A distillation column is perhaps the best option for. This device will help you get rid of harmful impurities as much as possible and get a product that you yourself will enjoy drinking and won’t be embarrassed to treat to friends. Of course, a distillation column is not cheap, but you can make it yourself. The main thing in this matter is to take into account the experience of professionals.
The principle of operation of a distillation column is a continuous, repeating process of evaporation of heavy alcohol vapors and their condensation. The result is a product of the highest quality, with a strength of 93-95 degrees.
The best option for making moonshine is a rectification column
In general, the rectification process is carried out in several stages:
A continuous distillation column is mainly used in industrial settings, due to the fact that its use is accompanied by large thermal and quantitative losses.
The process of continuous rectification itself consists of multi-stage purification, and is characterized by several stages:
Thus, each subsequent cleaning receives the vapors remaining from the previous stage.
Distillate and rectified drink are two completely different drinks. Their significant difference is as follows:
This device will help get rid of harmful impurities.
Reference: It is important to remember that the distillate retains not only the aroma, but also many dangerous impurities. Therefore, to obtain a more or less safe product, it is necessary.
A device that carries out a single exchange between liquid and vapor. Thus, to obtain alcohol with a quality mark, about 30-35 such plates are needed.
A contact device that is used for the closest possible interaction between vapor and liquid. However, this result cannot be achieved with one or two plates, so there should be about 75-80 of them in the column.
Plates are mainly used in industrial production; when making alcohol yourself, attachments are used. They are made from twisted wire or stainless steel mesh. The principle of operation of the nozzle is the maximum interaction of the reflux flowing down the mesh with the steam that rises upward.
For the components of the distillation column, only chromium-nickel (stainless) food steel can be used. The length of the pipe (tsarge) must be at least 130 cm, its diameter - from 30 to 40 mm, the thickness of the pipe wall - 1-1.5 mm. To achieve maximum results, the dimensions of the nozzle should be 12-15 times smaller than the area of the drawer.
Only food grade steel is used for the components of the distillation column
For the heating system of the apparatus, it is possible to use a portable induction cooker or heating elements built into the distillation cube. Heating on a gas stove is excluded (it does not make it possible to regulate the heating process).
Column) is a device for the production of “under-rectified”, that is, strong and relatively pure moonshine. The resulting product is better than distillate, but does not reach the level of rectified product. You can read about its difference from a conventional moonshine and distillation apparatus here -.
Today we will consider the option of making a reinforcing column with our own hands. This work requires knowledge of its structure, and owning a welding machine and grinder. It is quite difficult to assemble something adequate from trash, but we will try to offer you the most budget-friendly and affordable option, which will yield a strong and relatively high-quality product.
There are not as many components as it might seem at first glance.
So how will we do solid column, then you will need a welding machine with electrodes and a grinder.
The design will not imply disassembly, and it will need to be washed directly with water.
Before starting work, I suggest studying the structure and operating principle of this device.
Did it most successfully Lucky on your Youtube channel. A lot of questions are closed in the comments, so also study this section.
Your base for the machine will probably not be the same as ours. For this reason, you will not be able to make an identical column, since your pipe and connection sizes will be different.
That's why we have prepared for you selection of drawings, which you can use to navigate while working. Choose the best option for yourself, assemble all the parts and you can get to work. The video will be presented below.
Drawing with dimensions and names of parts. 
Made of copper. 
With a drawer of 22 mm. 
Visual diagram.
It is very difficult to explain the practical part in words, so I suggest you watch 2 videos from the Youtube channel homemade PRODUCTION. These videos are considered the most popular, as they show a budget option for manufacturing a reinforcing column.
The whole process can be divided into several parts:
The result is a rather ugly, but working moonshine still. On it you can make moonshine with fortification, selecting most of the harmful fractions from the product.
If stainless steel does not suit you for some reason, then the only alternative would be copper. The device will be more expensive, more efficient and better. This material is difficult to care for, but the results are always fantastic.
