temperature of the liquid in the cube has already reached the boiling point corresponding to the alcohol content, but nothing passes for selection, since all the vapor is condensed by a reflux condenser and returned to the cube. For ease of understanding, we assume that the composition of the bottom liquid contains three fractions with boiling points, respectively, t 1 , t 2, and t 3 Ascending. Accordingly, fraction 1 boils earlier than fraction 2, and fraction 3 boils last.

The phlegm condensed on the inner surface of the reflux condenser at a certain height (in the zone where the vapor temperature is compared with the condensation temperature of a certain fraction) forms a film that evenly covers the surface of the pipe and flows down. Towards it, hot steam rises in the center of the column, which interacts with the film, gradually heating it. There comes a moment when the film begins to evaporate and joins the steam moving upward. This is called re-evaporation. Due to the inertness of thermal processes and for a number of other reasons, reevaporation has a certain range and occupies a certain space of the column surface. The illustration shows that fraction 1 re-evaporates in the range between t1 cond and t1 cond, occupying its part of the column surface. The same process occurs with fraction 2, and fraction 3 in this example is completely in the cube (it has the highest boiling and condensation temperature).

Having let the column work for ourselves, we proceed to the selection of the first fraction.

To do this, we reduce the flow of water through the reflux condenser until the moment when the point t1 cond goes beyond the reflux condenser. Fraction 1 will now condense in the main cooler. We can start picking her up.

If the boiling points of the fractions were noticeably different, and there were not many of them themselves (as in our example, which may prevent us from simulating such a situation, master master), then the selection would continue until the complete withdrawal of fraction 1, after which it would stop completely. In this case, fraction 2 would occupy a place in the column approximately similar to the place of fraction 1 in the first picture, and fraction 3 would move to the place of fraction 2.

At this point, we again reduce the cooling of the reflux condenser and begin to select fraction 2 to "complete victory". And so on, with all the stops. It is necessary to change the flow of water through the reflux condenser carefully, not forgetting the inertia of thermal processes and very accurately (this requires a thermometer after the reflux condenser and a needle valve for water).

All similar technological process illustrates such a concept as "separation". The more precise the adjustments, the larger the area of ​​contact between phlegm and steam, the higher the separating ability of the column. It is customary to talk about "plates". What it is? In industrial columns, the internal volume of the ascending part is filled with horizontal discs of complex shape with slots through which the phlegm flows. This design allows for a huge film surface area and good reevaporation. The more such disks, called "trays", the higher the separating power of the column. In industrial columns, the number of "trays" starts from 100. For comparison, packed columns have one "conventional plate" for every 2-10 cm of the height of the packed part (depends on the diameter, height and packing used, the difference in the used packing just determines how much you will receive conditional plates per meter of your column), and film plates per 20 cm of the phlegm-forming part (again, it depends on the state of the surface of the inner part of the column, the presence of a spiral in it, etc.). But this is ideal. So, calculate - in order to achieve the quality of separation of an industrial column, a packed column (operating on traditional packings) would have to have a height of 2-10m, which, of course, is unrealistic at home. However, industrial technology differs from “home” technology (selection, for example, can be done from any desired plate or from several at once, selecting different fractions) and industrialists do not use their full potential. In general, to obtain a high-quality (from the point of view of the “internal” GOST distiller) “alcohol-distillate”, 15-20 “conditional plates” are quite enough. Well, rectificate of satisfactory quality can be obtained on 50 plates (for the SPN nozzle, this is about 1 meter of the nozzle part), which is quite achievable at home

With division it seems understood. And what about strengthening? Yes, everything is simple. The fortress depends on the amount of water in the solution, and water is also one of the fractions. The better the factions are divided and selected, the greater the fortress. Those. in principle, subject to all technological “wisdom”, a stronger product is at the same time more pure. Although, in case of incorrect operating modes, only water can be taken away (I exaggerate, of course, but it is possible). Then we get a strong shmurdyak at the exit.

Brazhny columns are very common among lovers of strong drink. If you decide to make such a design yourself, then you need to familiarize yourself with the technology of work and find out what features the device should have.

