AK2

15 psi or below is considered low pressure. I used to work with high pressure steam, there were a lot more regulations, inspections, and oversight. Our low pressure boilers still require the state fire marshal to inspect every 2 years. Here is what google found for me: https://www.aesteiron.com/blog/constructional-difference-between-low-and-high-pressure-boiler.html Adam

We also dropped Distill x5 due to the high price. Currently I am using TTB Tamer. No where near as sophisticated, but works for me. I believe they charge us around $70 a month??? NOTE: Get all of your data off of Distillx5 before closing the account. I was under the impression I could always access back data (I believe I specifically asked that question before signing up). However, after closing the account, the only way to access back data is to pay them a reactivation fee. I guess technically I can access back data still....but I guess I never thought to ask if there was a charge to do so. Adam

Dzul and mechengineer, I would contact Dave Dunbar. He is usually found on this forum\. He helped us get all of our approvals after I proved to ignorant of the laws to be of much use! Adam

Naven, We feed our separated spent grains to cattle. We do not feed it straight, typically blend it in with hay/other roughage. I do know that it is best to keep feed rations consistent. Keep that in mind when planning how many animals vs. how much wet you will produce (wet cake does have a tendency to mold up, last I knew it does not really effect nutritional value, but I am sure there is a point where you wouldn't want to feed it). I do not know about hogs, we have never fed spent grains to ours. I think the university of Nebraska did a bunch of wet cake feed studies from ethanal plants, maybe google their results. Wet cake from ethanol plants will have a different nutritional value vs. spent grains from a distillery, but it can give you some what of an idea what to look for. Adam

I also use the FP1 from Ferm solutions. I ferment at low temps, does well, now I learn it can handle high temps as well. Will have try a few batches and see what other flavors we get. Adam

I do not have an electric heating element in the still, but I do have them in my home water heater. When the calcium/iron builds up on those elements and the two sides finally touch, my heating element burns itself out. I would contact the manufacturer and check with them, but if it is anything like my water heater heating element I would not let the sides touch. Again, contact the manufacturer for certain. Wedging a piece of copper in between the elements will not help if they are not supposed to be touching (copper is an excellent conductor of electricity). Adam

Good afternoon. We have 15 gallon barrels of 15 month aged rye whiskey. Its 51% rye, 30% wheat, 19% corn let us know if you are interested. Thanks!

I was planning on filtering after dumping as well, 20 micron filter. Thanks for the info on mesh, now I'm thinking 100 mesh might be the way to go!

What size mesh screen are people using in their barrel dump stations? I have a perforated metal base, but am looking into how fine of a mesh I can use on top of the perforated metal base (I think 100 mesh is still too large, my catalog says there is a 300 mesh, but is that too fine?) Thanks in advance to all the answers! Adam

Thank you for the link Dr, and to all those who contributed. I have been asked, NUMEROUS times, on this topic. Good info.

Ours is a 20 HP hammer mill, 7/32 screen for corn, 3/16 screen for barley and wheat. I have three very small grain bins that feed into my mill. I had to put VFD's on the augers to get them slow enough to not amp out the mill. My mill is up on a platform, allowing gravity to feed into my catch hoppers. We grind on our farm and truck the milled grain to the distillery, kind of a cumbersome process BUT I do not have to worry about dust. The mill is in an old commodity building (open on three sides) so not too much of dust explosion risk. The platform works great, but to change screens you need to climb, not exactly an ideal situation. Adam

kckadi, Hudson is right on. There are numerous options out there that are food grade, talk with one of your local water treatment reps. If it is in the budget look at automating the boiler feed chemicals. It wasn't in my budget, and I struggled with keeping things in range. I just got approval from the powers that be to automate the chemical feed system, have not put the system in yet, but will help keep me level. Adam

MG: We ran it through at ambient temp, which for me was right around 62F.

Thanks for the info Silk! Woulda been handy to have this document before I started! Since I did not purchase from Cadot I am assuming that is why I did not get sent this document. Again, thanks for the info! Adam

