US1886037A - Distilling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 1, 1932. J. McDoUGALl.

DSTILLING APPARATUS Filed Apil l2, 1929 M/05/7 (Ol/.s

Patented Nov. 1, y1932 NETE@ .STATES JAMES MGDOU'GALL, OF GLASGOW, SCOTLAND DISTILLING APPARATUS .Application filed April 12, 1929, Serial No. 354,57?, and in Great Britain April 18, 1928.

My invention relates to improvementsin and connected with distilling apparatus, of -What is known as the Coey type. His app paratus can only deal with liquids which Il have a small percentage oi the desired product. In the case of alcoholic wash this per# centage does not come above absolute alcohol (8l/4% proof). VBut the wash (heren inafter referred to as the wash) can be fer- 10 mentated economically up to 8% absolute alcohol 12% prooi, and as the steam required is Vdirectly proportional to the quantity of `wash distilled, a great saving in .steam would be effected if the apparatus could distill the 15 Wash'of the higher strength without dilution and without loss of spirit. A saving would y also be eilected in fermenting space for wash and `in the time required i'or distillation.

'Coil'eys distilling apparatus consists esf sentially of two vertical columns, therectifier and theanalyzer. Thevrectilier is divided horizontally into a number of compartments 'by vperforated sheets with coils between. These coils are connected together so that Wash entering the top coil ,passes down through each coil in turn till it passes out of the bottom coil to the top of the analyzer. There are usually about 40 compartments in Y this'column but the number varies slightly.

The analyzer is divided into compartments the same as the rectifier by perforated sheets but has no coils between these, and each perforated sheet has drop pipes to talethewash to the next lower sheet. l

Wash is passed down the coils in the rectifier from the topmost coil, passes through all the coils in the column and is then ejected -on the top perforated sheet ofthe column where it meets steam blown into the column `in the lowest compartment. lThe pressure of the steam prevents the wash falling through the perforations and thus the wash runs along the sheet and down the drop tubes to the lower sheet and so on down the whole column where it passes out at a higher temperature (225 F.) after having been denuded of its alcohol vapour by the ascending steam.

This alcohol vapour passes over from the top of' the analyzer tothe bottom compartment of the rectiiier, passes up the column through the perforated sheets and comes into contact with the coils through which the descending current ofwash is passing. The spirit vapour heats this washv and out of the vapour lrst'water and other products with higher boiling points' than alcohol are condensed until, at a certain point where the wash in the coils is at temperature 4of 130- 125 F., the alcohol itself condenses.

The wash passing down the rectifier inv the coils -gets gradually heated from compartment to compartment until, when leaving the lbottom compartment, it has been heated towithin a few. degrees of the temperature of the incoming spirit'vapour and is then run on to kthe'top sheet of the analyzer to meet the upcoming current io steam.

From this it can plainlybe seenthat there is a balance ofheat between the two columns. Any heattalren bythe vapour from the analyzer to the rectifier must be taken up by the wash passingthrough the coils in the rectifier as only a rvery'small proportion of' vapour leaves the rectier in the form of others `and some non-condensable gases out of ther overhead pipe to a worm.

When 'wash under 5% f absolute alcohol content is distilled, the vapour Which theoretically should come from the wash has insufiicient heat content tov heat its Wash as it passes up the rectifier so some extra steam is used to make up the deficiency of heat and this is quite evident from the strength of Vthe vapour. By Ures or Gruenings tables the vapour should be 33.5 U. P. (under proof) from wash containing 4% spirit (7% proof) but in practice "Welind it nearerl() U. P. (under proof). At 5% (81/% proof) we find the strength 25 U. P. (under proof) whichis what we find on these tables and shows that there is an exact balance `between the two columns in the vheatcontent and no extra steam coming over.

It can thus be seen that if more vapour were sent over to the rectifier as Would'be the case with higher strength of wash, the Wash in the coils couldnot condense this vapour as it, the wash, isfalready heated up tothe temperature of the incoming vapour which is aboutv180vo F. and itcan not pass up the column as the operator will shut off the steam if he sees the temperature rising above the 130-125 point. If he allowed it to rise objectional products would come up to this point and spoil the spirit.

As wash at spirit contains 50 gallons absolute alcohol per 1000 gallons, and as this wash at boiling point gives off vapour of 41% stren h, the vapour from this will be the vapour of 50 gallons alcohol and 72 gallons water and the temperature of this vapour will be 181 F., and that of the liquor it came from 203 (Ure).

