perfect activated carbon

[ketel3]

So this part of the forum did not have one single post so herebye some info.

For the old wolves nothing new but maybe some new guys that find some info here that can help.

Today I finaly got my hands on one of the best activated carbon there is on the market,in my area almost impossible to get.
In the past I had someting like it,and other very disapointing coal too,the soft one is useless in  my opinion you need the stone carbon.
If you want this stuff you have to order it directly in Sweden on this website:
http://partymanshop.com/

I could tell you all kind of storys about charcoal and how to use it and how to recover used charcoal but there is a more easy way pleas the the attached book of activated carbonl from mr Gert strand this book is free source so I can post it here.

Further A supplyer on my work was so kind to give me a nice pipe for free to make a new filter pipe for the charcoal , so all reasons to be happy as you can see on the foto 

I only use it for the alcohol I use for liqueur on fruit base or very elegant drinks like anise.

[YHB]

Thanks for starting the thread.

A Carbon Filter is on my list of things to do.  I will look forward to seeing how you build yours.

I am considering empty bottles as an alternative to pipe.

[ketel3]

Hi Yhb,
I fine looking idea,it looks very ingenius (hope the word is correct ) a realy nice concept,would like to know if it works.  I know they promote reversed filtering and maybe I will try it in the future.

Right now I went the easy way , just added a valve under the pipe to control the flow I want to do the filtering slow.

In the past I had great succes with a smaller diameter so I will see how it is,the fliter is running right now.

If I wanted to make reversed filtering I think about using a jar with a aquarium airpump and a small pipe to the bottom of the jar ,and a hose to the bottom op the filter pipe ,the air has to push the liquid from below to the top of the filter pipe,but that is fot the future


Here a photo of the finished pipe ,need to make a receptacle and a bracket to support the pipe.

And see the other photo I have some sampling to do in a day or two all jars  95% +  .

[Swedish Pride]

I've read about folks addign a cup of carbon to a gallon of booze and just let it mellow for a week and then filter out, well it's a bust - for me.

took 3 days to filter a pint and still was a dark hue to it, I'm sure there are better ways of doing it than pour a pint of booze from one container to an other through a funnel stuffed with tissue but that was the limitations of my equipment.

Ended up rerunning it through the still

[ketel3]

Sorry to hear Swedish,
This is related to the wrong kind of carbon,these carbon is NOT stone carbon and not the kind I use.

Please read my post again,and get the right carbon,and you will be pleased with the result.

[Eucyblues]

I believe that K3 is correct in using a long small dia pipe.  In my experience, it's the path length (= contact time/area ) that's critical to a good result - Obviously, the amount of carbon used per litre of grog is also important but quantity for quantity, better results are obrained from long and thin versus short and fat.

Also important is to pre-wash the carbon to flush away fines - Swedish - perhaps that may have contributed to your problem.

With all the above being said, you can make a quick usable filter by:

Chopping the bottom from a large coke bottle
drill a hole about 1/4" dia in the cap (pull out the papery seal if any)
Get a piece of non-woven geotextile fabric (medium thick) (Bidim or equal) - cut a 'washer' piece to fit in the cap
Tighten the cap
upend, fill to about 3/4 depth with carbon
support it in the receiving container and pour (NB- If the bottle neck is too snug a fit in the container, air will be trapped and will cause problems - if this is the case, unbend a plated paper clip and fit it between the 2 containers to provide an air gap)

It is an example of a short and fat filter but it will work OK with enough passes.

Also - you can rejuvenate used carbon by washing then boiling it in a S/S pot until it is basically dry - stir occasionally to let the steam out - it gets SUPER HOT so be careful and it takes a LONG TIME to cool - be careful where you put it to cool - It will leave a bit of discoloration in the pot so some scouring will be needed at the end.  This can be done a number of times.  It is not the same as the high pressure steam used to make activated carbon but it will clean a lot of junk out

     
 

[ShiFu]

Really good information Eucyblues.
+1 karma

Already + a karma today to K3 or he would get another.

People really do underestimate the value of a good carbon filter setup.
When used properly it makes middle shelf booze into top shelf booze and there's Nothing wrong with that!

[ketel3]

In addition see under the second photo at the start of this topic the ** download **  with plenty of info.

[Eucyblues]

In addition see under the second photo at the start of this topic the ** download **  with plenty of info.

Yep - good info in there K3

[Eucyblues]

Really good information Eucyblues.
+1 karma

Thank you Master 

[Swedish Pride]

good info lads
Could have been sheet carbon, or that i didn't wash it, or the sheet filter
did I mention I'm a lazy git and the king of halfarsed approaches to most things?

May get some proper carbon next time I need to do an online order, I'll give most things two goes, my lazy  go and then a proper go if the lazy go don't work good :lol:

[YHB]

There is a typo in Gert Strands book where he described his Filter Tube.

It reads "Plastic" pipe, it must be the computer translation. I am sure he wrote "Glass, Stainless or PTFE".

But we all knew that didn't we.