Hello everyone, I know carbon filtration has been discussed (two posts recently) but I wanted to post my experience with it so others can hopefully learn from my failures and not repeat the same mistakes.....or at least make different ones than I did. Here goes a long post: After much searching, researching, and numerous cold calls I received some answers on the carbon filter set up that I had. Cabot was very helpful, but they only sell carbon by the pallet load, so I had to go with another supplier. Here is what I learned from Cabot: They recommended their product called NORIT GAC1240Plus They stated for best results feed from the top down in my vessel (I thought bottom up would be better) They actually recommended running two vessels, a lead and lag (no explanation as to why). They did not recommend cleaning the carbon once it was spent (they suggested disposal and buying new) I stated I wanted to filter 100 gallons at a time, how long would the carbon last. They responded that 90 days in the "lead" vessel (they assumed I had two vessels). I believe they assumed I was doing 100 gallons per day, which is NOT the case. So I do not really have a good idea how long my carbon will last doing 100 gallons every few weeks or months. Recommended filtering product at 100 proof Recommended flow rate in the vessel I have .5 to 1.5 gpm I purchased three bags from US Water Systems of 600-USW-CARB-SORB US Water Granular Activated Carbon (1 CU/FT per bag). I spoke to one of their techs named Ian and asked what he recommended, this was the product (I am only assuming it is similar to the Cabot product, but for all I know it is completely different). I put all three bags in the filter housing, and flushed with R.O. water top down. After about 50 gallons of R.O. water it appeared that I had removed all the carbon dust. I then started Vodka through the filter. My pump acted strange, like it was dead heading. Then I had a leak in the bottom portion of the cylinder (where the bottom cone clamps on). What I discovered was that I was dead heading the pump (and forcing Vodka out the seal). I did not clean this carbon enough. The fines that remained formed a plug at the bottom screen. I then decided to flush again (as any product coming out was black, and it overwhelmed my secondary filter). I drained as much alcohol out as I could (I am going to add it into my next fermenter just before distillation so it will not be a total loss). I back flushed (bottom up) with 250 gallons of R.O. water. I then forward flushed with 250 gallons of R.O. water. I then back washed with 50 gallons of R.O. water that came out clean. I had to remove the top screen when I back flushed because I again dead headed my pump with a "plug" of carbon dust. After the second flush I restarted Vodka. Here are the top points: Even after the second flush the first 2 gallons had a slight tinge to them I put on a 10 micron filter, this cleared everything up There is much more water trapped in the system than I thought (I drained it best I could, but I am assuming the water hangs up in the carbon bed). I filtered at 100 proof, I had very low proof for a very long time. Here is what I would recommend: Backflush the carbon with R.O. water with the top screen out When backflushing with no top screen keep rates VERY slow, if you go to fast you will lift the bed and you will lose carbon Once done with the first back flushing, flush from top down. Backflush a second time Be prepared to capture the water/vodka combo for a long time (1 gpm does take a while to purge water out) I did not have the courage to try this, but MAYBE you could push air through the bed from the top and get all the water out. I was afraid of compacting the bed, making more dust, or creating a channel through the bed, so I opted to just add vodka at around 1 gpm. Again, sorry for the long post on a topic that has already been covered, but I wanted to share what worked and did not work for me. Hopefully I can save someone reading this some frustration! My best advice is: if you think your carbon is clean, flush it one more time! Adam

In continuation of the Corson saga (and of the numerous posts I have read on here) I have two questions: 1) Has anyone ordered equipment from Corson in the last 18 months and not received their equipment? 2) If you have received Corson equipment has it been in good working order Responses are appreciated. If anyone is willing to share I would love your contact information as well. Mine is kennayadam@gmail.com. Thank you! Adam

Southernhighlander: My interpretation of Class 1 Div 1 is the following: we are only classified as that group when explosive vapors are present under normally operating conditions. Class 1 Div 2 is when explosive vapors can be present under abnormal operations. Is there any chance your customer can review the code with the civil engineer and demonstrate that under normal operation of the still there are no explosive vapors present in the areas he is classifying as Class 1 Div 1? Adam

Schedule 40 steel pipe (still under construction, told it was going to be threaded pipe, haven't seen it yet).

I am working with Rick Wisner. I have not purchased anything yet, but am very close. He has made time for me and explained everything in detail what he can and can not do. I would send him an email to set up a phone call. Again, I have not purchased anything from him yet, but he at least appears to know what he is talking about. Ricks email: rick@wisnercontrols.com

We are indeed still in the building stage, we will present this at our next job meeting. Thank you!

Indy, Yes, the 100 meg seemed too high to us as well. We concurred with other sources that that was false information. As far as the ubiquities, we will consider that option. If we go that route I will call you. Thank you for the insight!

Scott, Thank you for all the information, we are still weighing out all of our options.

Dry point, I have used air in a previous life. It works great as long as you can keep it dry, and are not in the same room with the compressor. I had major issues in the winter when I did not properly maintain my air dryer. I had outside lines that would freeze, preventing the air from doing its job. If all lines are inside this should not pose a problem (or if you are not in a climate that has freezing weather), but I still think you need some type of dryer system. As far as the noise, my system was fairly large and had its own room. On our farm our smaller system is noisy, but you can put up with it (I think it is only 21 CFM and has a 60 gallon tank). As Southern alluded to, make sure you size the air compressor properly and have a large reservoir to draw from so your compressor is not constantly running if you go with air. Adam

Hollow Spirits, Thank you for posting. I can not comment for the same reasons the rest of you can not comment. The words I wish to express are not meant for public. Adam

Do you have a recommendation on a brand that would have a hard drive that copies over itself after a certain amount of time? I am looking at the Arlo Pro 2 but further research suggests it would triple my monthly wifi bill from the 24/7 streaming to the cloud. The best buy rep said six cameras would take 100 mpbs to operate..