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KASON CORPORATION 67-71 East Willow Street Millburn, NJ 07041 Tel: 973-467-8140, ext 211 Fax: 973-258-9533 Website: http://www.Kason.com E-Mail: JLing@Kason.com Model MO-SS Centri-Sifter in 8 Feathers Distillery The best equipment to remove spent grains from their distillery’s discharge stream was found by 8 Feathers Distillery to be Kason Corporation’s Centri-Sifter. Substantially less expensive than alternatives from other manufacturers, the solution simplified equipment needs. Once grain is fermented or distilled, it requires disposal by a means acceptable to the local community. Craft distilleries, often located within a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) service area, require strict limits on solids discharged in the waste stream. Since many craft whiskey distilleries use hammer mills to grind grains, the resulting byproduct is too fine to allow lautering as the grain removal method, so an aggressive process like the Centri-Sifter must be used. When originally presented with 8 Feathers process challenge, Kason Corporation offered the MOS Centri-Sifter with a heavy duty screen as the best separation option – though possible to accomplish with a traditional Vibroscreen, the Centri-Sifter allows higher flow rates while also producing a discharge of spent grain with less remaining free water. After sending a sample of the material to be separated, Kason Corporation conducted a free process test and suggested a screen mesh and paddle design to separate material and minimize the risk of screen blinding. For a small distillery facing these restrictions, the challenge to economically remove spent grains becomes limited and daunting. Trucking of stillage discharge is cost prohibitive with high water content so producers seek solutions to separate grain from liquid for efficient disposal. Before choosing Kason Corporation’s Centri-Sifter, other separation methods identified included passive settling systems, chemical flocculation, or mechanical separation. Among mechanical separation options considered were filter presses, screw presses, and centrifugal separators. Initial studies indicated all these as viable choices where presses are the most expensive and centrifugal sifters are the most cost effective solutions. 8 Feathers Distillery studied these options and concluded that mechanical separation using Kason Corporation’s Centri-Sifter offered the best combination of cost, function and efficiency. Though settling tanks provide effective separation, the process requires multiple holding tanks with excessive time and space requirements. Use of chemical flocculation renders the spent grains unfit for use as animal feed – instead they become solid waste which must be disposed of in landfills. A filter press sized to meet distillery needs requires a large compressor to drive air diaphragm pumps. Without adding some form of solids coagulant to the process stream, the filter cloths require extensive cleaning after each use. The chemicals which enhance the solids collection render the collected grains unacceptable for use as animal feed. These additional equipment and chemical needs make filter presses, though effective, the most expensive option. Screw presses are appropriate for general industrial use but lack features to clean adequately for a distillery. No press fit within budget, flowrate and footprint constraints of 8 Feathers. While mechanical separation is the best solids removal method, Kason Corporation’s Centri Sifter minimizes cost, time, space, and environmental impacts best within the types considered. After purchase and prior to installation, Kason Corporation supplied mechanical drawings to allow 8 Feathers to construct the necessary platform to house the Centri-sifter. Once the unit arrived it was installed without issue and began initial testing immediately. The results were as good, or better, than expected. The unit processed a 1500 gallon, 40% solid test sample fed at 40gpm, without any screen blinding or degradation of performance. The separated grain was suitably dry for transport by truck. Now, the MOS Centri Sifter provided by Kason Corporation is in production at 8 Feathers Distillery and provides a key function in POTW compliance while still allowing captured solids to be used for animal feed in an efficient and cost effective grain separation solution. Links to Videos: Kason at 8 Feathers - Video 1 Kason at 8 Feathers - Video 2 Kason at 8 Feathers - Video 3 Kason at 8 Feathers - Video 4 Kason Centri-Sifter in 8 Feathers Distillery.pdf -
Have a somewhat obscure question for anyone blending liqueurs, absinth, etc who may have to deal with unusual sediments. We're just getting started and are still working out a few kinks with the initial production. My product is a spiced honey liqueur with some colloidal sediments from the botanicals we use in the spice reduction. Essentially we get a gelatinous mass of pectins and other small solids that eventually settles to the bottom of the tank. I can extract the clear top ~90% of the product with no problem, but I'd like to recover as much as I can from the bottom 'sludge', and I'm curious if anyone else has dealt with a similar issue before. The main issue is that the sediments are colloidal and will quickly gum up most regular filters, at least for what I've used at home (coffee filters, cheescloth, fine mesh strainers). I'm hesitant to drop money on a plate and frame filter just because I don't know how well one of those would work. I'm also a bit worried about 'over filtering' and stripping out some flavors, because the product is pretty viscous to begin with. I'm afraid I don't know the exact micron size we want to filter at either. I'm leaning towards using a basket-type centrifuge, although those seem to be either designed for waste veggie oil (and generally not food-safe) or crazy expensive with large-scale beverage processing in mind. My DIY solution is a centrifugal juicer sealed up with food-grade silicone sealant, so we'll see if that pans out or not. I also bought a cheapo plate filter for homebrewing to test the other options. In any case, if y'all have any thoughts, I'd definitely like to hear them! Thanks!
