I am happy with PennTAP’s work. The advisor recommended the grant to me and answered all of my questions.
The Need
Hazeltine Maple Farm is a maple syrup producer in Bear Lake, Pennsylvania. They harvest sap from maple trees for use in the manufacture of pure maple syrup. Maple sap has a sugar content of 1.5%; maple syrup has a sugar content of approximately 67%. Hazeltine Maple evaporates water from the maple sap by heating it with a wood fire to drastically increase the sugar concentration. Hazeltine Maple Farm wanted to upgrade their maple syrup production process by adding an energy-efficient reverse osmosis machine, which would reduce direct air emissions and energy consumption.
The PennTAP Connection
A PennTAP technical advisor had previously worked with the farm’s owner at a separate facility.
The Project
Hazeltine Maple Farm had been using a wood-fired evaporator to remove excess water from the maple sap. Due to the low thermal efficiency of the evaporator, the majority of the energy created by burning the wood was wasted. The project added a reverse osmosis machine to remove water from the sap before it reached the wood-fired evaporator. The reverse osmosis machine is able to efficiently remove the majority of water from the sap, reducing the amount of wood burned in the evaporator. After evaluating the reverse osmosis process with owner Tim Hazeltine, PennTAP assisted with an application for a Small Business Advantage Grant (SBAG), through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
The Outcome
The new reverse osmosis machine used by Hazeltine Farm will save more than $1,700 in fuels costs each year. In addition, direct air emissions from wood burning will be reduced by 89%. Hazeltine was awarded an SBAG of $9,000 toward the project, which totaled $18,547.
About the Company
Hazeltine Maple Farm
814-964-8493
4006 Route 6, Bear Lake PA 16402
County: Warren
Employees: 2
Industry: Food Processing