Preparatory work

The best mash column should have a certain height. You can choose this parameter yourself, but ideally it should be 50 diameters. According to experts, this is not so important, the owner of the equipment himself must decide how strong the product will have, and also decide how good the separation will be. However, there is a certain objective criterion that determines the smallest height of the manufactured column. You must exclude the possibility of splashing. Based on this, mash columns are not made below 30 centimeters. Otherwise, the work will be inappropriate.

Work technology

In the manufacture of the described design, it must be equipped with a controlled dephlegmator. The design features of this item may vary depending on your preferences. The element can be created on the basis of a shirt or dimroth. The main condition is the fact that the dephlegmator must have the ability to extinguish the power that is planned to be supplied. This element can be installed not in one quantity, but in the quantity of 2 or 3. In this case, the element will be primary or secondary. Such a structure allows for more stable operation of the column. You must understand that such additions are possible only on high structures.

Work methodology

The beer columns must be able to adjust the cooling of the reflux condenser, this component must be sufficiently thin. To do this, stock up on a tap that will allow you to use the liquid as accurately as possible. Experts recommend using a needle variety, but the use of a ball valve should be abandoned, since it is completely unsuitable. If we consider the available household solutions, then the best option for carrying out these work on installing the adjustment will be a radiator faucet, which is used when installing the heating system.

You can prepare a drawing of the mash column yourself. The column must be provided with a place to install a thermometer, which is mounted in front of the condenser inlet. This statement is true for structures that will work according to the steam extraction scheme. If a liquid sampling reflux condenser is used on the film column, then the location of the thermometer will be determined by the specific design of the system. The beer columns are supplied with a condenser cooler, which will be responsible for condensing and cooling the supplied steam. If the design will have a liquid selection, then a refrigerator will be required, which will lower the temperature of the finished product.

It is important to take into account during manufacture that the liquid supply to the dephlegmator or to each of them, as well as to the refrigerator, must be carried out separately. The tubes that will be used to exit the refrigerator and dephlegmator must be used exclusively on the basis of silicone. This statement is true for hot water products. If we are talking about cold water, then you can use pipes based on polyvinyl chloride. The copper mash column should be manufactured taking into account the above technical requirements, which are suitable for different design solutions. However, you can not limit yourself and come up with your own modification. In this case, the main condition is what you will eventually be able to get into your drinks, which will have different qualities and organoleptic characteristics. However, in the end it will not be possible to obtain pure alcohol. The final product will not smell like moonshine, but it will not be pharmaceutical alcohol either. But for the preparation of vodka, this design is quite suitable, the master will be able to start making the basis for high-quality distillates.

Description of the manufacture of a column with a shirt reflux condenser

A continuous beer column can be made on the basis of a jacketed reflux condenser. To carry out the work, you will need copper tubes, the length of which should be 500, 2000, 1000 and 300 millimeters. Each of them should have dimensions of 28 x 1.22 x 1.1 x 1.8 x 1 millimeters, respectively. Among other things, you will need a two-pipe adapter in the amount of 2 pieces, another adapter should have slightly different parameters equal to 22 x 15 millimeters, 3 of these elements will be needed. The master must prepare a single-pipe corner, the dimensions of which are 22 millimeters. Work cannot be done without a tee, the dimensions of which are 15 millimeters. Be sure to take care of the presence of an adapter for a 1/2 inch external thread. You will need a 3/4" female adapter. The element will be required to attach to the cube, however other sizes may be available on a case-by-case basis. If you make a continuous beer column using the elements described above, you will be able to end up with a product with a maximum degree of 92.

Features of the manufacture of an air-cooled apparatus

A piece of copper pipe will go to make a coil. A coil of aluminum based wire will be used without insulation. You can use a computer cooler, superglue and a 500-watt boiler during the work. Power may be less impressive.

First you need to take a copper tube, bending it to connect to the body of the device. That part of this workpiece, which will go down, must be included in the spiral. should be wound on the tube from above, while leaving some distance between the turns. In order to reduce thermal resistance, the turns must be as tight as possible. This will increase the heat exchange area and the efficiency of the coil.

When a do-it-yourself beer column is made, the next step is to use any cone-shaped object, the diameter of which should be compared with the dimensions of the selected fan. On this item you need to wind a coil for moonshine. In this example, we will consider a regular beer bottle, the capacity of which is 0.5 liters. The coil must be bent in such a way that it evenly overlaps the fan section. The element must be tried on to the selected case and make sure that everything is in order. This completes the coil work.

