RO to storage to evaporator workflow question.

[SognSyrup]

Need some expertise here as we're using a CDL 250 RO this year for the first time.

Info:
~600 taps (half on gravity vacuum)
500 gal insulated milk tank raw sap storage
CDL Hobby RO
500 gal poly tank in sugar shack
Smoky Lake 2x3 drop flue pan


We were thinking of ROing everything twice. Then boiling. While this is going, we'd collect and refill the milk tank for the next day. Assuming that sap is RO'd twice, the boil should go faster?

Do we stop the boil, draw off and shut down when that day's "batch" is done (or close to it) Or is there a better, more efficient work flow so as to not start over each day?

thanks

[sugarman3]

Sap that has been run through a ro should not be keep for a long period of time,especially if it is aa higher brix which is what you will get with 2 passes,start boiling with ro running the second tank through,i am sure with a 2 by 3, your boiling rate will not be as fast as your ro,your 250 ro will probably process 175-180 gallons sap per hr,can't imagine you can boil that fast on evaporator.Be very careful keeping ro sap when it's warm,i have had it go ropy overnite.My advise is to boil it as fast as you can once it is run through ro.Boiling will be faster,remember you are boiling concentrate,not raw sap,everything will be different and make sure you have a defoaming agent,you will need it.

[maple flats]

After boiling all that has been run thru the RO, it can just stay in the evaporator until the next day. Do not store any concentrate, but once it all gets to the pans and has a full boil, any micro-organisms have been killed. That can set for a few days if conditions dictate.
You will however be best off if you collect the whole day's sap, concentrate it and boil the same day, still holding what is in the pans at day's end.
I collect my sap first, then start the RO from the sap tank (or tanks, I have 3) and it goes to the head tank. when the head tank gets almost full, I switch valves and start running thru a second time. By then I'm ready to boil and I fire up the evaporator. As the head tank gets low I switch the valves again and RO from a sap tank. It works just fine, you do not need to run each pass as a separate process. Just check the density from time to time so the concentrate does not go above what your RO can handle. My RO does not like over 15%, as I reach 14% I switch the valves and start running sap thru the RO, this brings the % down.
Your RO may do higher than 15%, many do, ones that run a lower pressures don't, mine has a top limit of 300 PSI.

[SognSyrup]

Great info. Thanks guys.

Anyone have tips on shutting down for the day? Draw off all/some? Start again with what's left in the flues?

[VT_K9]

We are on our third year with our CDL Hobby 250. It is a great machine. We looked at the 125 and it felt like we would grow out of it quickly. We were at the bottom limit of the 250. We had 275 taps on a sap puller when we first ran it. Never had a lack of sap. Now we are running full vacuum on 330 taps.

As mentioned above do not store concentrated sap. It will not last long. Run it through the r/o and boil.

We have kept raw sap for a couple days if we could not concentrate and boil in one day. We have stored up to 700 gallons of sap and processed in one day with the 250 and a 2x6 evaporator.

We have three tanks at the sugar house. The first tank (260 gallons) receives the sap from the woods (pumped from a tank at the releases). The sap is run through the RO for pass one. These hobby ROs remove 50% of the fluid....2% sap is now 4% sap. The concentrated sap is run into the second tank (160 gallons). If the sugar content of the sap is low we will recirculate it up to 4%. Then we run it up to the tank (100 gallons) to feed the evaporator. We found with the 2x6 evaporator we have it does not run sap concentrated much more than 8% well (seems to be darker).

So we have a 560 gallon tank in the woods. Pump to a 240. RO to a 160 (maybe recirc.). Then RO to a 100 gallon tank to feed the evaporator. Each f of the tanks is designed to handle more than 50% of the previous tank volume once the sap is run through the RO.

We run all the sap through until the 100 gallon tank is about 3/4 full then we fire up the evaporator. We continue to RO until there is no sap to push up to the 100 gallon tank, stopping (pausing) to allow the evaporator to get ahead. We continue to boil and then run the rinse/wash/rinse cycle of the RO. In our current case we usually are finished cleaning the RO about 30 minutes before we are done boiling. DRAIN the RO and let it sit until the next time. Shut your evaporator down as normal. We wash each tank with hot water every time, including the tank in the woods.

That 700 gallons was an event for us to process. Never had that much before to handle in one day. We turned on the RO at about 0645. We walked out after cleaning at 1445 with 13 gallons of syrup. That was 1/4 of the syrup we made the year before when we had less taps and ran a sap puller.

The RO makes a huge difference in time and wood savings. Good Luck

Mike

[blurr95]

is it okay to store the concentrate in a freezer. I just do this for a hobby with my family and can't boil everyday, and am just starting out with an RO this year.

Jason