I just posted my post ethanol filtration set up in another thread, but I think this is a better / more relevant thread for it as the other one was dealing with filtering post winterization, so I’ll just copy paste it here.
My setup is kind of ghetto, but it works nice. Was doing 2 dimensional , buchnner style filtration for a while to remove sub 220 micron sediment after cold EtOH extraction. Was using the 5 gal refinement filter from BVV with a 5 micron sintered disc. That thing sucked (but not in the good way that it should). Very slow, clogged easily, etc. Tried that setup every which way - with a celite cake, without, with filter paper, without paper, etc. Either way it was just too slow. And the sintered disc clogged so much that I’d have to bake it in a 450C muffle furnace to make it usable again (never tried ultrasonic bath tho that probably would have worked too).
This works good for our scale. And was way cheaper than a larger set up from Rosedale or similar companies.
I use negative pressure (diaphragm pump) to suck solution to be filtered thru these staged filters (50-10-1 micron) and into a holding vessel. Works nice. Super fast. Takes under 1 minute to filter 5 gallons of cold (viscous) ethanol. I’ll probably keep the 5gal buchner around for filtering over carbon or clays, or whatever, but I am happy to be done with 2D filtration for removing sediment.
And yeah, I know I should probably ground those housings and get tubing that can be grounded. Got to do that and a few other modifications.
My only real problem with this method is the large holding volume in the housing. Have to flush a good bit of clean solvent thru to get everything out.
I don’t know yet what the max capacity is for these things, but I’ve been changing the filters after every 10lb, which for most of you is probably too frequently.
Some things I learned in the process of switching to this method that might help anyone that wants to do something similar. McMaster Carr has solvent compatible cold temperature tubing. However from what I understand, due to static electricity, tubing is probably not the best option. A braided stainless steel hose is probably the correct way to do this. Also, not all 2.5 x 10 filters are the same height. Tried a few different brands and some were a mm or 2 taller than others preventing them from fitting in the housing. It seems the typical Big Blue style houses have a greater tolerance for slightly different size (height) cartridges. I have the same staged filter assembly before the rotovap, but they are PP housings and every filter I’ve tried fits in them. Not the case with the stainless ones.