So recently i had a friend tell me that instead of using a inline molecular sieve he just buys 10 micron material socks puts his beads in this and then directly into his tank. says he recovers much faster and the beads still do their job. i was under the impression that they only worked on vapor.
let me know what you think or if there is any truth to this.
Molecular sieves are often added to opened bottles of hygroscopic solvents to take up any water that may enter because of the now unsealed cap. Or to recently “cleaned “ or regenerated solvents that are not used often in order to keep them in a “new”or anhydrous state until needed.
so in other words it would infact work…?
I feel like this would work to a degree until you need to regenerate the beads. In all honesty you’re better off just using a jacketed sieve with a 5 micron screen you can keep the vapor going into the tank. You can load and unload the sieve easier and you can clean the sieve and have a clean process.
If all the dust is removed i could see it doing something, 5 micron will still let dust through. I run 3 sieves all with double 1micron cloth and sub micron papers and i see it make it thru the 1 micron, these are also beads that have been washed and used many times.
any dust that would escape would get trapped in filters regardless during running. so im not super concerned on that end.
so that liquid/vapor separator looks incredibly messy. the entire purpose of wanting to rid myself of a sieve is to clean up the vapor path and to be able to recover faster passively. that sepaarator looks like its more for catching oil droplets that make it into the vapor stream to prevent it from entering the tank vs maintaining dry gas. if you want to check out really good solutions for this check out design and build supply and ask to see their recovery expansion chambers. its a great design that A: cleans up the vapor path so no droplets contaminate your tank. but also without sacrificing speed.
Jacketed sieve
Would a stack of three 0.1 um filters be good enough?
Only 1 way to find out but that will drastically restrict your vapor path.
I honestly get very lil moisture in my solvent even without a sieve, i dont run fresh frozen and I thoroughly dry everything before running
you’re not running very fast if you’re not getting oil carry over
I don’t sieve either. I planned on it at one point but I’m not worried about it. I worry more about distilling my solvent.
I just leave my material on dry ice for a few hours prior to extraction.
Lmfao what about a larger diameter like 3×12 for the sieve and have jacketed hemispherical filter rings or filter plates… 
You should still be distilling fuel through a sieve. Always and forever
Wonder why he’s saying he recovers faster like this. Does it increase the heat capacity of the solution to have all those beads in there?
Would that even increase recovery rate anyways?
Nothing like beads obstructing the flow. Dry or not beads make a difference. Generally from the dust on them clogging the 5-1um filter on the bottom. Or if your recovering like a boss, it’s terps locked up in the beads. Happens every so often.
Molecular sieves are completely unnecessary if you run your runs correctly. Been running fresh frozen for 7 years never needed one
