hydrasieve

[Hudson bay distillers]

morning all , i was wondering if anyone has had any experience with a hydra sieve static screen . we have a chance to pick one up and any info would be great . our mash bill is 100 % barley and a 3 water infusion mash , mash tun has lauter pipes  for first and second water . were hoping to use hydra sieve for third water , this would allow us to pump third water and spent  grain out of the mash tun as a slurry  instead of having to shovel it out .  it seems like this would solve the brain twizzler of shovelling spent grain , makes sense in my mind but there lots of things bouncing around in my mind that only make sense in there .  

 

https://www.andritz.com/products-en/group/separation/screens-drains-presses/hydrasieve-static-screen

 

tim 

[Glenlyon]

Hey Tim, this sounds really interesting - do you have any idea as to the cost?

[Hudson bay distillers]

were not really settled on a price yet but if im sure it will work i plan on going to look at it closer , it comes out of a shut down brewery so im hoping it will work with our mash bill . 

[Julius]

Would love to hear how this turns out!

[Hudson bay distillers]

ya i ll keep you posted if we go ahead with it , wish i knew the pro and cons of running one ahead of time . 

tim 

[Hudson bay distillers]

here a update on the hydrasieve static screen . we decided to go for it and give it a try .

we have some modifications in mind they will all depend on how well it works as is . if it works as is then we wont mess with it .

the first modification will be the clear water discharge, we will be adding triclamp fittings instead of screw in pipe thread . next will be to add a 2 inch pipe with holes or T's in it to the top of the weir . from the factory it is designed to pump into a small holding tank at top then over flow the weir and down the screen . this in my mind would end up with solids build up in bottom of holding tank that would then need to be cleaned . so i think pumping to the top of the weir will keep solids out of the holding tank , one less thing to clean out . next modification if need be will be to change the stand it sits on to one that is hinged giving us the ability to tilt it back decreasing the angle and slowing down the rate  the grain falls . slower it falls the more time it has to drop the water thru screen . now if the grain is still to wet we have the ability to  tilt it way back add rubber spring blocks to the mounting frame and then add vibrating motor , then like a vibrasieve rely on vibration and a slight angle to move solids down the screen instead of just gravity . 

now if it still doesn't do the job we want then im out of bright ideas , lets just hope it will work as is with no modifications of the rate the solids come down .  

as far as setting it up to work with the mash tun here the plan .... when the third water is ready to be discharged from the mash tun  the slury  of third water and spent grain is pumped out of the mash tun thru the hydrasieve and returned to the mash tun as it circulates the third water can be sprayed around to wash the solids out and give the mash tun a quick rinse . eventually all the solids should be out and third water can remain in the mash tun as tomorrows first water and temp maintained over night .  now because were loosing water volume to hydrating the next batch of grist  we can rinse the hydrasieve with hot pressure water to clean it.  add that water to the third water volume to bring  to the level we need for next mash . at a rate of 30 gallons per 100 water temp should be stable enough to be easily held over till morning when it will be  circulated from the mash tun thru the grist hydrator  with new grist and away we go again . 

now im sure there will be some changes in the process as we go along as it always is when adding a new piece of kit so if anyone can spot a flaw in the pre plan please share . good advice always trumps trial and error . 

tim 

[Hudson bay distillers]

had a great discovery while acid bathing the hydraseive ......three wing nuts and tada the screen can be lifted up for easy cleaning of screen and collection area . im super impressed with the quality of the construction of this unit . 

tim 

[Michaelangelo]

Would love to see this in action if you can video it. We experimented with something homemade but similar built the proto out of plywood and worked well, but too slow and had a back up we had to start and stop three times before finishing. 

[Hudson bay distillers]

i ll sure try and make a video when its up and running , as far as volume is concerned i cant find any accurate info because it all depends on the material your dewatering and the concentration of solids . the recommendations from the manufacturer cover everything from sewage waste plants to distilleries .  what type of grist were you working with    michaelangelo , and if your set up didnt work what did you end up using . 

tim 

[Silk City Distillers]

Don’t mess with the weir at the top, that’s critical.

Its to force the liquid into a sheet like flow over the wedge wire screen.  Without the top weir the liquid will stream right down and 90% of the screen won’t ever see liquid.  The wider the slow the slower the flow.  These guys know what they are doing.

You need to level the sieve so that you have perfect flow over the full weir.

