Some Simple Pump Questions

[Pistol Pete]

Hi Guys- I have some very simple questions that I just can't seem to find the answers to. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Let's say I have a tank full of distilled high proof ethanol that I now need to dilute with water down to 80 proof. My questions are:

Question #1: How do I pump/transfer the ethanol into a mixing tank? (Preferably without blowing up.)

Question #2: How do I know how much ethanol I have pumped from Tank A into Tank B?

These seem like they should be such simple questions but so far I haven't found any answers. Thanks again.

[grehorst]

Hi Guys- I have some very simple questions that I just can't seem to find the answers to. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Let's say I have a tank full of distilled high proof ethanol that I now need to dilute with water down to 80 proof. My questions are:

Question #1: How do I pump/transfer the ethanol into a mixing tank? (Preferably without blowing up.)

Question #2: How do I know how much ethanol I have pumped from Tank A into Tank B?

These seem like they should be such simple questions but so far I haven't found any answers. Thanks again.

Our ways are not the only way to do this-

#1 We use an air powered pump (someone posted some model numbers in the forums- search for "pumps"). We also will sometimes take a smaller collection tank and lift it over our blending tanks with the fork lift and let gravity do it's thing.

#2 We have our blending tanks on scales and go by weight.

Good luck!

[Artesian Distillers]

Hi Guys- I have some very simple questions that I just can't seem to find the answers to. Any help or thoughts would be appreciated.

Let's say I have a tank full of distilled high proof ethanol that I now need to dilute with water down to 80 proof. My questions are:

Question #1: How do I pump/transfer the ethanol into a mixing tank? (Preferably without blowing up.)

Question #2: How do I know how much ethanol I have pumped from Tank A into Tank B?

These seem like they should be such simple questions but so far I haven't found any answers. Thanks again.

HI... great question..

I know they sort of force you into an explosion proof stainless steel pump (they being fire department). Having said that, you could mortage your house for one of these but since housing market is in slumps, you may not be so lucky.. I am using a regular sanitary transfer pump.. 125 bucks on Ebay.

to control your ratio.. You will need a liquid batch controller.. this includes a flowmeter, valve and controller.. In your case two valves and 2 flow meters.

hope this point you in the right direction.

cheers.

[daveflintstone]

I weigh it in 55 gallon drums because I only have a 500lb floor scale, then I raise it up and gravity flow it into the blending tank. I do the same with the water. I'd like to have load cells under my blending tank so I could just fill and weigh at the same time, but those are too costly right now.

I have an explosion proof pump, but gravity flow is just too easy.

[Pistol Pete]

HI... great question..

I know they sort of force you into an explosion proof stainless steel pump (they being fire department). Having said that, you could mortage your house for one of these but since housing market is in slumps, you may not be so lucky.. I am using a regular sanitary transfer pump.. 125 bucks on Ebay.

to control your ratio.. You will need a liquid batch controller.. this includes a flowmeter, valve and controller.. In your case two valves and 2 flow meters.

hope this point you in the right direction.

cheers.

Thanks everyone for the info I really appreciate it. I've been looking and researching and generally coming up with nothing. From what I gather, most people are using an air powered pump, which means I would have to buy an air compressor and pump separately..and if I wanted to know how much I've pumped then buy a separate batch controller? That or weigh it on a scale. It just seems like the whole process is so complicated for something that should be so simple...

If anybody has any other info or ideas it would be appreciated. Thanks again.

(PS. Artesian, do you have a link or model information for the sanitary pump you are using? Thanks.)

[Denver Distiller]

If anybody has any other info or ideas it would be appreciated. Thanks again.

You asked----buy some pails instead. Or use gravity. You likely don't need a pump for spirits.

[delaware_phoenix]

I use SS barrels for some of my spirits, and I use a small hand pump to pump into 25 liter demijohns, and then schlep them down the stairs into the bottling tank (weighing each DJ in the process, then subtracting it's tare). This has worked for my very small scale so far. (My tanks only have a 2" triclamp fitting at the top. So no barrel dumping valve on the side )

This method doesn't work as well for pumping low wines into the still; it just takes too long . So I got a little pump from St Pats on DD's recommendation and GW Kent has straight and curved barrel racking tubes with 1 1/2" triclamp fittings so you can hook them up to your little pump using sanitary fittings and hose.

[Scott @ Twenty2Vodka]

Everything for us is done by weight, we have a 1,000lb floor scale which we use to gauge and blend our spirits in batches under 1,000lb...

Hey Delaware_Pheonix, we modified some of our SS tanks to give us a side valve for easy emptying. We use a Stainless Thru Wall tank fitting to give us a standard thread that could then accept any number of attachments/valves/or other fittings. We purchased the fitting from McMaster-Carr and I installed it myself (took a dremel to cut a hole in the tank).

Here's the link to the part

http://www.mcmaster.com/#through-wall-tank-fittings/=9o752q

The stainless options are costly, but they could save you some very real time if you are pumping by hand.

Attached is a picture of one of our fittings. I think this is part #6696K62

-Scott

[Pistol Pete]

Thanks for the responses.

So are you guys just using regular old digital floor scales or some kind of specialized explosion proof ones?

[Scott @ Twenty2Vodka]

Here's the link to the company we purchased our scale from. http://www.arlynscales.com/Industrial-Scales-s/2.htm

So far, it hasn't hinted at the possibility of exploding, but I do have a fire extinguisher next to it in case Just joking, I think maybe RE the explosion proof you are thinking of a pump instead?

Here's a pic of our scale. The thing behind it is our RO system.

-Scott

[Pistol Pete]

Thanks Scott!

I guess my question is...if one were to be weighing high proof spirits, and one were to accidentally spill said high proof spirits onto the scale, shouldn't the scale be explosion proof to prevent fire, explosion etc? Or am I just over thinking the whole process?

[daveflintstone]

Thanks Scott!

I guess my question is...if one were to be weighing high proof spirits, and one were to accidentally spill said high proof spirits onto the scale, shouldn't the scale be explosion proof to prevent fire, explosion etc? Or am I just over thinking the whole process?

I have the same type of scale as Scott. Scales are available in explosion proof models, but that is intended to protect against explosive atmosphere environments. I don't think weighing spirits is a concern.

[Pistol Pete]

Thanks Dave- I appreciate it!