With each expansion , the company strives to preserve the traditional art and science of distillation as it adopts modern techniques .
The 125 mm diameter pneumatic line — under negative pressure generated by a 23.3 kW vacuum pump — transports the entire batch with no residual , across the facility to the two 0.2 m 3 capacity hoppers installed over the cookers . Inline fill / pass valves , located above each hopper , guide the grain to one hopper or the other , depending on the recipe .
The grain discharges into each cooker through a rotary valve . Above the twin cookers , a diverter valve controls whether the grain discharges from the hopper to the first or second cooker . The second hopper discharges to the third , larger cooker .
On the return side , the line runs from the hoppers back to the grain room to a 122 cm diameter filterreceiver whose cartridge filters separate the conveying air from carry-over grain dust . Reverse-pulse air nozzles dislodge accumulated material , which enters a 0.5 m 3 floor hopper with rotary valve that returns it to the conveying line feeding the cookers .
“ That means I don ’ t have to worry about grain being aged at the bottom of my conveying line or about grain backing up in the filter-receiver ,” Reiber says . “ It also minimises any concerns about attracting bugs or other pests and it gets the maximum amount of grain into the cookers .”
Pneumatic conveying : faster , cleaner , safer The pneumatic conveying system — which can move as much as 6,350 kg per hour — reduces the time operators spend loading and discharging the bulk bags . “ Instead of taking the bags to the use point , they ’ re now taken to the grain handling room near to where they ’ re stored ,” Reiber says . “ The
Dancing Goat Distillery produces rye , gin , brandy , schnapps and other spirits .
forklifts travel maybe 15.2 m now , so the amount of handling , the forklift time , has been cut by 80 percent .”
Corn and rye , the grains Dancing Goat uses the most , flow from the bulk bags faster . “ We were delivering a bag in roughly 15 minutes before . Now it ’ s in the 5-minute range for a bag of corn and 7 minutes for rye , with both bags weighing 794 kg ,” Reiber says . A typical batch requires discharging six to eight bulk bags . “ The operators who were here before we upgraded are amazed at how much less work and how fast the pneumatic system transfers the grain . We ’ re doing more with less work and in less time .” The operators are freed to perform other tasks in the distillery .
The operation is also cleaner and safer because the batching system is contained and operates under vacuum , preventing the grains from spreading dust . “ We already make a flammable product , ethanol , and we don ’ t want to add potential fuel — airborne dust — to a zoned and classified space ,” Reiber says .
Discharger promotes flow and evacuation In the grain room , the bulk bag discharger contains dust and ensures reliable flow using several subsystems . At the bag spout interface a SPOUT-LOCK™ clamp ring makes a dust-free connection to the floor hopper . As the bag empties , a TELE-TUBE™ telescoping tube lowers the clamp ring , applying continual downward tension to keep the spout taut promoting flow . Meanwhile , FLOW- FLEXER™ bag activator plates raise and lower the opposite bottom edges of the bag into a V shape , directing all of the grain out the spout .
“ We use the bag activator plates every day on every grain . It helps break up the cube that can form during transport ,” Reiber says . The company also relies on the discharger ’ s POWER-CINCHER™ flow control valve , whose pneumatically driven bars close concentrically on the spout . “ It ’ s a great tool when we need to restrict the flow or tie off a bag before it ’ s empty . It ’ s ideal for handling malt , which starts out blocky but then flows like water once it gets moving .”
In addition , the discharger ’ s posts can be raised or lowered to accommodate off-size bulk bags . “ Our malt supplier ’ s bulk bags are about 14 inches longer than the normal ones ,” Reiber notes . “ But it only takes maybe five minutes to adjust all four posts .”
Non-stop advancement While the distillery has become a destination for whiskey and spirits lovers , Reiber says the company is only partway into its journey , with plans to load the grains from bulk silos instead of bulk bags .
“ We plan to tie in the silos to piggyback on the pneumatic conveying system ,” Reiber says . “ The goal is to cook , ferment , and distill around the clock , and this system has brought us much closer to doing that .”
Dancing Goat Distillery welcomes guests to explore the new grounds . To book a distillery experience , go to www . dancinggoat . com and follow @ DancingGoatDistillery on social media for updates , events and new experiential offerings .
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