When the strength of the wash is 7% absolute alcohol (12% proof) the vapour will be 50% and 1=1O0 gallons wash will give off vapour from 70 gallons alcohol and 70 gallons water, (as against 50 alcohol and 72 water in the former case) so an excess of heat units is apparent in the vapour from thesame amount of wash with the higher strength This vapour (50%) will have a temperature of 180, and the liquor from which it cames has a temperature of 200.6 F. (Ure)` so the same quantity of wash can take up 3 less heat than the weaker wash.

' From the foregoing it will be seen that f enough heat can not be applied to the wash in the analyzer to vapourize all the spirit in the wash of 7% strength, the result being thtthsextra spirit runs down the analyzing Y colummwith thev wash and goes away with the spent liquor.

. It will also be seen from the foregoing fllres that the wash aft-er leaving the rect.

r (where it has done all the condensing),

is not up .to its own boiling point as its f vapour is over 20 lower than the wash from which it came.

My invention resides in the provision of means of distilling the wash of higher spirit Strength without loss of spirit and with only af very small increase in the steam required Aper gallon of wash than is the case when weaker washes are distilled, less than 2% extra'steam being required against roughly .50% 1f wash is distilled at the usual 81% -proof content. As this 2% extra steam is' vtellen up by condensing water in coils the heated water may be returned to the boilers as feed water without loss of heat, all as here@ inafter described with reference to the draw= ing and pointed out in the claims.

f In order that Vmy invention may beV proporly understood and readily carried into effect, I have hereunto appended one sheet of illustrating my invention, of which ,f yFigure 1 is an elevation of apparatus illustr'lting my invention.

y Figuref is a plan of Figure l.

C According to my invention, I take the extra ,lheatout of the vapour coming from the ,analyzer A (which could not be taken up by theincoming wash in the coils L) either before it reaches the rectifier B by means of coils in an enclose-d vessel, where water would circulate, or by a tubular condenser or other meansor, preferably I could have coils C fitted into the lower part D of the rectifier B, as shown, and connect these to an inlet water supply pipe E, the water going into the upper portion of coils C and passing down to the lower section of the coils C leaving the column by the outlet water pipe F. The coils C which I would use for the purpose would do anywhere from the spirit outlet pipe G down to the bottom D of the rectifier B, but preferably one or more of the lowest coils, as shown in Figure 1. On stills which have'some extra frames I would disconnect two or more of the frames from the series which make up the wash coils L and circulate water through these, the quantity of water required being easily found by experi ment. Theoretically it would amount to gallons of water at 55 heated to 175 for every 1000 gallons of wash of 7% absolute alcohol. (121/4 proof.)

The pipe O connects the analyzer A with a source of steam, not shown. The pipe P conducts the alcohol vapour from the top portion of the analyzer A to the bottom compartment of the rectifier B.

In addition to the foregoing and as an addition tothe invention, I would pass the wash, after leaving the rectifier B where it has been heated as high as possible by the spirit vapour, through the pipe J into a heater I where I would heat it up to at least its boiling point before passing it through the pipe H on to the analyzer A so that less steam would be required to vapourize the alcohol vapour.

This heater takes the form of a pipe coil I contained in a chamber M through which the heating medium passes. In this case the heating medium is the spent liquor coming from the analyzer A through the pipe K and passing it through the chamber M when it would heat the ingoing wash contained in the coilsI and then pass out by the pipe N.

It is to be understood that other forms of heater may be employed without deviating from the principle of my invention.

I claim.

1. In a distilling apparatus of the Coffey v type for alcoholic wash, comprising an anaextracting the excess heat from spirit va our.

2. In a distilling apparatus of the ofey type fory alcoholic wash, comprising an analyzer in communication with a source of steam, a rectifier in communication with said anaylzer and having a number of compartments, cooling means Within the rectifier and communicating means between the lowermost of said compartments and upper part of said analyzer.

3. In a distilling apparatus of the Coifey type for alcoholic Wash, an analyzer in communication With a source of steam, a rectifier having a number of compartments above and below an outlet spirit pipe, the lowermost of said compartments being in communication with the upper part of said analyzer, means for heating said alcoholic Wash so that less steam Will be required to vaporize the alcohol vapours, said heating means comprising a chamber through which the heating medium passes and said chamber connecting one of the lower compartments of the rectifier with the upper portion of the analyzer by means of pipes.

JAMES MODOUGALL.

Images