# Falling Film Degassing



## Grasshopper (Feb 11, 2013)

From my previous life as an engineer I know that a falling thin film of liquid is very efficient for mass transfer (i.e. moving a material to/from the liquid phase to the gas phase it is falling through). It is efficient because the transferring material (CO2 in our case) doesn't have far to go within the liquid to reach the surface and the turbulence of the film continually renews the surface with fresh CO2 containing wine. Thus I devised the following method of vacuum racking that should be more efficient than simple splash racking to move CO2 from the wine into the reduced pressure gas phase in the carboy. The method should work for gravity racking but probably not as well.

I took the racking cane which has a short leg at the top bent 90 degrees from the longer leg and inserted this into the stopper so that the transfer tube connects to the long leg and the short leg is in the carboy pointed at the side. Pulling a vacuum on the carboy causes the wine to impinge on the side of the carboy and fall down the side. See pics in the file below.

I have tried this a couple of times now and it seems to do a much better job of degassing compared with just having the wine fall straight to the bottom in a single stream. I wonder if anyone else has tried this and/or knows of a reason why it may not be as good of an idea as it seems.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Feb 11, 2013)

Grasshopper 
I like your idea - alot!
In the past I have tried and liked using wort aerator - it would spray a fine mist,causing the CO2 to be driven out even quicker. Your set-up is much simplier 

Please keep in touch as your progress with your new design !!


----------



## pjd (Feb 11, 2013)

Great Idea Grasshopper! Absolutely correct in theory. Thanks for posting this.


----------



## dralarms (Feb 11, 2013)

That's a great idea. Why not cut the cane down some? I bought one and cut it down so its not sticking up so high.


----------



## DoctorCAD (Feb 11, 2013)

I do that at every racking. I know I have enough k-mets in my wine to keep it from oxidizing, so I figured it wouldnt hurt.


----------



## Putterrr (Feb 12, 2013)

I also use this method although my bent part is shorter so the wine goes along the top of the carboy and then down the side. I find it makes less foam in the wine as long as I keep the vac gauge below 10. The total length of my bent cane is about 7 inches.

cheers


----------



## JerryF (Feb 12, 2013)

Putterrr said:


> I also use this method although my bent part is shorter so the wine goes along the top of the carboy and then down the side. I find it makes less foam in the wine as long as I keep the vac gauge below 10. The total length of my bent cane is about 7 inches.
> 
> cheers



Being a former chemical/environment engineer myself, immediately on seeing this post from grasshopper, it struck me as so obvious! This is basically what's behind the way we used to design and operate industrial water cooling towers (to drive off entrained heat). Way to go grasshopper!


----------



## jswordy (Feb 12, 2013)

GENIUS!


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Feb 12, 2013)

I had time to go on the computer and find a link to a wort aerator - it literally pushes on the bottom of the racking tube. I still like the idea oh heating up the racking cane after it has been pushed thru the bung and have it splash against the carboy wall.

here is the link to the wort aerator
http://morebeer.com/view_product/15779/102214/Siphon_Spray_Wort_Aerator


----------



## btom2004 (Feb 12, 2013)

Looks like a great idea, I will give it a try.


----------



## Grasshopper (Feb 14, 2013)

It is good to see that at least a few others have used this technique without reporting problems. I am now going to take dralarms advice and cut down the length of the long arm to make this more manageable. I didn't want to ruin my $1.59 racking cane until I was sure I was going to continue this way (and people say engineers are cheap!).


----------



## dralarms (Feb 14, 2013)

That's funny, the first thing I did was cut one down so it wasn't sitting 3 foot in the air. I just hope its not cut down so far that I can't use it they way you suggested. If not I'll hack another one.


----------



## Chiumanfu (Mar 14, 2013)

Sorry for bumping a necro thread but I just had the opportunity to try this today and it worked better than expected. After vacuum racking with the falling film method, I put the carboy under vacuum as I normally do to degas and... nothing. Which kind of sucks because I was all setup to take a video of vacuum degassing for one of my articles. So here I am...camera rolling...nada...nothing...not enough bubbles to count on two hands. I'm going to try it on a couple more batches to confirm it is consistent and repeatable, but for now this looks like my new standard degassing procedure. Thanks Grasshopper!


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Mar 16, 2013)

I would like to thank Grasshopper for coming up with this great gadget that saves even more time in the process of removal of CO2. It still uses the 6.5 bung ,so you will not have to switch racking canes in order to use this complete setup. I am now selling them for *12 dollars with purchase of pump or 14 dollars individually (includes shipping)*. Please Pm me with your email address and I will put a PayPal money request to you, until I can get my shopping cart up and running properly.
They are flexible and are only 9'' tall to provide more stability.


----------



## dralarms (Mar 16, 2013)

Nice. I may have to get one.


----------



## Stressbaby (Mar 16, 2013)

I'm in for one.


----------



## geek (May 26, 2013)

vacuumpumpman said:


> I would like to thank Grasshopper for coming up with this great gadget that saves even more time in the process of removal of CO2. It still uses the 6.5 bung ,so you will not have to switch racking canes in order to use this complete setup. I am now selling them for *12 dollars with purchase of pump or 14 dollars individually (includes shipping)*. Please Pm me with your email address and I will put a PayPal money request to you, until I can get my shopping cart up and running properly.
> They are flexible and are only 9'' tall to provide more stability.



so basically replaces the older style that has the longer tube/cane and that goes straight down, correct?


----------



## dralarms (May 26, 2013)

No, its an additional piece, comes complete with bung and vacuum tube. Its worth every penny.


----------



## geek (May 26, 2013)

what I'm trying to say is that this setup replaces the older one, you both rack and degas with it as well.


----------



## FABulousWines (May 26, 2013)

geek said:


> what I'm trying to say is that this setup replaces the older one, you both rack and degas with it as well.



Yes, that is true.


----------



## dralarms (May 26, 2013)

yes, but you have to order the new one, it still comes with the old one.


----------



## vacuumpumpman (May 26, 2013)

The Allinone does not come with the Flex racking cane - That has to be purchased separately. But it still can degass with using a 3/8 racking cane - it just is alot better using a smaller cane that is flexible and won't break. It also is directed toward the top of the neck to get the most CO2 out of your wine as well. 
I am hoping that i will be having a sale and throwing this product in for free for the month of June - any feedback ??


----------



## FABulousWines (May 26, 2013)

Why is it there is always a sale the week after I make a purchase? Murphy's law I guess. Still money well spent IMO!


----------



## geek (May 26, 2013)

Sounds good Steve, lucky the ones that haven't bought the pump yet...

I'm interested....


----------



## vacuumpumpman (May 26, 2013)

Don't worry FABulousWines 
I have many more ideas on the horizon and I am sure you will be one of the first beta testers -
I hope you are enjoying your pump !! I know i have to bottle approx 21 gallons and transfer approx 10 or so 6 gallon carboys


----------

