Eastcoaststrang
New member
Hello all and thanks for reading. I was reading the post a few down from mine called closed loop woes. I seem to be hitting the same issues as the poster but didn't want to hijack his post. I'm running a closed loop system with butane, but I feel like I am running it nowhere near as efficient as it should be. My only prior experience was running on a bhogart machine that was a little different but I was more of a helper. Anyways I will include my set up and method as well as my issues. Thank you so much for any advice. I've been a long time lurker learning a lot until now.
My system flow from start to finish--
Start at solvent storage vessel
Butane through cooling coil with dry ice and iso
From coil through 3\8 hose into top of material column
4"x36" jacketed column packed tight with dual ports on top, one for butane injection the other for recovery through manifold
Bottom of column has a ball valve going into
10" collection plate with jacketed base.
I have a 4 port manifold that I can separately recover from The collection pot and material column.
All recovery goes through manifold
Through sieve beads
Through recovery pump
Through condenser coil with dry ice and iso
Back into solvent storage vessel.
My method is as follows
I open butane storage dip tube, send it through the cold coil and up into the material column. I attempt to dump as much butane into the column before pressure becomes an issue. I then open ball valve to start dumping into collection chamber. From here out it feels like I'm failing..
Symptoms-
I can only get about 5# butane into column and stops. When I open the ball valve, sometimes it starts pouring through, sometimes not and I have to start recovery pump and open the path to the recovery. It will begin pulling more butane thru, but much like the other poster who inspired this, I end up with endless butane trickling through down to the collection chamber. Eventually it seems I was even getting a lot more butane stuck in the column.
My solvent tank is not in ice but I pre chill it before i start and it seems the dual condensor coils do a good job of chilling the butane down. I don't chill my column or base, I use the jackets for hot water for recovery. I don't want to go on writing longer than I have. But I'm hoping someone can maybe chime in and ask a few questions and maybe diagnose my problems. I feel like I'm not properly soaking the column and leaving way too much butane in the column that I end up recovering. My solvent tank holds 25 # of butane I believe so I feel like should be able to get that all through my column but only succeeded once. Wondering if hose\tank placement is fighting againts gravity too much? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you and I will be here to answer any inquiries
My system flow from start to finish--
Start at solvent storage vessel
Butane through cooling coil with dry ice and iso
From coil through 3\8 hose into top of material column
4"x36" jacketed column packed tight with dual ports on top, one for butane injection the other for recovery through manifold
Bottom of column has a ball valve going into
10" collection plate with jacketed base.
I have a 4 port manifold that I can separately recover from The collection pot and material column.
All recovery goes through manifold
Through sieve beads
Through recovery pump
Through condenser coil with dry ice and iso
Back into solvent storage vessel.
My method is as follows
I open butane storage dip tube, send it through the cold coil and up into the material column. I attempt to dump as much butane into the column before pressure becomes an issue. I then open ball valve to start dumping into collection chamber. From here out it feels like I'm failing..
Symptoms-
I can only get about 5# butane into column and stops. When I open the ball valve, sometimes it starts pouring through, sometimes not and I have to start recovery pump and open the path to the recovery. It will begin pulling more butane thru, but much like the other poster who inspired this, I end up with endless butane trickling through down to the collection chamber. Eventually it seems I was even getting a lot more butane stuck in the column.
My solvent tank is not in ice but I pre chill it before i start and it seems the dual condensor coils do a good job of chilling the butane down. I don't chill my column or base, I use the jackets for hot water for recovery. I don't want to go on writing longer than I have. But I'm hoping someone can maybe chime in and ask a few questions and maybe diagnose my problems. I feel like I'm not properly soaking the column and leaving way too much butane in the column that I end up recovering. My solvent tank holds 25 # of butane I believe so I feel like should be able to get that all through my column but only succeeded once. Wondering if hose\tank placement is fighting againts gravity too much? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you and I will be here to answer any inquiries