Grain Malt Drier

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Grain Malt Drier

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sun Sep 27, 2020 3:11 pm

G'day Guy's,

Well with now doing AG a solution is needed to dry out the wet grains and while doing it the hard way in my shed staring at me in the face is 180 diameter x 450mm long with 2mm holes a perforated cylinder. Also i have a couple of 190mm diameter 20mm disks so plan is started where by going by a heat input via the 300mm outer cover and lets say it's just smoke :laughing-rolling:

So the plan is to machine one of those 20mm disks and weld it to the perforated screen then weld on a 50mm shaft for the drive. On the other end an opening door to unload the grains and the whole unit will tilt to make loading and unloading easier.

For the smoke input a fire with a computer fan can suck the smoke for the input and by using a pic micro controller the temp can be monitored and by a few trials the time can be established for the drying time. Old wine barrels will be the source of the fire for starters until I get my own sphagnum bog going which is another story :laughing-rolling:

Ok this is will only do 5kg's at a time as by pouring in grains 5 kg was the figure I came up for the best configuration.

This unit will be run off solar panels so unless it's a sunny day it won't run :laughing-rolling: when the fire ban is on the smoke output will go into a tank of water which I use for irrigation.

With work being quiet I do have plenty of time to get this made so i do think it will be a fun project.

Cheers Bryan
RuddyCrazy
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Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Grain Malt Drier

Postby RuddyCrazy » Fri Oct 02, 2020 6:05 pm

G'day Guy's,
I sat there for about 20 minutes with a new wire wheel on my 5" grinder to clean all the surface rust off then used a wire brush to ensure all the rust was out of the 2mm holes in the 180mm perforated screen. Then I gave it a couple of coats of epoxy zinc and had my shed fire going. To dry the paint I used my old project of a face plate and programmed a pic to turn the stepper motor at 5 rpm. The next day I did a second coat and although it was warm put the shed fire on again and did a second coat.

Now most guy's when using these epoxy spray can just spray away and leave it hoping it will cure but the correct way is to bake at a low temperature to get the best adhesion.

This weekend I'll machine up a end cap that suits the internal diameter so I can use it as a pug to hammer the screen round. Then I'll bore a hole to suit the drive shaft so I can get this thing turning. The outer screen will need to be rolled so it will be a case of either making jig or lashing out 1K + for a 3 in one machine. Folder, roller and guilo but as everything in now made in China if a guy wants good stuff one just has to make it :laughing-rolling:

Taking with a guy at work when I was out on the dog track welding in spacer so this new European lure can be used he told me going legit with distilling is a waste of time as it's all been done before in Europe so why bother trying to re-invent the wheel :laughing-rolling:

Well this Bronze thread has me going as with the amount of copper waste I have as I am addicted to making things out of copper :scared-eek: getting some tin and casting
a mold for the valve then soaking in 90% neutral may just prove fine. So a new bronze needle valve can come to life and 5 star will get the first dibs :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I do need to change my by line that says if you want just make it off the grid

Cheers Bryan
RuddyCrazy
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Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Grain Malt Drier

Postby wynnum1 » Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:47 am

What is the humidity like where you are as the dryer the air the easier to dry the grain and may need to be doing it at time of year with best conditions as here in Brisbane can get very humid.
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