I propose to study the operation diagram of a copper reinforcing column and understand its main components. The author will talk about those parts of which it consists, so after watching the video you will have an objective picture of how it can be done.
You can often come across such a concept as moonshine stills with a reinforcing column. What exactly is such a column and what is it for? The reinforcing column for a moonshine still is sometimes called rectification column by some manufacturers. However, these two concepts are far from consistent with each other, although the basic principle of separating liquids into their components is used in both.
Reinforcing column for moonshine still
Obviously, the strengthening column is not suitable for producing rectified alcohol; for this, a rectification column is needed, and the strengthening column has a slightly different purpose. In order to fully understand this concept, it is also necessary to note that sometimes it is called a mash column, or tsarga, and is used to obtain a stronger drink, up to 85%.
The principle of operation of the drawer is very simple. Through the column, steam leaves the cube and cools, partially condenses on its walls and enters the cube. The part of the steam that is more saturated with water, which contains a large amount of fusel oils, condenses and flows down because their boiling point is higher. The lighter fraction flies upward and falls further into the steam chamber, or coil. Thus, the resulting product is stronger, with a lower concentration of fusel oils.
The larger the drawer, the higher the strengthening, but the lower the efficiency of the device. 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 length of the mash column must be clearly established. It is responsible for the frequency of purification of the final product. For example, a 15 cm length gives 20 times cleaning, and a 35 cm length gives 50 times cleaning. The longer it is, the slower the process of separating the fractions will proceed, and as a result there will be fewer impurities in the output and a higher strength of the drink.
An excellent product can be obtained with a standard length of 15–35 cm. But to use such a drawer, you need to clean the product with potassium permanganate or charcoal. 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 a regular one will not give such an effect.
What requirements must the king meet?
First you need to define what it is. This is a structural unit that allows you to clean moonshine from foreign impurities. When installing a drawer on a moonshine still, the output is almost pure alcohol. The process of preparing moonshine is the heat exchange of alcohol-containing vapors and condensate, which leads to the fact that the product is purified 10–15 times better.
Purification of alcohol occurs when there is a flow of steam from the distillation cube and flowing condensate at the head of the column. Alcohol is collected only from the liquid phase.
If the steam is not fed by reflux, heat exchange is impossible and the separation of alcohol from other substances will not occur. In order to feed the reflux, a reflux condenser is needed. After it, a condenser is placed, which is a hollow part of a tube where the liquid is cooled to a certain temperature. Along with the reflux condenser, air vents, so-called alcohol traps, should be installed, which draw out substandard alcohol and remove gases to the outside.
Since the alcohol in this case is collected in the liquid phase, a small refrigeration unit is sufficient for its next cooling. The main difference between a drawer intended for rectification and a conventional one is that the reflux process is very slow. At this time, constant heat exchange between steam and liquid ensures better separation into fractions and a cleaner product.
There are many requirements for making a column. To simplify the design, many move away from them. What do violations and deviations lead to?
Thus, it should be emphasized that many additional devices to a moonshine still always make sense, including a reinforcing column. It allows you to get a much purer product and do it through double distillation. This cannot be achieved with a conventional moonshine still without being left with a large amount of fusel oils and other harmful impurities. It is not difficult to make such a column yourself; its design is not as complex as a rectification column. However, it does not produce rectified alcohol. But the distilled product in a moonshine still with a strengthening column will have its original aroma and taste, for example, when prepared from fruit or grain raw materials.
Hi all!
A couple of weeks ago I came across some very interesting equipment for moonshiners - mash column. It is also called a film column or a reinforced distiller. A distiller I know bought it and kindly offered to test this unit.
What is the result you ask? My colleague makes excellent 88-degree moonshine, and now I know what to answer to readers when they ask me “How to make strong moonshine.” Interested?
And so, in today’s article I will tell you what a mash column is, the principle of its operation and how to properly distill moonshine on it.
