Please help me with a home built RO thanks!

[john henry]

I have been gathering up items for a simple home built RO. My current tap count has been around 1,000. My evaporator will process @ 180+ GPH. I work a day job and would like to shorten my long evenings and Saturdays... I am not looking for high concentrate, just interested in saving some time and wood without breaking the bank. I have a 230VAC 1-1/2 HP motor and plan to couple up a 330 GPH procon pump to it. It will have a pre filter, feed pump, low pressure switch and high pressure switch, contactor controls, flow meters etc. I plan to use 2 4"x40" vessels and membranes plumbed up in parallel. Can I run this to remove @ 50% of the water in one pass and if so what could I expect performance wise per hour? I admit that I don't think very well in RO terminology. So if you have figures for me please say this much water removed per hour. Maybe I need some suggestions also and my setup could use some critique. My goal would be to start concentrating several hours before boiling and continue to concentrate while boiling and use up all of the sap on hand that day. Also a suggestion on sourcing 2 decent membranes would be a help too. Thanks for your help!!!

[maple flats]

You might get close to 50% removal, my bare bones RO with a 2 HP motor gets 70-75% removal when run at 275 PSI and does it at about 250 GPH raw sap. Mine is plumbed in series with 2 membranes 4x40".

[BAP]

As far as membranes go, people have had really good luck buying them from MES, Maple Expert Solutions.
https://www.mapleexperts.com/supplies/?category=Membranes

[Wise Maple]

I would advise you to talk to Frank at MES , we have been very satisfied with membranes from them.

[Chasefamily]

I have been gathering up items for a simple home built RO. My current tap count has been around 1,000. My evaporator will process @ 180+ GPH. I work a day job and would like to shorten my long evenings and Saturdays... I am not looking for high concentrate, just interested in saving some time and wood without breaking the bank. I have a 230VAC 1-1/2 HP motor and plan to couple up a 330 GPH procon pump to it. It will have a pre filter, feed pump, low pressure switch and high pressure switch, contactor controls, flow meters etc. I plan to use 2 4"x40" vessels and membranes plumbed up in parallel. Can I run this to remove @ 50% of the water in one pass and if so what could I expect performance wise per hour? I admit that I don't think very well in RO terminology. So if you have figures for me please say this much water removed per hour. Maybe I need some suggestions also and my setup could use some critique. My goal would be to start concentrating several hours before boiling and continue to concentrate while boiling and use up all of the sap on hand that day. Also a suggestion on sourcing 2 decent membranes would be a help too. Thanks for your help!!!

Hi John i tried to send you a PM but i have a lot of time spent researching and figuring out how i would build one, and also have a bunch of parts from this.

[john henry]

Chase family - thanks for your reply I think I am set up to receive private messages now.

[montnut]

Your membranes are the slowest part of the process. What ever your membranes process in 24 hrs is what you will get.

[Woody77]

I am also starting the ro journey. I'm also a ro moron. I can build anything so I plan to build a unit. I under stand hoo they work but don't have a clue what to get for the build or what that component does. Is there anyone who has a list of what is required to build a system. I'm looking to process no more than 500 taps worth in a 8 hr day.

[maple flats]

Search this site, at least one thread has been posted with a complete list of components they used.

[scottdevine]

Search this site, at least one thread has been posted with a complete list of components they used. complete parts list here...https://sites.google.com/view/mattatuckmadnessmaplesyrup/parts-list-for-ro

[needmoremaples]

Just want to add my results with the mattatuck smaller membranes. I did two circuits one was 450 gpd (3 -150 membranes in series) total and one was 600 ( 2-300 gpd membranes in series) with this I was pulling a gallon of water out in 11 minutes. I never had a way to measure my fresh sap processing so I was assuming it was double my water removal. I paid about 450 for my setup. This year I'm running one 4x40 membrane.

[john henry]

I thought I should post the results of my home build. I built the unit with a 1" feed pump / a 1.5 H.P. 230 volt motor driving a Procon 330 pump / with 2 4x40 vessels in series. So I thought someone may want to know the results for their future builds. Season average of permeate removal was @ 90 - 110 GPH depending on sap temp, concentration, and getting close to needing a rinse etc. This was running at @ 225 - 250 psi. For this season I Added a 3rd vessel in series to the first two. Running at 200 - 210 PSI averaging closer to 150 gallons of permeate removal an hour. It drops to @ 120 gph when the concentration is getting high. I haven't tried running it at 250 psi because I am content with the @ 150 gph removal and thought by running at the lower pressure I could keep my fouling to a minimal.

[talox]

I dont Have much to add, As this will be my 1st year processing with an RO . Also Imstrictly a hobby producer and just trying to save boil times and cost since I Boooil with a turkey fryer.

I followed the plans from souly rested. and plan to fire it tonight for the 1st time.

https://soulyrested.com/2019/01/08/build-your-own-reverse-osmosis-system-for-maple-syrup/

[bowhunter]

Here's my comments. Plumb the membranes is series. One of the keys to keeping the membrane clean for a long time is keeping the flow high enough. The 330 GPH pump will not pump enough to meet that minimum flow requirement for parallel operation but is just fine for series. You can use an MES, Filmtec XLE or NF 270 membrane. A lot of guys are using the MES membranes..they just require a little more pressure to get the same performance as the XLE or the NF270. MES is less expensive. I would recommend you use concentrate recirculation to control the pressure and keep the membrane as clean as you can for as long as you can. This means you split the concentrate flow out of the last membrane using two needle valves. The valve on the concentrate stream you use to control the concentrate flow rate. The valve on the recirculation line you use to control the system pressure and to indirectly control the water flow and sugar content.

Here's my estimate of your system performance

Basis: 1.85% inlet sugar, 35 F average sap temperature, 50% water removal and operating pressure of 200 psi, with XLE membranes.

Sap Process Rate = 200 GPH
Concentrate Flow = 102 GPH
Permeate Flow = 98 GPH
Sugar Content of Concentrate = 3.9%

I think your system will do even better when it's clean.

[therealtreehugger]

I would recommend you use concentrate recirculation to control the pressure and keep the membrane as clean as you can for as long as you can. This means you split the concentrate flow out of the last membrane using two needle valves. The valve on the concentrate stream you use to control the concentrate flow rate. The valve on the recirculation line you use to control the system pressure and to indirectly control the water flow and sugar content.



This means restricting the pump - I have an RO bucket kit I used last year, and understand how putting another needle valve can help you regulate overall flow, but how much is putting too much strain on the pump?