New Vacuum Still Kit Cooks Under Pressure

New Vacuum Still Kit Cooks Under Pressure FARM HOME Food 4-3-4 Get yourself a garden hose and an air-tight tank and you're ready to brew alcohol with the justintroduced Solargas vacuum still kit from Terry Spragg and Associates, Manhattan Beach, Calif. The kit consists of: A highpressure, water-cooled distillation column that mounts on any tank up to 100 gal.; an in-line hydrometer assembly for continuous proofmonitoring; and venturi-type valves that develop vacuum pressure in the system. "Simply hooking up to a garden hose for several minutes creates around 25 psi inside the tank, and that causes the alcohol to boil off at 120? instead of its normal 174?. The cold water creating the vacuum also runs through the reflux coil, causing the alcohol to condense back to a liquid," explained Terry Spragg, who adds that, at $485, the kit is "one of the most inexpensive alcoholproducing systems available." A one-column system puts out up to 15 gal. of 110 proof alcohol in 24 hrs. (You have to run it through again to get 160 proof.) A Pella, Iowa, farmer plans to mount two columns on a 250 gal. tank and double his output. Any heat source can be used or you can buy Solargas solar panels and get additional federal energy credits. "One of the advantages of this system is that you can tailor it to your resources without a huge investment," says Spragg. Complete instructions, information on converting engines, and forms for federal experimental permits, are provided with the kit. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Terry G. Spragg & Associates, 201 Ocean Drive, Manhattan Beach, Calif., 90266 (ph 213 374-0471, or 213 3799967).

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