Hi, I just joined the forum, and am building an Appleseed processor from a stripped down hot water heater. I've been researching bio for some months now, and have seen several people mention the use of a condenser to recover methanol, does anyone have any thoughts on the use of a condenser in line on an appleseed like in the GL processor? I would also welcome any suggestions or modifications that anyone has thought of for thier own appleseed that I could try on mine as I set it up.

my processor has a plumber's delight condenser on it.

I am on my second apple turnover with a plumbers delight.

sorry about my ignorance, but what's a plumber's delight?

Its a counterflow copper pipe condenser, (one pipe inside of another). You can find instructions on the build if you do a search on the GL 1 day process.

Here you go ....

http://www.graham-laming.com/bd/still/still.htm

Hope it helps.

Whoa Guys,
This is great! A lot simpler than what I had planned, I was going to make a refracting colomn with a coil style condenser attached to it. This seems to be a much easier build. It's great to have someone to ask questions about these things that have already tried them. Is there a specific advantage to this type of condenser that would make it superior to a coil type? or is the coil type just over-kill because of the lower condensing temp of methanol?

I use a small fountain pump to recirculate the water. When the water gets warm, I drain some off and add ice. The ice comes from the ice maker the night before....usually the ice maker is full.

How about using a heat exchanger with a recirculating pump, I actually have a small shop heater(Heat exchange unit) with a fan on the back that I planned on using in my set up, that way the water won't every get warm, not that I have much worry of that this time of the year. Think that will work?

I use the plumber's delight condenser on my appleseed as well. Works well.

I use the Legal Eagle condenser, but want to switch to the "Plumbers delight", because the copper tubing that i used for the condenser has too thin an ID and actually causes pressure buildup which, in turn, causes water vapor to be forced through....

[hI lazarus,

i'm in massachusetts as well, and assembling a gl processor for the first time. i've done the appleseed for a while, but nothing with controls or a meth reclaimer. I would really appreciate some advice/assistance. thanks a million

jamie
hudson ma

quote:

Originally posted by Lazerus:
Is there a specific advantage to this type of condenser that would make it superior to a coil type?

It's cheaper to make a 100% leak-proof tube-in-shell like the Plumbers Delight than a 100% leak-proof coil-in-shell, because you can use relatively small diameter copper shell securely soldered to the tube, versus PVC or other large-diameter shell that has to be glued/siliconed/otherwise attached with not-completely-perfect sealant. I suppose you could do a coil tube in a copper shell but it'd be expensive.


Of course, leaks in either are unlikely to affect your methanol- they affect the water side generally and that's easier to deal with. She says from experience..

mark

The other common question tend to be 'why a water-cooled condensor when you can just put a car radiator and do an air-cooled condensor'?

the answer to that is that it's easier to control the cooling on a water-cooled one- if you don't have enough cooling, increase the water flow rate or put the water through a chiller. Also, some radiators aren't methanol-compatible, and some don't drain correctly for this application I believe.

Here is a youtube video which shows the homemade vapor condenser based on Graham Laming's "Plumbers Delight."

Enjoy!