Concepts/Planning

[Amber Gold]

Hi All,

I've been researching RO's in here and wanted see if I had the concepts.

Given:
2x6 raised flue evaporator
steam hood w/ preheater
Boil 20 hrs per week
Incoming sap at 2.0%

Assumptions:
Evap. rate 38 gph
Sap production at 1 gpd/tap

Based off this information I figure that I can handle about 110 taps

If I was to gather 770 gallons per week, using the rule of 86, I would have approximately 770/(86/2)=18 gallons of syrup with 20 hours of boiling time.

If I used an RO and raised the sugar content to 10% (not sure if this is the max or not) I would still yield 18 gallons of syrup, but would reduce the volume to 43/(86/10)=20% of the original volume to 770*20%=154 gallons and the boiling time to 4 hours.

Now, if I wanted to still boil 20 hours per week, I could increase the number of taps to 550 and produce 3840 gallons of sap, reduced to 770 gallons, the original number of gallons I can boil per week.

I'm trying to plan ahead for an RO next summer and wanted to see if my calculations and assumptions are appropriate. This will allow me to budget for the RO and collection system and locate the taps.

Thanks for the help.

Josh

[tuckermtn]

we started with a raised flu 2 x 6 leader on a very inefficent homemade arch..
we averaged 25 gph (no pre-heater/hood) First season we ran 135 taps very easily...second season 250 - Too many...now we have a 2.5 x 8.

rest of your logic sounds good...

there are a few folks on here that have a lot of taps, small evaps, and the RO...


good for you to be thinking that far ahead and planning...best of luck...

[maplwrks]

Josh,
There Was A Day When The Size Of The Evaporator Would Dictate The Number Of Taps You Should Have. Now With ROs This Is Not The Case. The Size Of The RO Can Dictate How Many Taps Your Rig Can Handle. A 300gph Ro Will Easily Handle 500 Taps With A 2x6. You're Doing The Right Thing By Planning, It'll Pay Off In The End.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

Planning is great......but plan bigger than you could possibly think you'll be, because chances are you'll get there sooner than you think.

[Amber Gold]

Mike, I checked out your pics and you've got a nice setup. That's amazing that you've got 3500 taps using a 2.5'x8' evaporator. It looks like you're a good example of what a small evaporator and RO can do. I thought I was being pretty ambitious figuring 550 taps for my 2x6. Are you treating this like a full-time job during the maple season and boiling all day, most days? I was only planning on boiling all weekend and mid-week, but if I can find the taps I don't see why I wouldn't boil more during the week after work.

Breezy Lane, why does your forced draft system come in from the back of the arch? Is that what all of the wholes in the back of the fire box are for?

If I get a 300 gph RO does that mean it'll process 300 gallons per hour, and if so, to what finished sugar content assuming sap coming in is at 2%? About how much do you figure a new or used 300 gph RO should go for?

My plan is to find as many taps as I can around town and expand as I get them. Unfortunately I don't have any sugars on my property and have to rely on others for my sap supply. This may limit how big I can get.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

It comes into the back because that is where the air chamber gets divided into under fire air and over fire air by 2 dampers. the blower is also out of the way and outside.