GE Merlin RO for sap???

[HHM-07]

brent

It seems to me that if these things would work with all the small guys out there they would be all over the place Those are my thoughts

Dick @ hobby Hill Maples
170 taps 2x4 leader
All on line

[Brent]

Brandon

I have never used a big "maple" RO but there are a few ways to attack this.

1) use DE to pre filter all the sap before it hits the storage tank. This should take out 99% of the bacteria.
2) us a UV on the filtered sap, that is now very clear and the UV should be very effective on, to kill whatever you can and leave it running in the cycle that feeds the RO
3) GE offer a tank on the system as an option that collects a bit of permeate, and I mean a bit, I think only one or two gallons. When demand stops in normal kitchen use, it fills the reserve tank with permeate then shuttles a valve to flush the membrane with this permeate, then with some of this permeate still sitting on the membrane, it shuts everything down. With minimum sugar now on the membrane, very little bacteria should grow. They do it to prevent dissolved solids from migrating through the membrane when it has no operating pressure on it. They say membrane is 99% effective at 80 psi and only 90% effective at 40 psi so you can see the door opening to regular osmosis as the pressure drops. So they surround the membrane with water that has virtually nothing in it.
4) just like the big guys, collect a LOT of permeate and flush the H%*& out of it. For the huge difference in price you do not get an automatic system. You would have to switch around a few hoses or valves.

* this is the way I see it working now. Like I said above, life is full of surprises. We'll see.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Brent,

I hope you are right and I hope it works well. Give it a try and let us know. Do you have a sap hydrometer to test both flows??

[Brent]

Yup, got the sap hydrometer. With any luck it should be so low I can't read it.
I was actually planning to boil down some of the permeate to see how much sugar is getting through. Also been wondering if another quicker and easier test could be done. Diabetic sticks or ??????????

[gmcooper]

Matt, When you get into production you might want to rethink that name. There is a company near us "Royal Flush" they rent those little poly sheds with a seat in them!!!!! It would not be good for your business to get confused with thier business. LOL
Mark

[Russell Lampron]

Brent a refractometer would tell you instantly if there is any sugar in the permeate. That how I check mine to make sure that my membrane isn't passing sugar.

Russ

[NH Maplemaker]

Russ, you were talking about a Dr Cluff who owns Clear Water sytems out in Tucson, Arizona last year! I was just on his site. His systens look like they would work real well for smaller producers!! The CWP SW-100 will do 2000 Gal a day,thats 83 GPH. with a 4"x40" 5 micron filter and a 160 PSI pump. That would work for alot of small producers. They may half to turn it on a few hour before boiling, but most would'nt be able to catch up after it got started for 2 hours. Then he has larger system also. What do you think? Maplemaker

[Brent]

Brent a refractometer would tell you instantly if there is any sugar in the permeate. That how I check mine to make sure that my membrane isn't passing sugar.

Russ

thanks for that idea ... I'll see if my honey refractometer will calibrate to near zero. Just looked at your pictures. We're going to have almost identical set ups except you'll have a real RO.

I've got a Pfaneuf 2x6 with hoods and preheater on order. Even our shacks are about the same size.

[Brent]

Wow this is starting to come together. One of the makers of the coolant pumps we use on the CNC machines we sell also makes a stainless pump with an inverter drive that automatically senses the pressure varies the rpm to give constant pressure up to 140 PSI.
Absolutely perfect.
A regular pump with a pressure relief valve will do a lot of thrashing pumping and by-passing, wasting energy and heating the sap ... when we want to keep it cool and no cavitation froth. This one will have no wasted energy.

[802maple]

I will be very interested to see if this will work. There are membranes specifically made for maple although several others can be used. If you are permeating about a gallon a minute then you will most likely be making less than a quart a minute of concentrate. Good luck