Motie-d was asking about vacuum pumps, fridge compressors etc for vac distillation. One idea I have toyed with is inspired by the famous Magdeburg experiment where air was expelled from a vessel by boiling water in it. The steam replaces the air. When the vessel is cooled again, the steam condenses and there you have a very low pressure (vapour pressure of water at ambient temp). It occurs to me that the same could be applied to vac distillation by connecting a strong vessel (the steamer/condenser) to your evaporation chamber and controlling the pressure in the latter by a valve in the connecting pipe.
I dont think there is any patent on this one! The condensing vessel need not be excessively large as, once the evaporating ethanol/water mix is at the desired temp & press, the vapour produced is re-condensed in the reflux still so the net volume change is minimal. David T. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
