

DIST1U.: 



DISTILI.l 



S64 



UM rectifier 

 c. with 



chiaaiU. D, p. D, whoM vri Uh U tinUI 

 height. Thue'ouM are opga 

 aUsred or rireted into a general 

 th tiro conn r. c, which an 

 bolu an 1 ptekiaj. Baoh OM i 

 helru or tray*, placl at wail 



jfier c F. f U it. tjp or ejrwM voUib-ilo. which .';. 3, and crou MottoQ) at D, D, D, jig. 2. Each shelf U turned MI' i 

 iir on by pvnl; onJ. but lopa down 



' . 

 r, e, r, with 



With ll'l'll Til - 



over ojoh other, in a hori- 



xontel or alighth vuich lida view U gi 



the top may be 



.11" Rystein "> 

 of each case are framed 



by twj Hie rod*, which paw down 



.uovinz the cover, 



tht ssti it of the case* to be cleaned ; 



a-.U are bunco calk I The intervals I, I, i, fy. '2, between the 





two cases, are left free for the circulation of the water contained in the 

 bath-vessel 0,0; those intervals being considerably narrower than the 

 ruin Pig. 4 represents in plan the surface of the rectifying outern, 

 ahown by two different sections in jujt. 2 and 8 : II, K,.rfys. 2 and 4, ia 

 the thermostat or heat-governor, shaped somewhat like a pair of tongs. 

 Kg. 6 U the refrigeratory, confuting of a double tube, placed in a 

 xigxag direction, but in one plane, and supported by the two upright 

 beam*. The alcoholic vapour enters at the orifice K, and descends 

 along the inner tube marked by dotted lines till it becomes condensed 

 by the counter-current of water continually ascending in the annular 

 pace between that block-tin or copper tube, and the outer cast-iron 

 pipe o. The water of condensation enters into that annular space at 

 the point <;, beinj supplied by the pipe D, and the nose of the stop- 

 cock L. The funnel into which the cold water is poured mu.it be 

 somewhat higher than the point K, from which that water is discharged, 

 after having been heated to the same temperature as that of the alco- 

 holic vapour last exposed to ite influence. 



The still apparatus above described ia worked a* follows : Into the 

 alembic put as much fermented liquor as will protect its bottom H-M 

 being injured by the fire, when it is not plunged in a bath of muriate 

 of lime, but exposed directly to the fuel. As soon as the ebullition in 

 the alembic has raised the temperature of the water-bath o o to the 

 desired rectifying pitch, whether 170* or 180", the thermostatic instru- 

 ment ia to be adjusted by its screw-nut, and then the communication 

 with the charging back or cistern is to be opened by moving the index 

 of the stop-cock o over a proper portion of it) quadrantal arch. The 

 waah will now descend in a regulated stream through the pipe o F, 

 thence spread into the horizontal tube r v, and iasue from the 

 of distribution into the respective flat trays or spoute. The mannei of 

 iU pmgreas U shown for one set of trays in jiy. 8. The direction of 

 the stream on each shelf U evidently the reverse of that in the shelf 

 above and below it; the turned -up end of one shelf COITCM 

 with the discharge slope of iU neighbour. I'.y diffusing the cool wash 

 or wine in a thin film over such an ample range of surfaces, the con- 

 stant tendency of the bath to exceed the proper limit of temperature 

 is counteracted to the utmost without want* of time or furl : 

 waah rUt-lf i* trtmniH becomes boiling hot, and experiences a p. 

 team distillation. Thus also a very moderate influx of water through 

 the thermostat stop cock mimees to temper the bath ; such an exten- 

 sive vaporisation of the wash producing a far more refrigerant influence 

 than its simple heating to the boiling point. It deserves peculiar 

 remark, that the greatest distillation with the least fuel U here effected 

 without any pressure in the alembic ; for the passages are all pervious 



to the vapour ; whereas, iu almost every wash-still heretofore contrived 

 for similar purposes, the spirituous vapours must force their way 

 through successive layers of liquid, the total pressure from whti-h 

 causes undue elevation of teiu tnn-ti'iu to the process, and 



forcing of the juncture.-. Whatever supplementary refngerai 



>urs iu their passage through the kith may be deemed proper 

 will be administered by the heat-governor. The bath regulated by 

 tbu thermostat may however be used for obtaining fine spirits at one 

 operation, without transmitting the wash or low wines down through 

 its interior passages ; iu which case it becomes a simple rectifier. The 

 empyreuuiatic taint \vh. to cunlrict from the action 



of the naked fire on the vegetable gluten in cont -ict with the bottom 

 of the still, U somewhat counteracted by the i < i u the 



large wash-stills; but it luay be entin ly prevented by placing tl> 

 in a bath of strong solution of muriate of lime u u, y. 1, regulated by 

 a thermometer or, still better, a thermostat. Thus a safe and ctl 

 temperature of from 270 to 290 Fahr. may readily be obtained. 



The principle of continuous distillation, just mentioned as L 

 been adopted by Adam about sixty years ago, has been very exten- 

 sively adopted by French distillers, in relation both t > brandy from 

 wine, and to liqueurs of various kinds. Burard, Blumenthal, DC 

 Laugier, and others, have introduced successive improvements. 

 have rendered the French stills beautiful pieces of apparatus. In 

 1852, M. Boutigny, of Kvreux, introduced a system of distilling in 

 which two principles were especially held iu view. The one wag, so to 

 r. n<|i n.te the vapour almost at tho instant of i 



the conversion of all the alcohol into liquid ; and the other was, so to 

 manage the apparatus as to prevent anything from boiling up HU 

 with tho alcohol, which might contaminate it. A sheet of wire gauze, 

 in one or more layers, is placed so as to intercept all substances ; while 

 alcoholic vapour is allowed to pass. The vessels are so arranged, that 

 duct distilled from the firet apparatus shall serve to feed the 

 second ; the second a third ; and so on : the hist leading into a refrige- 

 rator. The boiling arrangements provide fora large heating sn 

 and a rapid evaporation. 



Efficient as may be tho French system, it has been foui. 

 that the small pipes and channels, which are suitable for th< 

 from wine, would become clogged by the glutinous wash of malt or grain 

 distillation. Mr. Eneas CoflFey, of Dublin, patented a new apparatus 

 in 1882, on the continuous system, which effected a very large saving 

 of fuel ; by causing the condensation of the spirit vapour through the 

 agency of a portion of the cool wash, which thus became partially 

 warmed, and to that extent forwarded in its progress. Coffiey's still u 



