@Rambo and I have embarked on our first opensource project related to wiped film evaporation.
We bought our WFE with a gravity feed flask. it works but it sucks and requires a lot of babysitting.
We looked at a few solutions and some are very nice , but cost prohibitive. Peristaltic pumps are inherently simple so we decided to go that route.
So far we’ve tested with some liquids that are much thicker than heated crude and ha e had amazing results.
The all in cost for the setup is roughly $1300-$1500, still TBD.
All of our projects will include production quality software that allows you to control feed and temperature from the phone/laptop.
We will be running some exhaustive tests, designing a smaller chassis and dropping software on github in the coming weeks. We will update soon with a bill of materials and other options once we are satisfied it works the way we want.
I wanted to post early and see if folks had questions or requests.
@The_Lone_Stiller all off the shelf parts with custom logic controller. Software is all programmed in a language called go(made by google). Controller board is mini linux.
@Thetetraguy lots of testing to do but it should hold up under vac pretty well. Our next step will be a slightly more expensive positive displacement pump.
@downtheterphole 4 large stainless rollers. I’ve tested it with cold maple syrup and other viscosity they are much thicker than warm crude. Takes seconds to change tubing.
@cannabuilder thanks so much. will absolutely test it .
I calculated the volume of the feed vessel last night. it is 15L. A few hundred bucks more will get you 25L.
Have you used it yet? Depending on if you’re heating prior to or post pumping through the peristaltic pump, you may want a few more contact points between the tube and the rollers of the pump for more viscous solutions.
Put a 4-20mA on that bad boy so folks can integrate it into their existing process controls.
Edit: Also, you will have to standardize the system for one type of hosing if there’s no on board calibration check. A recommendation would be to figure out a way to allow users to check if they’re calibrated.
Yep, I mean, I personally would say it’s worth the cost. It’s pretty easy to clean, works reliably, and the tubes are metal so you wrap the tubes with heat tape and dial in temps easily, with no worry of collapsing.
