Air injection

[3rdgen.maple]

Guys I know this has been discussed in the past but I am left with some pondering questions. I am curious as to any results for those running air injection in their syrup pans and if niter building up in the syrup pan is reduced any at all. Last year was brutal with the stuff and had to do cleanups about every 5 hours of boiling and wondering if air injection helps.

[DrTimPerkins]

I am curious as to any results for those running air injection in their syrup pans and if niter building up in the syrup pan is reduced any at all.

As often happens, the answer depends upon who you ask. Some producers say yes, some say no. From our research (admittedly using only one style/size of evaporator and air injection device) done over two seasons (one year with sap, one year with concentrate), we found absolutely no difference at all in either the thickness of the scale-type niter (measured in hundreds of spots in the front and back pan with an ultrasonic coating thickness gauge) deposited on the pans, or in the sand-type (loose) niter that comes out in the syrup.

One thing that is very different is that the color of the niter (both scale and sand-types) is very light. You make very light-colored syrup with air injection and therefore make very light-colored niter. This may make some people think that the niter thickness is much less (it visually appears thinner due to the light color). Also, there may be some areas of locally thinner niter right underneath the holes in the air injection tubes.

Your mileage may vary.

[3rdgen.maple]

Thanks Dr. Tim Perkins thats the info I was looking for.

[Mark]

What happened with the amount of defoamer you had to use? Some people say they don't have to use any and others say they use just as much.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Last year was my first with a bubbler. I found that I used slightly less de-foamer. My lights, bubbler, and filter press are on the same circuit. One evening when I started the press, the circuit breaker flipped. The bubbler was off for about 30 seconds while I shut off the press and re set the breaker. In that few seconds, the pan boiled over.