ez mash a.b.s. jason galloway john cox justin crandall georgia institute of technology 12/03/08

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