I currently have a vacuum pulled on mine. they recommend only going to 15"Hg. chilling the jacket will likely increase condensation issues.
System hoses are 1/2" ID I believe. 1.5" triclamp connections.
yeah, but if even with vacuum insulation, temperatures are rising 30 degrees, a chiller might not hurt. Now we need that second jacket welded on lmao.
I’m kind of surprised that it would warm up so much with a vacuum jacket. Heat from centrifugation maybe?
the solvent leaves the centrifuge several times to achieve that temp rise. insulating or chilling the vessel the solvent goes into during biomass exchanges would alleviate much of it. but you’re right, a second jacket would also help.
We’ve now got that vessel in a -40freezer, but I’m not yet happy with the plumbing. I intend adding a heat exchanger into the circuit to make dialling my temps in easier.
1 Like
Has anyone ran a vacuum on the Delta Cup for drawing in ethanol instead of pushing with Nitrogen or a very expensive pump?
@dr_good_life, the instruction manual explicitly states, multiple times, that vacuum is never to be used on the system chamber. it is not rated for vacuum or pressure and improper use, according to the manufacturer, will void any warranties. I’m not curious enough to risk voiding the warranty and breaking a machine I can’t afford to replace. Thankfully, Nitrogen is pretty inexpensive.
4 Likes
I will be receiving this 300L centrifuge in about a month. We had custom mesh bags made to fit it. I will post results once we get it up and running.
14 Likes
looks like it has somewhere for the guys with the shovels to stand while they’re emptying it 
can you comment on where it’s coming from and what it’s gonna set you back?
rotor diameter and max rpms so we can figure out the g-forces would be awesome too.
edit: looks like http://peonyfns.com/cenpptd.asp although they don’t list a 300L model. assuming the PPTD-300, it’s 430g’s, which is between the CUP 1.2 & 2.0.
$17K with shipping?
Looks more like the PPBL-400
dunno. the image posted by @highestzen is labelled “PPTD-300 centrifuge.jpg”
which is how I found the manufacturer’s website.
I doubt highestzen would have bothered having custom bags made if they’d purchased the “bag lift” model.
bag lift model also seems to be lacking the platform for the guy with a shovel to stand on while emptying the basket. see Vacuum systems for getting rid of spent biomass for background on “guy with a shovel”
1 Like
wondering what that 'fuge set you back?
Has it made it in the door yet?
does it bring you joy?
1 Like
About 35k with all the tweaks and extras.
It’s about to leave the port in China.
The test videos make me happy, waiting for delivery doesn’t. I can’t wait to start testing it. Had it built explosion proof with flooding capabilities and viton seals. If this one works, the next one will be jacketed.
3 Likes
so I missed by a mile…still seems like a good price.
I assume you’ve got an overhead lift for bag handling?
If “bag lift” is actually part of its name, one would certainly hope it comes with some sort of lifting mechanism. That price is lovely @highestzen if it covers your custom bags, lift, and all the trimmings! And is it jacketed for chilling fluid or vacuum insulating? Apologies if you said that already. I must have missed it.
cyclopath,
We have been running the cup15 for a few months now. There a lot of things I love about it and a few things that make me scratch me head and say what the Hell out loud.
The filter set up is a little frustrating, we swapped out the supplied filter for a carbon filter from the beer and wine industry.
Currently we are running three 9 pound bags per batch of alcohol. I wouldn’t recommend any more than that.
First bag 10min
Second bag 12min
Third bag 13min
I originally had the jacket chilled to -40c and have now switched to liquid nitrogen to chill my jacket and alcohol.
I will have data on temp vs efficiency next week.
So far what works best for us is,
Run your three bags, then filter alcohol through the carbon lin filter, rechill alcohol and DeWax through a 1micron filter, then off to the Roto
be careful of the bags, they have a short life span and when they let go. its a disaster
13 Likes
I too was disappointed with the off-the-shelf filtration unit they provided. I figured they had that sorted. They don’t. It should be solvable off the shelf.
perhaps you could elaborate on your current solution over here:
2 Likes
23,
I’m surprised to hear that charcoal is still needed after a run at those temps… Is the solvent being introduced pre-chilled to under -40 as well? Do you experience a significant change in the products appearance once spun at full speed? Have you experimented with different durations, temps, alcohol ratio’s? What are the avg yields in relation to starting material that you are seeing?
The only way to calculate your yield exactly is to have your trim tested first for THC, then run the material and test the alcohol solution and the trim after the run.
Even at -40 you will still pick up some of the unwanted color and odor. Our process is a little over kill, but I like oil I can see through. The colder you get your alcohol, the less work it will be for you to clean up the oil. When you get to the -50 to -60 range then there should be no need to carbon scrub, at that temp you can make ethanol shatter. To get that cold is very expensive. We like -40 to -50, it works well for us.
As far as time VS yield, we have run everything to a 10 minute run time to a 26 minute run time. We have found that the longer you run the more unwanted material come out of the trim and the trim will retain more alcohol. I think we finally have our run times and spin times perfect. The 10-12 minute wash time and 10 minute spin cycle has been working great for us. We are averaging a 8.2% yield from trim to distillate.
my spin cycle is as follows
I open the drain valve before I start the spin cycle and let some drain off on its own
400 rpm 1 minute
600 rpm 1 minute
900 rpm 3 minutes
900 rpm 5 minutes
I have a bench top THC testing unit on its way, as soon as I have that I will post data on time and temp VS THC content.
8 Likes
@TeachandTech thanks for sharing that!
Are you running a v1.0 or v1.2 CUP? I don’t know about the 1.0, but the 1.2 can be bumped to 1200rpm.
Can I convince you to also wander over here and tell us which system you chose for in house analytics?
the first post is a survey, which is probably not all that useful, but imo, everybody should be using something to monitor their progress…
23,
Thanks so much for the info and the quick response. I look forward to checking out that data when you get it in. I just picked up my Delta 1.2 and should have it fired up next week once all the electrical gets wrapped up in the new facility.
I was wondering how significant of difference you saw in the required run time when you started dropping the temps down to -50/-60? I would like to avoid a secondary dewax and am still playing with varying parameters to do so. I had achieved it with dry ice and a bucket tek but scaling up always comes with new challenges…
Thanks again
no issues running the liquid nitrogen with the jacket? Is this why your dwell times increase with each bag or is that because of the solubility of the ethanol?