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Questions About Holding Tanks
We have some tanks that have different filters on them and was curious on their purposes.
The holding tanks have these white filters on them. And the mixing tank has an attachment on it that looks like it allows it to be open to the atmosphere, but prevents material from falling into the tank.
I’m thinking that I don’t want to store high proof spirits open to the atmosphere as it will lose proof. I have caps to to close the tanks fully and thinking that is the route to go.
Any thoughts?
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6 Replies
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I am guessing the second picture is some sort of vent to allow pumping into or out of the tank while it is sealed up. My tanks I need to crack the lid a bit. I do not have breathers, but now that I see those I may look into them! The first picture might serve the same purpose, allowing for the air that is sucked in to be filtered. That being said, it almost looks like a fluid filter. In any case, these are both just guesses!
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I concur. First one looks like a filter intended to keep particulates out of the tank when emptying the tank. Second one looks like a breather, serving the same purpose but without filtration.
While open tanks can be problematic for many reasons, due to the heavy mass of ethanol vapor (vs air), I would venture to guess that these fittings do not result in appreciable proof loss in the absence of compounding factors like heat, agitation, etc.
Liquid Ethanol expands and contracts with changes in temperature about 5x more than water does. Depending on the “weather” inside your facility, you may need a breather just to keep your tanks from cycling between slight vacuum/slight pressure. Most likely, those fittings were installed for a reason. Intuition would suggest that you should have a good reason before removing them.
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No offense but your photography is pretty brutal. To me these both look like vents to me. The mushroom one is for sure, I imagine it’s full of some type of packing to act as a flame arrestor as well. The white one may also be a vent like y’all said. If there’s nothing mechanical (not powered but mechanical) in the bodies of either then they’re not vacuum breakers per day but vents function as such for tanks meant for atmospheric use. What would be interesting is if it actually was a filter. Like pipe or hose of still into collection through that filter that’s be interesting for some really dirty ferments or a riff on some genny whiskey
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Both are vent filters. #1 is a higher quality vent filter with presumed sterile filter cartridge. #2 I am presuming has a spring loaded disc to keep the vent closed when not in action of either sucking or blowing. No picture from the top.
Do yourself a favour with #1 and open those breathing holes. I am presuming a Chinese supply with bad design.
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Thanks for the replies! Much appreciated.
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You should not cap the vents. The vents are there for safety reasons. If the area where the tank is gets too hot, pressure can build in the tank causing a rupture and or explosion or if the tank gets cold enough, a vacuum implosion could occur.
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