ez mash a.b.s. jason galloway john cox justin crandall georgia institute of technology 12/03/08
TRANSCRIPT
EZ Mash A.B.S.Jason Galloway
John Cox
Justin Crandall
Georgia Institute of Technology
12/03/08
The EZ Mash A.B.S.
A batch process system to automatically convert grain starches into sugars, a critical component of beer production.
Will cut time from 3-4 hours to approx. one hour, better recipe repeatability.
Home and commercial brewer.$27,350 ($350.00+$27K).
Dimensions
10.5”
20.5”
10”
12.5” 10.5”
11”8.25”
6”
Process Overview:Heat water and mix grain
1
1. Heat HLT• User sets
time in GUI.
2
3. Push Button• Confirm grain
addition.
2. Dough-In• ~ 8 qts fills
into MLT.
3
Process Overview:Starch Conversion and 1st Drain
4. Starch Conversion• Recirculate starch
water through heat exchanger.
4
5. 1st Drain• ½ of wort to
collect in vessel.
6. Sparge Water• Remainder of
H2O from HLT.5
6
Process Overview:2 min recirculation & final drain
7. 2 min recirculation• Sets grain-bed
filter for 2nd drain.
8. Final drain• Provides second
½ of pre-boil wort.
9. End process buzzer• Piezo buzzer
notifies user of completion.8
7
9
EZ Mash GUI – Heating HLT
EZ Mash GUI – Starch Conversion
Technical Specifications
Proposed Specs Actual Specs
Draws less than 12 Amps
Draws 10.7 Amps Maximum
Withstands temps up to 210° F
Tested at 209° F
Holds temps within +/- 1° F of target
Holds within +/- 1° F of target
Full starch to sugar conversion
Iodine starch test
Technical Specifications
Proposed Specs Actual Specs
GUI interface works GUI allows user to enter defined variables
Meets FDA requirements
All system components meet FDA requirements
PID loop control to maintain correct temperature
Bang-bang control instead of PID
Test the accuracy of the temperature sensors
RTD thermometer confirmed our results to within < 1° F
Engineering Obstacles - memory
BASIC Stamp 2e Program memory limit is 2k bytes.
Reduce length of command names. Creation of subroutines.
GUI Date/Month/Year function. Next process. PID loop.
Engineering Obstacles - Water Level Measurements
Used to determine dough in and sparge amounts.
Necessary for various recipes.Different ways to measure.
Flexiforce pressure sensor. Capacitive probe. Other possibilities.
Flexiforce Pressure Sensor
Single point of pressure to gain readings.Data was scattered and inaccurate.Needed to be pre-loaded 110% every time
to repeat values.
Capacitive Probe
2 conductors electrically isolated from each other in a dielectric (water).
Water level changes the conductivity of the sensor, changing the frequency of the 555 timer.
Accurate for a constant temperature; working on repeatability and temp error.
Capacitive level sensor
Cap Sensor Calibration @ 160 F
y = 9.5238x + 7.3929
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
Qts
Va
lue Series1
Linear (Series1)
Other Possibilities
Ultrasonic Level Detection Measures distance using sonar.
Magnetorestrictive Level Sensors Most accurate, but most expensive. +/- .40 mm repeatable accuracy.
Parallax’s Ping)))
Magnetorestrictive Level Sensor
What Will We Demo?
Brew a non-alcoholic pre-boil sugar solution (wort).
Demonstrate GUI and temperature management via data-logging.
Success when pre-boil wort is produced by user input via GUI interface without off-flavors.
Marketability Analysis
Original system parts + research + labor=$27,350.
Cost to manufacture=$350/unit.Cost to customer=$750/unit.Must sell 37 units to cover R & D.Future profits from optional attachments.
Automatic grain hopper and kettle additions.
EZ Mash
Q & A