Ro sizing

[Ultimatetreehugger]

Any literature out there on sizing an ro? I'm at just under 2000 taps but expect to be at 8000 in the next few years. I sell/ truck all my sap and want to make one trip a day to the sugar house with my 1000 gallon tank. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[fred]

I would get a 2 post expandable. I have one for sale that does 20+ @1300 gal/hr. That would help you now and later. But at 8000 taps that will 2500 gallons of concentrate

[maple flats]

You do not want to R.O. ahead unless you can keep the concentrate cold. When you concentrate the sap you also concentrate the micro-organisms and you raise the temperature. Unless you can cool the concentrate down it will spoil quickly. Proctor concentrates to about 35% sugar and cools the concentrate to about 25-26F.
You would need to cool it to just above a temperature when slush starts to form to hold it for a day or 2, less if just holding for a few hours, but it still needs to be cooled or you will lose some sugar and make darker syrup. The exact temp you would need depends on how much you concentrate and how long you will hold it until you boil it.
Another point, would you have power to run an R.O. where you collect the sap, an R.O. is power hungry.

[fred]

many of the bigger operations are hauling 30%+ several hours with no issues. if your hauling to a neighbor and he boils it relatively fast there will be no problems. besides dark and very dark are going to command premiums soon as more are making light and very little medium through the season.