Now it's time to move on to the lid of the apparatus. To do this, you can use a conventional polyethylene-based lid. The brass sleeve should be heated to half an inch, and then it can be fused into the polyethylene cap. The structure must cool, you can cool it in water. After the coupling is taken out, it should be cleaned of adhering polyethylene, the resulting burrs should be carefully cut off. A fluoroplastic tape must be wound around the coupling, without which the manufacture of a moonshine still is indispensable. Thus, you will be able to get something like a gasket. When a beer column is made with your own hands, the next step is to install the coupling in the hole made in advance in the lid. The PTFE should be between the sleeve and the cover. From the inside, tighten the nut without applying excessive force.

At the next stage, you can deal with the heating element of the entire apparatus. To do this, you can use a conventional boiler. Having retreated some distance from the end of the wire, so that it is enough to reach the device, you need to cut off a part, you will have to screw everything back after. The ends of the cord from the boiler must be threaded in such a way that when the lid is closed, the element is inside the body. After stripping the wires, they need to be connected back. It is important to take care of high-quality insulation.

The boiler should not touch the bottom, it is desirable that it be completely covered with liquid during operation. In the same hole through which the boiler cord passes, you need to insert the long end of the coil for the apparatus. The remaining gaps between the tube and the cord must be filled with pieces of cotton wool, making it tight enough. It is important to achieve the best sealing.

The resulting construction of cotton wool must be filled with superglue, which is made on a cyanoacrylic basis. This will allow you to get the most tight connection using composite materials. After the glue has hardened, you will be able to get a tight, strong connection. It remains to do something like a casing for a fan, so that the air washes the fins of the heat exchanger, represented by a coil.

Tetra-pak packaging can be used to make the casing. If you will be making a moonshine still, then you can use the technology presented in the article. From the package you need to cut a rectangle, the width of which will correspond to the dimensions of the fan. These elements will be used to glue the fan on 3 sides. On the fourth side, you need to bring the end of the coil to carry out the withdrawal of moonshine. In the remaining side wall, you need to make a hole for this part of the tube and glue it with the superglue used earlier. The walls can be glued together with adhesive tape. When it is made to ensure maximum safety, it should be covered with a transparent protective screen.

On this we can assume that the mash column is ready. You can use a computer power supply as a power source for the fan. To turn it on without using the motherboard, you need to close the black wire with the green one. Specialists use more compact 12 volt sources that you can find on your own.

Deviation from the above requirements

If you will be doing a mash column with your own hands, the drawings of which you must complete in advance, then it is important to think about deviations from the mentioned requirements. The main one is an uncontrolled dephlegmator. If we are talking about the "Baby" column, then uncontrollability is sacrificed for compactness. To do this, the condenser and dephlegmator are located in a single container with running water. If you decide to use this scheme, then it will not be possible to regulate the process by means of a reflux condenser, therefore, separation cannot be achieved. If you do the mash column with your own hands, you can borrow the drawings of this design from the article. It should also be remembered that the dephlegmator has a low utilization capacity. You may run into the problem of a small column height. Some craftsmen cannot refuse to place the structure on a gas stove under the hood. In this case, separation will be quite difficult to achieve, which is especially true for high columns.

The beer column "Rectifay" has established itself among lovers of strong drink. However, if you decide to manufacture such a design yourself, then it is best to use stainless steel-based parts. Futorki must be welded to the pipe, while on both sides of them there is an internal thread, to which the necks of the kegs are fixed. Using fluoroplastic, it is possible to machine a sleeve-sleeve, which will be supplied with a gasket for the clamp. All this will form a single whole. The “Baby” column must necessarily be supplied with insulating material, which is first cut along the length, then put on the pipe, on which it is glued. Put a dephlegmator stick on the top cover and fasten everything with a clamp clamp. The liquid will be fed into the tube through which the phlegm returns. A piece should be put on it to prevent splashing to the level of the upper plate.

Conclusion

If you cannot decide what you will make - a beer column, or then you can make the first of them. It is easier to manufacture, and will also allow you to immediately start preparing a strong drink. As an alternative solution, you can try to purchase this unit. Home craftsmen today sell them in completely different trim levels and at different prices. From the available range you will choose something for yourself.