Autonomous Evaporator for Maple Syrup ep 186

#MES #Steam #Evaporator

Fred and Nate travel with Clayton Christie up to Jackman, Maine. Clayton gives an overview of maple syrup production with an autonomous evaporator system operating for 70,000 taps in the R&D phase.

[DPPD]

Thank you Nate for giving us these tours. You’re giving us access to something we’d never see.

[AlexMakesMaple]

Really cool idea, I really like the transition away from what an evaporator needs to look like

[CanisValleyMaple]

Absolutely love and appreciate the video Nate. I'm all about the tech aspect inside the building as it gives more time to catch the leaks in the bush which is where the money's at. lol. Lots of concerns on here with breaks downs etc. Few things come to mind: 1)even though everything eventually breaks down, those Belimo motorized actuators are some of the best in the world and last for EVER! 2) the HMI controller (touch screen) MES chose works well and can be easily replaced same day if there's stock should it fry but at this scale, I'm sure they'll be a spare tucked away somewhere. Same with the PLC inside if its a separate unit. Besides, the program is always backed up in several locations.
I've been a licensed plumber, licensed NG & LP with lots of experience in controls for 20 years now and we've turned part time maple syrup producers and eventually full time by 2030. We started off slow in 2022 with 100 taps and are now at 1, 000. New property to start at 20, 000 starts this year and should be up in 3 years. It'll be fully autonomous by my design. I may even design a monitoring system using either LoRaWan or Zigbee. PLCs aren't just computers. You can input so many different parameters so making syrup will be easier and better. PLus, as he stated in the video, the OP can change any parameters as he sees fit that day based on demand.
Great job! Thank you.

[kevb]

This is big for the industry! Thanks for sharing👍🏻

[richardkemp]

Very cool Nate really appreciate the time you put in for us all to see

[Sawyersmaple]

Sweet operation! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome to take a tour of my farm next time you are in Jackman, we are nowhere near as high tech though. lol

[bobbelanger]

Just like going back in time…..flat pan boiling, yet high tech! 🍁. Nice!

[finallyfriday.]

What a printing press is to a portrait painter. People magazine vs Picasso. One produces, the other creates.

[keithmcallister]

Wow that’s pretty cool. I have to ask Nate if is the place he was getting syrup from last year I know he said that they were using kettles. Awesome job on the video !

[sethwebber]

Pretty cool. Jackmans right up the st. From me. As soon as I see them kettles I was like flavor?

[Jordan-rchl]

Where abouts jackman is this? My parents spend the summers up there and love touring the large sugaries.

[gerardjohnson]

Cool experiment, BUT maple syrup is an art as much as it is science. This system controls and manipulates the science, but it will never replace the artist. Let's see them automate the tapping, setting spiles and running lines in the woods. I didn't hear anything about redundancy. The controller (computer) goes down, you better have a huge silo tank farm or you'll lose a whole season. It was a very interesting presentation. What was the ROI (return on investment) and AOC (amortization of capital). That system, as cool as it is, will require a huge capital outlay and might never pay for itself. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.
👍👍👏👏🇺🇲

[JDOGMACK]

This is great, but with more technology if something goes wrong, you will need to be a controls technician and have access to the software licensing to troubleshoot the system, this is not the type of knowledge you learn overnight. Of course you could hire someone or have contracts but then you are dependent on someone for your operation. Controls techs make 100k plus a year. So you would need to learn this yourself, two year degree. You cannot be everything lol.. you are a syrup maker or controls tech, usually not both. And the money invested into this would require a lot of syrup to be made. It's all great until something decides not to function, I am in the maintenance industry and I favor simplicity over convenience for most situations. These guys making this equipment for them its great, but 99% of syrup makers cannot troubleshoot this technology if problems occur. I do like how they are balancing the temperature and time to get the ultimate flavor.