rev.hodl on Nostr: Using a homemade reverse osmosis system to concentrate maple sap ...
Using a homemade reverse osmosis system to concentrate maple sap
When I started making maple syrup, I only tapped a few trees and boiled off the water with propane. It was clear that continuing to use propane wouldn't scale but at the same time I didn't want to spend the time building a wood fired boiler or the money buying one. I had just started heating the house with wood via a rocket mass heater, so if I was going to prepare firewood it would be more valuable heating the house instead of boiling maple sap.
Ultimately, I found some plans to build an affordable reverse osmosis system which would concentrate the sap by removing most of the water before starting to boil.
I used it successfully for a couple years but I got greedy and left it out over night. It ended up freezing and was destroyed by the ice. I was reaching the limit of what I could process with it which was why I tried to run it overnight in order to keep up. This mistake, forced me to upgrade to the current system which should allow me to continue to scale the maple sugar making system here at the homestead.
Some things I want to clarify from the video, the filter can concentrate the sap from around 2 brix to about 6 brix and the pump uses ~45w of power. The actual energy cost to concentrate the sap will depend on the starting sugar content and temperature. So when I say 65 cents that is a very general figure. The biggest takeaway is that the filter if maintained properly will concentrate sap using much less energy than boiling. However, if the filter gets fouled (or frozen...) much of the cost savings are erased.
#homesteading #permaculture #permies #maplesyrup #maplesugaring #maplesugarbush
When I started making maple syrup, I only tapped a few trees and boiled off the water with propane. It was clear that continuing to use propane wouldn't scale but at the same time I didn't want to spend the time building a wood fired boiler or the money buying one. I had just started heating the house with wood via a rocket mass heater, so if I was going to prepare firewood it would be more valuable heating the house instead of boiling maple sap.
Ultimately, I found some plans to build an affordable reverse osmosis system which would concentrate the sap by removing most of the water before starting to boil.
I used it successfully for a couple years but I got greedy and left it out over night. It ended up freezing and was destroyed by the ice. I was reaching the limit of what I could process with it which was why I tried to run it overnight in order to keep up. This mistake, forced me to upgrade to the current system which should allow me to continue to scale the maple sugar making system here at the homestead.
Some things I want to clarify from the video, the filter can concentrate the sap from around 2 brix to about 6 brix and the pump uses ~45w of power. The actual energy cost to concentrate the sap will depend on the starting sugar content and temperature. So when I say 65 cents that is a very general figure. The biggest takeaway is that the filter if maintained properly will concentrate sap using much less energy than boiling. However, if the filter gets fouled (or frozen...) much of the cost savings are erased.
#homesteading #permaculture #permies #maplesyrup #maplesugaring #maplesugarbush
quoting nevent1q…uy6sThe sugar maple trees are tapped and sap is flowing!
Sugar from trees, the maple syrup is one of the first yields of the year from the natural capital at the homestead.
Ended up with a total of 116 taps this year, close to double the taps from last season. Last year I started tapping all the trees a week later (and I still missed a week of flow this year), not to mention it took me a couple weeks to get all the taps in. This year I managed get all the taps in over just a few days.
While it's hard work to prepare the equipment, tap the trees, and process the sap into syrup. It's the first opportunity to spend a lot of time outside in the woods getting exercise. We get all our sugar for the year from the trees growing on our land. I'm grateful we have the opportunity to glean all the benefits and yeilds the process of maple sugaring offers and to have such wonderful trees in our own backyard.
#permaculture #permies #homesteading #maplesyrup #maplesugaring #maplesugarbush #sugarmaple #abundance #meshtadel