Amber Gold
02-08-2010, 11:23 AM
I'm applying for the USDA grant to get an RO for next season and I'm filling the paperwork now and I have some questions. I have a 2.5x8 evaporator (say 70 gph) and would like to stop expanding in the 1000-1500 tap range...don't know if I'll get there, but it would be nice.
I was looking at the different RO systems and from what I've read on here, Lapierre or CDL is the way to go. Everyone has their opinions on which is better, but what's the actual difference between the two?
What happened to the 150, 300, and 600 gph naming convention on the RO systems? They're all 125, 250, and 600 ratings. Did they drop the ratings down to what they actually do at sap temp.?
I'm thinking that a 250 would be good for now and a 5-600 would be too big. Is a 250 expandable to 500 (or 600)? I'm wondering if I started with the 250 now and I did get to 1500 taps if I could expand it to a 600 gph machine.
With the 250 gph machine, if I run it as a single pass to 8%, how much concentrate am I producing? I'm guessing it's around 60 gph.
If recirculating, how much water is actually removed per hour? If I got to 1500 taps, could I recirculate w/ the 250 during the day while I'm at work and boil for 4 hrs at night and be able to process it all in an average day? I'm thinking I'd also put a UV light in-line to kill any bacteria and maintain sap quality.
Do I have this concept correct? Using the rule of 86, if I have 1500 gal of 2% sap and I concentrate it to 10%, then I've reduced the 1500 gal of raw sap to 300 gal of 10% concentrate, so I'd boil that in 4-5 hrs and produce 35 gal of syrup. If I went to 14% then I'd be boiling 210 gal of concentrate producing 35 gal of syrup in 3 hrs.
Thanks
I was looking at the different RO systems and from what I've read on here, Lapierre or CDL is the way to go. Everyone has their opinions on which is better, but what's the actual difference between the two?
What happened to the 150, 300, and 600 gph naming convention on the RO systems? They're all 125, 250, and 600 ratings. Did they drop the ratings down to what they actually do at sap temp.?
I'm thinking that a 250 would be good for now and a 5-600 would be too big. Is a 250 expandable to 500 (or 600)? I'm wondering if I started with the 250 now and I did get to 1500 taps if I could expand it to a 600 gph machine.
With the 250 gph machine, if I run it as a single pass to 8%, how much concentrate am I producing? I'm guessing it's around 60 gph.
If recirculating, how much water is actually removed per hour? If I got to 1500 taps, could I recirculate w/ the 250 during the day while I'm at work and boil for 4 hrs at night and be able to process it all in an average day? I'm thinking I'd also put a UV light in-line to kill any bacteria and maintain sap quality.
Do I have this concept correct? Using the rule of 86, if I have 1500 gal of 2% sap and I concentrate it to 10%, then I've reduced the 1500 gal of raw sap to 300 gal of 10% concentrate, so I'd boil that in 4-5 hrs and produce 35 gal of syrup. If I went to 14% then I'd be boiling 210 gal of concentrate producing 35 gal of syrup in 3 hrs.
Thanks