Mash Cooker w/ steam inj.~ No boiler??

[johnb]

I have steam injection. I noticed that the water in the steam making tank, I don't refer to it a a boiler because the pressure is so low. I have a 5 lb blow off/ vacuum valve on it and a 3" stainless lyne arm that the steam flows through to my 300 gallon mash tanks. Any way. the water in there looks milky after a couple of runs. Should I be concerned about this? I have just dumped it out every so often, Should I change it out after every boil? I have only run 8 batches so far. The first two turned out VERY well. Subsequent batches not as well. Thoughts anyone?

Thanks,

JB

[Silk City Distillers]

As you are producing steam from your boiler (it's a boiler, call a spade a spade), you are leaving behind all the minerals and metals, etc etc that are not volatile. These will eventually build up to the point that you see, and will continue to concentrate until you start getting scale build up on your boiler walls and elements. If you have elements, you might notice them getting build up as well.

This is why process boilers have blow down systems on them, to replace the mineral/metal laden water with water of a lower concentration. You should dump and refill. If you don't want to, you can use distilled water as well. If you have a reverse osmosis system, you can use that water as well. The higher the water purity, the longer it will take for the mineral level to build up.

Careful with your homegrown boiler.

[Southernhighlander]

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[johnb]

A rose by any other name is still a rose ( or a spade LOL!) You are exactly right James That is just what is happening. I am implementing a program of doing a cook then a strip then dump the water and rinse then see if things improve. my production volume dropped drastically, I am thinking that all that excess mineral deposits were playing havoc on my fermentation. It was strange though. By all appearances the ferment went well. The drop in brix was pretty much the same, the stripping run came out about the same volume and ABV. But on the spirit run it went from heads to tails way way faster with very little hearts yield. Then the wash in the pot began to boil in surges rather than evenly. I didn't change any settings, (It is a 60 gallon oil bath pot) it was going along well for 2 hours then poof, the boil became un-even. Any thought on that?

Boiling water is quite dangerous under any pressure. Thank you for the warning. I respect it greatly. For what it's worth, the workmanship is quite good on my "Home grown boiler" there is a float valve to ensure it does not boil dry and 5 psi pressure and vacuum valve plus another ball valve in the lyne arm so that I can release any pressure before I open any manway or something else. I have gauges to monitor temp and pressure inside the tank. Do you have any suggestions as to something else that I am not aware of that I should implement?

[Silk City Distillers]

Unless your boiler was foaming excessively, and carrying a significant amount mineral laden water out the lyne arm and into the mash, I'd look elsewhere. The steam itself should be generally devoid of metals and minerals, and foaming is rare without other impurities being introduced. Did your low water cutoff trigger? Did you use an excessive amount of water?

I'd look somewhere else regarding the unexpected drop in yield. Potential infection is always my first thought, but if you weren't able to maintain a steady power input into your pot, and were boiling in fits and starts, I can imagine all sorts of potential smearing between heads/tails/hearts. Seems like a long shot though.

[johnb]

No, there wasn't any foaming, the water cut off is working properly as well. I did not notice an excess of water used either. Infection is always a possibility.

There are 3 heating elements in the oil, I only had on two. Could be possible that created an uneven heat but they are all down low and a good 6 to 10" from the wash, but anything is possible. I had turned one off because the oil temp was being maintained according to the thermometer with only two of them cycling. The learning curve is steep at this point with new equipment.

Here's what I do. Let me know if I am goofing up somewhere?

I mash, ferment, and strip in the same vessel. I use mostly wheat. Take it up to 185* for an hour then remove the steam pipes from the tank and wash them, let air dry. let the mash cool down to 155 add malted barley and let for an hour. I have about 16 brix at that point. I have found that if it sits overnight that the brix gets up to 18. In the morning I cool it to pitching temp, keep it at a happy temp (cooling coil to prevent overheating) till the brix are down and she assumes room temp. Next, put the steam tubes back in heat her up and strip. I have been getting about 55 gallons of 30 to 35% ABV in my stripping runs. That's the wines that go into my 60 gallon spirit still.

[Roger]

Don't know about your yield, but one reason your boil might be going up and down is because you may have set your boiler tank refill float too low. If the tank has to get quite low before it replenishes, it will draw in a disproportionate amount of cold water, which cools down the remainder. Then the whole boiler tank has to heat back up.

The same thing can happen with a conventional boiler if the condensate return float is set too low to the water fill line on the boiler itself. Just a thought.

[johnb]

Hi Roger,

It's not the boiler that is surging. It is actually preforming very well. I will be adding a water softener to the supply line to it to reduce the mineral build up along with a regular drain & rinse program to better maintain it.

The boiling surge is in the spirit still. There are 3 elements in the pedestal base. It is a Groen steam jacketed pot that we run oil in the jacket with heating elements in the pedestal base. I was running just two of them. The best theory I have at the moment is that the two that were closest together were on and that created a hot spot so when the elements cycled that one area of the pot was hotter than the rest. You'd think that the oil would disperse that heat somewhat evenly being mounted down in the base but it's the only thing that really makes any sense. Once things are all cooled down I will go through the process again with all three elements on. If the surging persists it will be back to the drawing board. Here's hoping, and thank you all for the input.

JB