Fire at Tuthilltown Spirits, NY

[JohninWV]

John McD, I'd be interested in the final package you decided on, how it was implemented, and the cost.

[JohnMcD]

JohninWV,

Alan recommended the SEC Millenium ethanol gas detector (sensor). The whole set up for my square footage if using one sensor with an audible and visual alarm could be done for roughly $2,500. This is estimated on approximately 1,800 square feet in the distillery proper and does not include the tasking room. I know it's a small area, but you would only need to add more sensors for a larger area. The alarms and lights are also available explosion proof, but the three alarm levels are all below an explosive level. There is also a controller that could be connected to your heat source to shut the still down automatically.

I’m no expert on any of this, but I'm sure Alan would be happy to speak with you about it. I hope this helps and it is definitely another tool for us to use in keeping our distillery safe.

Alan's contact information is as follows:

Alan H. Petersen Jr.

Sensor Electronics Corporation

5500 Lincoln Drive

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55436 USA

(T) 952.938.9486

(F) 952.938.9617

© 952.297.6336

www.sensorelectronic.com

Email: apetersen@sensorelectronic.com

[MG Thermal Consulting]

Just to let some of you bigger operators, there are co-gen absorption chillers out there, running off steam to provide down to 42F water.

These chillers do require some water for the condenser which can be supplied by well or a closed circuit cooler or cooling tower.

Regards,

Mike

[clearwaterbrewer]

I know this thread has been out there for a while, I saw it while prepping for my first meeting with the Fire Marshal next week. I am having trouble wrapping my head around making everything explosion-proof for a new craft distillery when humanity survived for several thousand years with open-fired stills... and there are ones still in existence and new ones being put in service.. I cannot help but think that a system properly designed and monitored should never let ethanol vapors of any dangerous level out into the open, for both profit and safety's sake... Don't get me wrong, I believe in safety, but something just does not seem right making an artisan craft distillery look like a petroleum refinery when your business is partly based on the visual aspect of the craft......

[Charles@AEppelTreow]

Firstly, I'd only grant you a 1000 years of distilling tech - and much less than that at scale. And, as with many historic practices, just because humanity survived them, doesn't mean the individual practicioners did.

I had some very interesting conversations with Tuthilltown's Joel at CiderCon this year. One of my take aways is that they are building to be as safe as possible in off-nominal circumstances. Yes, that direct-fired still is 'safe' in the sense that it doesn't blown up immediately upon ignition. So long as everything works, it's 'safe'. What happens with things stop working? What about the surrounding environment and systems? Will they fail, too, and make the problem even worse? My wife's (who is our distiller) answer is that once things are that far off nominal, the correct response is to run away. Fast. A self-preservation plan - not a business preservation plan. And far from a loss prevention plan. Explosion proof isn't for when things are going well. Quite the opposite.

Your system may be designed for safety - but was it constructed with the same care? Operated and maintained?

When the Tuthilltown event occured, I immediately reviewed our operation. Which is only a 20 gal Colonel Wilson still on a commercial stockpot range with overhead ventilation hood. Actually wrote out the hazard analysis and accident projection, rather than keeping it in my head. Wrote our operating rules: no more than 6 proof gallons loaded in. Never load tails after the burner's lit. Stop running if the spirits coming out (temp and proof) exceed the flashpoint. (Chart posted on the wall next to the parrot.) Never run attended (at least don't leave hearing range, period, and visually check every 15 minutes.)

The one failure I can envision that remains a worry - complete pot failure. It shouldn't ever happen. Shouldn't. But, dump the pot, boiling, out the bottom or side with a seam rupture. Now respond. Does it ignite? Does it put out the flame? There's hot liquid all over the floor - can you shut off the gas without walking through it? So, I made Milissa get safety shoes for extra protection. Added foam fire extinguishers. Added LEL sensors (from grainger) in the hood above the still, swapped our HDPE collection container to SS goat diary cans. Reviewed the rules and posted visual reminders. And I even dumped hot stillage out onto concrete pads to get an idea of how fast it cools to below flash point for the max pf-gallon load I set. (Watched with IR thermometer.)

I was inspired to action. I applaud Tuthilltown's commitment to sharing their learning and improvements. My worry is that, as they strive for a world-class operation, what they present will seem _so_ far out of reach to new entrants that people reject it off hand, rather than taking the 'spirit' of it and reviewing their own systems for what _can_ be done with the resources available to them.

[MG Thermal Consulting]

I have sold X-prf chillers to fragrance manufacturers in the past and the amount of answers- "what happens if this happens" amount to pages and pages of replies.

There are so many requirements that are taken for granted as "standard" simply because of serendipity and a one in a million chain of events happening causing a bad accident.

I am fairly certain that the "chain" is difficult to remain linked so the worst doesn't happen, but you can imagine if "luck" doesn't intervene.