southpawbrasserie
Active Member
I am in the process of designing a piece of equipment that will be used for malting barley, or grain for that matter. I haven't drawn any blueprints yet but when I do, I will post them. I have searched the internet for any ideas or even if there is equipment that is manufactured for "small scale" or home malting. I have came up with nothing. So if anyone knows of any such equipment, please let me know.
To get your head wrapped around what I have in mind...I want to have a vessel that is around 2'-4' in diameter and around 2' deep. It will have a false bottom made from the perforated sheet that is used for mash tun false bottoms. It will be "slighty" tilted and have a drain to one side with a solenoid ball valve. It will have a spinning shaft in the middle with 2 arms and 8-10 total "little plows" to stir the grain (similar to the stirring arms in coffee roaster drop trays). Also, higher on the shaft it will have another set of arms with spray bars to keep the grain moist. The shaft will rotate from a gear motor on the underside of the vessel. A tube will run through the middle of the shaft for the spray bars. I am unsure as to exactly what I will use to connect the rotating tube on the shaft and the stationary tube on the underneath side of the vessel as well as will the gear motor be in the way for this water tube. So any suggestions will help! But from there I will have an inline pump then a solenoid valve. A standard water hose will attach on the side but underneath the vessel that runs to the solenoid valve. Last, I will have legs to make it about waist high and a cover or lid to keep out unwanted's. If I cannot find a way for the water tube to connect on the underneath side with the gear motor in the same spot, I will go with the water tube running up the outside (or inside) of the vessel and have the water come in from the top to the spray bars.
As far as the solenoid valves, pump and motor...I will have a control box with 3 separate timer's, some kind of PID timer's if they exist...One for the motor, one for the drain and one for the water pump & spray bars. Along with that, I will have the drain solenoid and spray bar/water in solenoid. Also, I will have bypass buttons for each, so instead of setting the timer to make it run during manual cycles or cleaning, I can just turn a switch of hit a button. I want to install a glycol system around the vessel to control the temperature for the steeping and germinating stages with the temperature controller in the control box, and last install an aeration coil that is in the false bottom void but has a connection that runs to the top of the vessel, or mid way just somewhere above the level of the water while soaking, to avoid draining while connecting an aeration pump.
I would like to find SS sheets that I can stick weld to make the vessel, along with all of materials. If I can't find SS materials that I can stick weld, I will consider looking for an already built vessel and go from there.
So does any have any comments or suggests? What speed should the shaft/arms turn, and what kind of motor? Since it will be under a small load, I would think I need some kind of motor with torque. What kind of pump should I use? I'm thinking of a march pump, but this is not necessary since the water won't be hot. Can you think of a vessel around this size and capable of adding the mentioned items/materials? And a "big one" is building the glycol system. I have seen somewhere recently that someone built a system with a picnic cooler as the glycol holding tank, but I am unsure. Can someone help in this department? I have never researched it. Anywho, thanks!
To get your head wrapped around what I have in mind...I want to have a vessel that is around 2'-4' in diameter and around 2' deep. It will have a false bottom made from the perforated sheet that is used for mash tun false bottoms. It will be "slighty" tilted and have a drain to one side with a solenoid ball valve. It will have a spinning shaft in the middle with 2 arms and 8-10 total "little plows" to stir the grain (similar to the stirring arms in coffee roaster drop trays). Also, higher on the shaft it will have another set of arms with spray bars to keep the grain moist. The shaft will rotate from a gear motor on the underside of the vessel. A tube will run through the middle of the shaft for the spray bars. I am unsure as to exactly what I will use to connect the rotating tube on the shaft and the stationary tube on the underneath side of the vessel as well as will the gear motor be in the way for this water tube. So any suggestions will help! But from there I will have an inline pump then a solenoid valve. A standard water hose will attach on the side but underneath the vessel that runs to the solenoid valve. Last, I will have legs to make it about waist high and a cover or lid to keep out unwanted's. If I cannot find a way for the water tube to connect on the underneath side with the gear motor in the same spot, I will go with the water tube running up the outside (or inside) of the vessel and have the water come in from the top to the spray bars.
As far as the solenoid valves, pump and motor...I will have a control box with 3 separate timer's, some kind of PID timer's if they exist...One for the motor, one for the drain and one for the water pump & spray bars. Along with that, I will have the drain solenoid and spray bar/water in solenoid. Also, I will have bypass buttons for each, so instead of setting the timer to make it run during manual cycles or cleaning, I can just turn a switch of hit a button. I want to install a glycol system around the vessel to control the temperature for the steeping and germinating stages with the temperature controller in the control box, and last install an aeration coil that is in the false bottom void but has a connection that runs to the top of the vessel, or mid way just somewhere above the level of the water while soaking, to avoid draining while connecting an aeration pump.
I would like to find SS sheets that I can stick weld to make the vessel, along with all of materials. If I can't find SS materials that I can stick weld, I will consider looking for an already built vessel and go from there.
So does any have any comments or suggests? What speed should the shaft/arms turn, and what kind of motor? Since it will be under a small load, I would think I need some kind of motor with torque. What kind of pump should I use? I'm thinking of a march pump, but this is not necessary since the water won't be hot. Can you think of a vessel around this size and capable of adding the mentioned items/materials? And a "big one" is building the glycol system. I have seen somewhere recently that someone built a system with a picnic cooler as the glycol holding tank, but I am unsure. Can someone help in this department? I have never researched it. Anywho, thanks!
