StillDragon® Community Forum

Welcome!

Be part of our community & join our international next generation forum now!

In this Discussion

Corn Solid/Liquid Video Showing Seperation

Thought someone might enjoy seeing this if there were doing AG.. Maybe could figure a way to make a small one for hobby use... or for our PRO's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JthhqdfXOgk

Comments

  • Yeah that little guy costs about $25,000 all said and done.

  • Years ago I did something similar with a Jack LaLane juicer machine. Oh yes it took a very long time (hours) to process just a bushel of mashed corn and that experiment ended right then and there. It was certainly small scale compared to the tool in the above video.
    Small batch separators would definitely be more economical than continuous separators.

    I could see $25K being the jump in point for a tool like what's shown in the above video.
    I could also see someone industrious enough devising a small scale DIY solution with a meat grinder and a centrifuge (and countless other parts to make it continuous). It would take A LOT of effort but if they succeeded they'd be my hero.

  • It bothered me enough to keep thinking about it...
    The video shows the ejected fiber but the drying step is clearly missing. The moist fiber must certainly be dried before it can be stored - unless its kept refrigerated or immediately consumed else it would rot.
    I understand the video shows the distiller's angle and that's all well and good but the expense does not stop there if you are responsible for spent grain elimination by supplying animal feedstock that is wholesome without expensive refrigeration.
    On a small scale the fiber could be discarded or added to the compost heap. On a larger scale it very probably will need to be dried and the potential of a rancher paying for the dried fiber is iffy after seeing videos of large distilleries giving it away for free just to get rid of it.
    Any distillery, tiny or huge, generates heat so the potential of utilizing that "waste" heat to dry the spent grain would need to be addressed but it would be another process to deal with and more labor and complexity to attend to.

    I'm sure its all about scale. One bushel of spent grain could be dumped for the birds and other wild life to eliminate. Ten or twenty bushels would be a fine addition to the compost pile. One hundred bushels a week could go wet to a pig farmer if he has enough pigs.
    A thousand bushels a week or a day?

  • Distillers wet grains should be used in 5-7 days, although there is documentation about it holding longer in cooler weather.

    Remember it's coming off the still, and in a batch distillation it's pretty well sterilized after 4+ hours of boiling. If you keep the downstream process somewhat sanitary, and store the wet grains in a sanitized tote or barrels, even sealed, you should be able to push the storage length a bit. Remember spoilage mechanism needs bacteria and molds.

    Drying adds considerable investment an operating costs, and adds risk of fire.

  • Put in some pig styes if you got the room and start farming then as a side line. ;;)

  • "Bourbon Bacon Distillery".....

    I should copyright that!

  • around these parts, breweries have agreements with farms.... homebrewers that I know with chickens are also happy... spent grains are 'chicken crack' they tell me..

  • edited September 2014

    So that's how you get a drunk chicken. And I have been stuffing a beer can up their gut and propping them on the barbie :))

  • edited September 2014

    Tuning up the Decanter Centrifuge

    This one describes a little more on how it works on distillers grains...

    Distillers Grains Decanter Centrifuge

    scroll down a bit to find the info in the second link

    FullySilenced

  • edited September 2014

    @grim said: Yeah that little guy costs about $25,000 all said and done.

    Hello Grim, Russell Finex has a wide range of separation equipment (many of Russell Finex machines are customized for client needs). Just leave a contact through the website.

    @FullySilenced , you can find a better quality video of this centrifugal separator being used in separating/de-watering alcohol grains:

    Processing Distillers Mash & Spent Grains @ Russell Finex
    Separating liquid solubles from spent grains during liquor or spirits production to reduce disposal costs and operator handling

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJtN49Drk

    (The machine used is called Liquid Solid Separator™)

  • edited September 2014

    Really wish someone would come up with a smaller, most cost effective option for those us of that don't need to process 100 gallons a minute. Heck, I'd be happy as a pig in stillage processing 1/10th of that.

    A guy around me has a small 4" tapered auger that came off some kind of machinery. I was thinking of getting some perforated stainless tube made that was the same diameter of the auger, rigging up a motor, and seeing if I could get even remotely good separation. I reckon I can.

    Otherwise it's back to the 55g drum and hydraulic press.

    Has anyone tried getting a quote from China?

  • agreed... the only way I will be able to venture into corn... Breckenridge had something that looked like a sluice box, but didn't seem to happy with it...

  • edited September 2014

    there is a thread in AD about using a centrifuge made from a washing machine

    Butch's Centrifuge @ AD

  • I think vendome sells a kind of sluice box setup, it looked relatively easy to replicate.

  • edited September 2014

    @grim said: Really wish someone would come up with a smaller, most cost effective option for those us of that don't need to process 100 gallons a minute.

    If you don't need such high flow rates, instead of a Russell centrifugal separator you might be interested in a vibratory screener known as the Russell Compact Sieve. It is effective in processing spent grain.

    Again, the ideal separation equipment for spent grains or mash is the Liquid Solid Separator, but for much smaller volumes Compact Sieve is what you're looking for due to your small processing volume needs and budget.

    It won't be as fast as the Liquid Solid Separator, but surely will get the job done.

    See here what I'm talking about: Russell Finex Screening machines and fill the contact form with specifications of what you're looking for. Good luck with finding a solution!

  • looks like the same thing is used for manure! (refraining from jokes about corn in your poop... for now... )

    spiral extrusion solid liquid separator @ Alibaba

Sign In or Register to comment.