Why not fabricate inserts, tube nipples with gaskets on one end that fit inside each tube to extend past. Similar to a glass tapered ptfe adapter. The tube shell could still be fabricated with the tubes flat welded.
… Edit, jesus if I were to just read above for a second I would not have written this
awesome!
Never played that trick, but extending and bending the electrode was on my list. Having never heard of a gas lens until today, I would have wasted a lot of argon…
as far as press fitting extensions, my mentor taught me that liq N2 can be very useful for shrinking interference fit parts to “drop in” size.
what is the Id of the tube you need to extend? Pfa tube could be easly cut with a razor knife and pressed into the top. How many of the extensions did you need?
dry ice works as well
You just like the way they scream when you put them on dry ice 
FFE is an overpriced novalty. There is other/cheaper tech is out there that consumes much less energy and obtain equal if not better recovery/Cycling rates. Bigger isnt necessarily better or towards that direction.
Future where did you source the liquid vapor separator and shell an tubes for the unit you built?
what would you prepose instead?
There are certainly other solvent recovery systems used in industrial applications but I’m not sure that they’re cheaper. Many of these designs use a scraper system that can be put under vacuum if needed. It’s essentially a large tank with a pair of scraper blades that distribute the solution as a thin film on the wall of the tank. The “waste” just flows out the bottom via gravity. I’m not sure how well these work for our industry but those have been around for a long time and are made by several manufacturers in various sizes depending upon your application. Here’s an example:
https://www.progressive-recovery.com/products/scr-distillation/
Or Forced Circulation Evaporators
http://www.pilotevaporators.com/forced-circulation/
Dont think its cheaper tho.
AgileStainless in Portland, OR built mine custom for me.
I would argue that ffe is smaller and more effiecent than a scraped sided solvent evaporator, plus the process is not continous.
If you want a scraper thing why not a wiped thin film evaporator?
Yep agreed, although these are giant systems and there are continuous feed options for some manufacturers. Again, just pointing out that there are other solvent recovery systems but I don’t know that they meet the OP’s criteria. So I was just validating that part of his point is true, there are other methods but I would ask him to chime in to show us how they are cheaper either in capital expenditure or through operating costs.
I spent months waiting for my rotos to evap my Ethan researching industrial solvent recovery solutions. For our parameters (sticky crude, thermolabile crude, and the respective BP of the crude vs typical solvents we are using) all the evidence pointed towards falling or rising film evaporation being the cheapest to both make and run.
Yeah, milk and juice industries do it this way for a reason… Where cannabis industry is laughable is charging people $1-200k to evaporate 100 L/hr.
Ya I couldnt afford that, so I built my own. I wouldn’t say it’s laughable though, these guys are in a race to the bottom In a brand new industry. When time is money, prices go up, especially for novel applications of technology
Novel applications? Now you lost me.
Know anybody that’s been designing and manufacturing FFE for cannabis applications for more than a year or so?
Just so I’m understanding you properly are you saying those industries use FFE as well?
Yes sir!