1868 The complete Practical Distiller

81

CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION.

the vapours it has to condense, could not fill this object, in virtue of the rules laid down on the capacity of alco- hol, of water, and of their vapours, for heat. On the other side, the wine, arriving through B C in the distilling column, should nearly be at the boiling point; for, without this condition, instead of being ana- lyzed by the alcoholic vapours, it would condense part of them to acquire its maximum of heat ; and this would be a real defect, occasioning a loss of time and heat; be^ sides, the space through which it passes in the column, being calculated to operate on its analysis, admitting it enters immediately in distillation, would, in the former case, not be large enough to deprive it of all its alcohol and a large proportion of the latter would accompany it into the boiler. Now this is what has been done to con- ciliate these two dissenting conditions : — The condenser has been divided into two equal parts, Q and i, by means of a diaphragm, n o, which, having an opening toward the bottom of the condenser, allows the wine to arrive gradually through K L, and to pass continually from i to B. The pipes of the condensing-worm which are immersed in the wine of Q contain the most watery vapours ; these, of course, abandon more heat by condensation. The wine contained in Q is warmer than that of any other part of the condenser ; and, what is more, the wine which leaves it through D is always the warmest, in virtue of the laws of specific gravity. A stopcock f is fixed to the con- denser, for the purpose of discharging the wine when the — The cooler P is a ver- tical cylinder, in copper, into which the wine is received apparatus requires to be cleansed. V. The Refrigeratory or Cooler.