Now I will briefly tell you why a mash column is needed, and in the next chapter I will examine in more detail the principle of its operation.
So, a film column is equipment that allows you to produce very strong and pure moonshine. Up to 90 degrees! And at the same time, the equipment is quite simple in design and use, and its price is relatively low. It is installed directly on the distillation cube.
In appearance, the mash column resembles an ordinary one straight-through distiller. In fact, this is how it is, the only difference is that there is another refrigerator installed on the pipe rising from the cube. The so-called reflux condenser or partial condenser.
This is where the whole point lies. But more on that in the next chapter.
To make it more clear, I drew a simple diagram of the work.
So, as I already said, the column is placed directly on the distillation cube. The heated vapors of moonshine from the cube enter a partial (in Russian - partial) condenser. There, part of the vapor condenses and settles on the walls of the cooler, and the other part goes further.
That's why the first cooler is called partial, because it does not condense all the steam.
The liquid that settles on the walls of the cooler is called phlegm. Hence another name for the partial cooler - reflux condenser.
As you remember, moonshine consists of various impurities, which are conventionally divided into three main groups - “heads”, “body” and “tails”. The heads evaporate at a lower temperature than the other groups. The body is higher than the heads, and the tails are the highest boiling fraction. We drink, as we know, only the body, and cut off everything else. This distillation is called fractional.
So, when cooling the moonshine vapors in a reflux condenser, we separate them and pass on the lower boiling components, while everything else condenses on the walls of the cooler and flows back into the still as a film.
Hence the second name of the column - film.
In this case, the alcohol-containing steam rising in the drawer of the partial condenser constantly interacts with the phlegm flowing towards it. A process of heat and mass transfer occurs - the steam snatches low-boiling components from the reflux and gives it high-boiling ones (fusel oils and water). Hence such crazy strengthening - up to 90 degrees of the final product!
By adjusting the water supply to the temperature in the dephlegmator, we can quite efficiently divide the moonshine into fractions and cut off its unnecessary parts. To begin with, we set the temperature so that only the “heads” pass into the second cooler, and return the alcohol and everything else to the cube. And then we raise the temperature and drive out the alcohol, leaving “tails” in the phlegm.
But in order to clearly cut off the heads and tails and get pure and strong moonshine with the column, you need to work correctly. Fortunately, this is quite easy to learn.
Well, everything is simple here. Our column will only work as a distiller; a reflux condenser is not used. We supply water only to the second refrigerator and distill the mash into raw alcohol as quickly as possible. For those who don’t know why this is done, read the article double fractional distillation.
We begin to heat the cube. When the temperature in the cube approaches 75 degrees, we supply water to both coolers. Moreover, it is necessary to supply enough water to the reflux condenser so that the steam in it is completely condensed and does not enter the second cooler. Those. Nothing should flow into the receiving container.
This mode of work is called “self-employment.” It should last 25-30 minutes. During this time, the head fractions will concentrate in the tsarg.
Now, very carefully, we begin to reduce the water supply to the strengthening distiller until moonshine begins to drip from the second cooler at a rate of 2-3 drops per second. It is worth noting that the response time of the column to changes in water supply is quite long.
Therefore, it is necessary to pause between changes in the incoming parameters - slightly reduce the water and wait 30 seconds. Then look at the result and, if necessary, reduce it further. Or they added.
And so, at a speed of 2-3 drops per second, we select the heads. They are usually selected based on smell, but if your moonshine brewing experience does not yet allow you to do this, then use the standard proportion - 50 ml for every kilogram of sugar in the mash.
When we run out of heads, we change the container and begin selecting the body.
Slowly reduce the water supply to the reflux condenser. The moonshine starts to come out faster. The less water you supply, the faster the process begins. But at the same time, the strength and purity of the distillate decreases.
Here, choose for yourself - either faster at the expense of the degree of purification and degree, or stronger and cleaner, but longer.
