Home built R.O. for single pass to 7.5-8 brix at 12- 15 g.p.h.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

I know there is a lot of different home built R.O. systems out there. What I'm wanting to do is as follows: Build a system that can take my 1.8 average brix sap in a single pass through the R.O. system to 7.5-8 brix at a rate of 12-15 g.p.h. of concentrate. This is my average rate of boiling. Any ideas are welcome. If you have a system similar to this please include parts details along with pump size and details, thank you.

[Bricklayer]

https://sites.google.com/site/mattatuckmadnessmaplesyrup/home/homemade-reverse-osmosis-system

There is a similar version of this unit for sale in the classifieds might work for you.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I know there is a lot of different home built R.O. systems out there. What I'm wanting to do is as follows: Build a system that can take my 1.8 average brix sap in a single pass through the R.O. system to 7.5-8 brix at a rate of 12-15 g.p.h. of concentrate. This is my average rate of boiling. Any ideas are welcome. If you have a system similar to this please include parts details along with pump size and details, thank you.

My system does this closely to your specifications. I have the same evaporator as you. My RO uses a single post Dow XLE 4040. Coming from the concentrate side there is a tee that directs flow to the concentrate flow meter on one side, and the recirculation line on the other. Each line is controlled with a SS needle valve. The recirculation line simply goes back to the Procon pump where it tees in with the raw sap supply.

I am getting about 70-73% water removal on one pass at 13 gallons/hour of concentrate flow and about 37 gph for permeate flow. So, it is processing 50 gph of sap in this configuration. The balance of the flow is recirculation. By the way, there is no recirculation pump. It's all bypass flow.

I close the bypass needle valve enough to get about 180 psi, then close the concentrate valve to get about 0.22 gpm. Then, fine tune the bypass so the permeate is at 0.61. This is how I achieve the 50 gph outflow with 13 gpm to concentrate, and 37 gph to permeate.

On average I am boiling 8% sap. With a really clean membrane and good starting sugar of 2.5%, it will put out greater than 9% on the first pass. I do not run it through a second time either. This setup keeps up with my boiling rate without a problem . As soon as I have 8 or 10 gallons of concentrate I light a fire. It gives me time to eat dinner.

Last year I ran it so I took out half the water in the first pass, then another half in the second pass. What I do now is so much easier and I wind up boiling the concentrate sooner, so I am getting lighter syrup. The recirculation helps prevent fouling.

You could probably do this without recirculation but it will foul the membrane too quickly. I'm happy to share any insight and answer any questions. I have been extremely pleased with my RO this year.

Pumps:
1 HP shallow well feed pump
1.5 HP motor driving a SS Series 5 330 GPH Procon pump. Motor is large but I wanted to be able to expand.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

My system does this closely to your specifications. I have the same evaporator as you. My RO uses a single post Dow XLE 4040. Coming from the concentrate side there is a tee that directs flow to the concentrate flow meter on one side, and the recirculation line on the other. Each line is controlled with a SS needle valve. The recirculation line simply goes back to the Procon pump where it tees in with the raw sap supply.

I am getting about 70-73% water removal on one pass at 13 gallons/hour of concentrate flow and about 37 gph for permeate flow. So, it is processing 50 gph of sap in this configuration. The balance of the flow is recirculation. By the way, there is no recirculation pump. It's all bypass flow.

I close the bypass needle valve enough to get about 180 psi, then close the concentrate valve to get about 0.22 gpm. Then, fine tune the bypass so the permeate is at 0.61. This is how I achieve the 50 gph outflow with 13 gpm to concentrate, and 37 gph to permeate.

On average I am boiling 8% sap. With a really clean membrane and good starting sugar of 2.5%, it will put out greater than 9% on the first pass. I do not run it through a second time either. This setup keeps up with my boiling rate without a problem . As soon as I have 8 or 10 gallons of concentrate I light a fire. It gives me time to eat dinner.

Last year I ran it so I took out half the water in the first pass, then another half in the second pass. What I do now is so much easier and I wind up boiling the concentrate sooner, so I am getting lighter syrup. The recirculation helps prevent fouling.

You could probably do this without recirculation but it will foul the membrane too quickly. I'm happy to share any insight and answer any questions. I have been extremely pleased with my RO this year.

Pumps:
1 HP shallow well feed pump
1.5 HP motor driving a SS Series 5 330 GPH Procon pump. Motor is large but I wanted to be able to expand.
Urban Sugarmaker,
Your setup sounds exactly like what I want. Would you be willing to share any photos or parts list of your build? I can PM you my email if you would like.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Urban Sugarmaker,
Your setup sounds exactly like what I want. Would you be willing to share any photos or parts list of your build? I can PM you my email if you would like.

Yes. PM me your email. Mine is PLC controlled but you don't really need to do that. You could also go with a smaller motor.

[theschist]

Urban Sugarmaker,
Your setup sounds exactly like what I want. Would you be willing to share any photos or parts list of your build? I can PM you my email if you would like.

Can I piggyback on that PM? I would like to set that up for next year (not gonna pour any more money into it this year!!) Thanks.