Dwight,Originally Posted by Locust Farms
It takes about 40-45 minutes to bring 6 gallons of sap at 40° to a nice boil. The nice thing is that it starts to steam at about 120° so I know I'm already making syrup! Watching the aggressive boil in a shallow pan is both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. The first time I saw it I really wished I didn't have to run so far to unplug it.
That's how I add sap. Gravity fed from a bucket above the evaporator through a needle valve that I can adjust to keep the level in the pan constant.
I see...so I guess the next question is if you could trickle it faster if it was near boiling when it goes in the E-vap. I'm thinking yes. Enough to offset the increased energy costs to do so, I don't know. One way to find out tho...
Yep, but I'm thinking that heating 3-4 gph to 180+ wouldn't be that difficult for what I have in mind. I would put a heating element straight up in an asparagus pot (they're tall and narrow) or even inside 2" stainless steel pipe. Trickle cold sap in through a 3/8" tube that runs inside the pot to the bottom and take the warm sap out at the top and into the boiler. There might even be some boiling in the preheater, especially if the pot was insulated.
CE
44° 41′ 3″ N
2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.
It would seem that the answer would have to be... yes. If the primary boiler didn't have to raise the temp of the incoming sap it seems like it would be able to evaporate faster. Using the same energy source for both preheating and boiling shouldn't effect the cost of the system but I would guess that it would reduce the time spent boiling.
This leads me to an unexpected consideration for the larger producers. Why not use a residential water heater for preheating? Residential heaters feed cold water in at the bottom of the tank and draw hot water from the top. If we fed raw sap under simple gravity pressure it would force heated sap out the top into the boiler. Cleaning and maintenance would be a bit of a hassle but from my experience the only real burn on the heating elements comes much later as the sugar concentrates.
I thought of using a water heater for some of my projects, but I don't know what the tank is made from. If it's stainless steel, then okay. Anything else, I would really want to know what it is and be able to inspect the inside. I used a water heater as a reactor vessel for making biodiesel, but I never had to crack one open.
CE
44° 41′ 3″ N
2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.
I don't know what the tanks are made of either. Should be pretty easy to find out. Most of us just assume that when we use water from the tap it's food grade. Sure would be handy it the liners were stainless.
Might want to give a quick rinse between a batch of biodiesel and the syrup.
The hot water tanks that I have used cut apart were either glass lined (ceramic) or galvanized.I don't know what the tanks are made of either. Should be pretty easy to find out. Most of us just assume that when we use water from the tap it's food grade. Sure would be handy it the liners were stainless.
Might want to give a quick rinse between a batch of biodiesel and the syrup.
Dwight
If you getting increased evaporation rate with a fan but need more energy to maintain a boil, is the increased evaporation rate because of the additional energy applied or from the wind? A hood will increase the evaporation rate on a rig over a pan without one especially if boiling outside. Another thought is adding the heating element in your main pan while using propane instead of preheating with it. This would increase the efficiency.
Most are glass lined steel, but you can get stainless steel....pricey tho. I wouldn't use a used water heater for syrup..there's some nasty stuff in the bottom of those. A new one dedicated for sap could work.
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