A compromise solution, in my opinion, is the speed at which the moonshine flows in a thin stream.
Now it’s time to pay attention to the thermometer installed above the film column. At this moment, a certain temperature should be recorded on it. I can’t say which one you will have, because... it depends on the strength of your raw alcohol poured into the device.
But here's what you need to remember. If you have chosen the correct selection mode, then the temperature should remain at this level. If it grows, even very slowly (by 1-1.5 degrees), but constantly, then we are supplying too much heat and the moonshine is of poor quality. Therefore, we either increase the water supply or reduce the heating.
Now that we have adjusted the column and a stream of strong moonshine flows from the second direct flow, and the temperature of the alcohol-containing steam leaving the column is constant (fluctuates between 0.1-0.2 degrees), we select the body.
But after some time, the temperature still begins to increase - all because there is less alcohol in the cube. Then it is necessary to slightly increase the amount of water supplied to the reflux condenser. The temperature will return to its previous value, but the amount of moonshine coming out will decrease.
In this mode we select the body down to the tails. Experienced moonshiners will be prompted by their own nose. For beginners, I recommend moving on to tailings selection when the temperature in the cube (in the cube, not above the column!) rises to 93ºC.
If you are engaged in the selection of tailings, then simply turn off the water supply to the reflux condenser and squeeze out the residues as in normal distillation. Just in case, let me remind you that we collect the tails in a separate container.
Update: In February, I purchased my own film column HD/4-2500 PC produced by Samogon and Vodka. It has been slightly modified compared to the factory design - the reflux condenser has been insulated and needle valves have been installed to regulate the water supply.
I liked working on the film column. And the resulting product was also to my taste.
Let me list the advantages that I noted
In general, I drew conclusions for myself - for sugar moonshine, a mash column is required. And very desirable for fruit and berry production.
Such equipment allows us to produce a product of very high quality. Personally, I have already decided that I will order myself such a column. True, after the New Year holidays, when the family budget is restored.
Update: I finally bought the column in February. Her photo is in the previous section.
Bye everyone.
From the school course we know that the rectification process is the process of separating complex mixtures into components through repeated evaporation and condensation of the constituent parts. The results are ideally pure components, the temperatures of transitions to different states of aggregation of which are, accordingly, different.
This simple process is used in the production of gasoline, kerosene, pure oxygen and nitrogen. Rectification also helps separate fusel oils and aldehyde fractions to produce ethanol, or ethyl alcohol.
This process is carried out in distillation columns, the design of which allows the creation of a product with a purity of up to 96%. You can create a homemade moonshine still with straight hands, minimal knowledge of organic chemistry and the desire to enjoy high-quality alcohol of your own production.
Nowadays you can simply buy a rectification chamber, but we will go a different route. We will assemble a miniature distillery with our own hands.
From the name of the process that gave the column its name, it is clear that constant rectification occurs inside, and the column itself is made of materials that do not react with the components of the process.
The working liquid, mash infused with grain, berries, fruits, etc., is poured into the distillation cube. and bring to boiling temperature. As the working fluid boils, alcohol-containing vapor is released, which is lighter than the liquid and due to this rises up the pipe, where it cools.
Cooling, the heated steam falls into condensate on the walls of the column and rushes back into the distillation cube in the form of a liquid, but along the way it encounters a new portion of heated steam. Components whose boiling point is below the working fluid evaporate again, among such components is ethyl alcohol.
The essence of the process is that substances are distributed along a vertical column, in accordance with the level of their evaporation and condensation points. At approximately a height of 75% from the distillation cube, ethyl alcohol vapors are collected - a pipe is installed here to discharge these same vapors into the container with the final product.
Higher up the column, toxic volatile vapors of aldehydes and dimethyl ketone are concentrated and released into the atmosphere through an outlet pipe; below the formation of the concentration of ethyl spirit vapor, fusel oils and other fractions accumulate, whose boiling point exceeds the boiling point of ethanol.