You need to clean it anyway, pump some additional water through at the end to clear the weir box at the top.

[Hudson bay distillers]

thanks silk that makes perfect sense good advice  , what do you think of the idea of putting a false bottom in that weir box so that it only holds 5 or 10 gallons  . that top box is 51 inches deep and 28 inches wide by 22 inches the other way . my rough calculations is thats about 136 gallons of liquid . and im thinking it would be full of spent grain  by time a guy ran a batch thru , we would be going from shovelling the mash tun to shovelling the hydraseive . scooping out a bit at the end wouldnt be a biggy but i think 136 gallons would suck lol .  maybe welding in a false bottom would distribute the material evenly like you mentioned and only have a small amount of spent grain held up to be cleaned out at the end . 

tim 

[Silk City Distillers]

Ok, now I follow, usually the weir box isn't that large, a couple gallons at most.  I think you are on the right track welding in some plates to reduce the volume.

[Hudson bay distillers]

i take it you have seen these before silk , have you ever seen one used for dewatering grain . 

tim 

[Silk City Distillers]

Not for grain, but for other solids-laden liquid/slurry.

For 100% malt barley - this should work just fine.

"Funnel" at the bottom would be ideal - especially if your collection containers can fit under it.  You'll need some sort of plastic rake to help it along at the bottom, as it'll start to pile up if there isn't any way for it to fall clear quickly, not a big deal though.  

[Hudson bay distillers]

 you bet i think barley will work fine , not sure about corn but luckily we have no corn around here . 

tim 

[Dehner Distillery]

It is called a DSM screen.  They are super cheap. And no one seems to know anything about them in the distilling world. They are really great pieces of equipment when set up correctly. Let me know if you nee help.

The screen has to be set up for the size of particles you are running. Plus it looks like you will need a off feed auger.

Take care.

515-559-4879

Joseph

[Hudson bay distillers]

thanks joe will definitely take you up on the offer when the time comes . 

tim 

 

[Hudson bay distillers]

by the way what does dsm stand for 

[Dehner Distillery]

Dutch State Mines. It was I believe designed by De Beers for their diamond mining. It uses what is called wedge wire. It slices the water off of the solids like thousands of razor blades. It is the spacing of each wedge that is important. You have to have the right gap between the wires for your select type of process. The cool thing is if it wears down on one side you can take it out and turn it around and poof!!! new screen. You can get brand new wedge wire screens cheap. There are several big USA companies that make all kinds of this stuff.

Like BDISCREENS.COM

Look up DSM screens on youtube. They are very cool.

[Dehner Distillery]

You just need a super simple tray at the top or the right designed spray bars, DO NOT OVER THINK IT!!! Then at the bottom of the screen there is a very simple reciprocating tipper bar that you can make to pull the solids off the screen at the bottom. The key to making it work right is the curve. Some of these are straight, but the better ones have a curve to them. But with a curved one you have to make sure the liquid get on the screen at the very top or 2" down from the top. I have seen some where it is hitting the screen 12-14" from the top, basically wasting that much of the screen.

sorry to ramble.

[Hudson bay distillers]

makes sense . this one is curved . im thinking we will bolt a half pipe at the bottom to catch grain , or collect right into a cart that can be moved with the forklift . 

[Hudson bay distillers]

good morning all yesterday finally got some pics of the hydrosieve in action so i thoight i would share . 

[Hudson bay distillers]

as you can see it works like a dream , we put a false bottom in the weir box so it only holds about 8 gallons of mash before it spills over to the screen . we also added a beaver dam on the very bottom to hold the spent grain on the screen a bit longer , this needs to be smaller as it holds more grain back than needed . its about 2 inch high in pic but only needs to be about half inch . the grain comes off super dry and tumbles in to the soon to be patented spent grain remover . the spent grain is dry enough that you can grab a fist full and no liquid comes out . we pumped from the mash tun and returned cleared water  to the mash tun using the clear water to continue washing the grain to the pump . takes about a hour to  run 200 gallons with 2.5 lbs per gallon of grain . 

all and all we love this machine, works like a charm and is super easy to clean up after your done . soon we will add a 6 inch auger across the bottom running in a half pipe to carry the dewatered grain away . 

tim 

[indyspirits]

I want one!

 

 

[Glenlyon]

Yeah, so do I!!! Right now I have resorted to a 160 L bladder press. Works great, but rather labor intensive. This looks like the way to go! Sp simple, so elegant!