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the feature industry this month is....
Alcohol Distilleries
Here's another type of factory where you can find millwright work; this seems only appropriate, since when we've got time off, we generally do our best to support this industry's economy! Seriously, though, when it comes right down to it, a factory is a factory and construction millwrights can make this machinery run as smoothly as anywhere else.
Speaking of running smoothly, I'd like to go back to roller bearings for another lesson. Millwrights see them a lot, and since they are very important to the proper operation of whatever they occur within, it is worth learning some more about them.
There are basically two "golden rules" when changing roller bearings: never neglect cleanliness, and pay attention to where you apply pressure. Cleanliness is so important because clearances can be so small in roller bearings--microns--and even a very tiny speck of dirt (or worse, sliver of metal) getting amongst the rollers will have a negative effect on the life and operation of the bearing. As to applying pressure, this is important because in almost every case the bearing will have one raceway which is a tight (interference) fit; the other raceway will have more clearance. In most cases, the tight race will be the inner one, because usually the shaft rotates while the hub stays put. Of course, in the case of a roller application, where the hub rotates around the stationary shaft, the outer bearing race will then be the tight one. In any case, pressure to remove or install a roller bearing needs to be against the tight ring only, or you risk destroying the bearing or damaging the shaft.
Quiz Question:
What are some ways that improper bearing installation can be the cause of premature failure in the new bearings?
These are actually rather dangerous places to work, because the pure alcohol in the air can be explosive. A factory of this type must be very careful about safety. However, it is obvious from the quantity of products out there that there are many companies able to take the risk! Making alcohol to drink is something that many people even do at home. Large scale factories go through the same steps, but with more consistent results, quality testing and controls, and doubtless at a faster pace. The first thing to do is the fermentation. Grain of the appropriate kind is ground up, cooked in water, and left to sit and ferment from the yeasts. Next is the distilling, in which the product is boiled and the alcohol vapour collected and condensed. This step is critical to the safety of the product, because if done incorrectly other things which are toxic to drink can be distilled besides alcohol. After distilling, the product is filtered or cleaned up, and then quite often flavours are blended in to create a specific beverage. Finally, it is left to age, then bottled for sale to its various fans.
Here are a few links to sites related to alcohol distillation:
The History of Vodka page is a great source on distilling, production, technology, varieties, and more: http://www.polishvodkas.com/history-vodka/title-page.htm
The Biomass Energy foundation has a page on using ethanol for an alternate fuel. It also includes a link to a step-by-step distillation description: http://www.webconx.com/ethanol.htm
Here's a page about building a home distillation setup; I include this stuff because, as I said, the steps are the same whether they occur in a factory or not: http://stillmaker.dreamhost.com/
A New Zealand company called Still Spirits sells interesting products such as flavourings for the home distiller: http://www.stillspirits.com/technical/hwdistil.htm
The Carbery Group page details how they produce "neutral spirit" from lactose: http://www.carbery.com/products/ethanol/process.html
A page by a Puerto Rican called the Minister of Rum. (huh?) Anyway, the page has a clear description of the process steps: http://www.ministerofrum.com/rum101.html
Jim Beam's steps to making Kentucky Bourbon can be found on the Jim Beam site. You must enter your legal age to explore this site. http://www.jimbeam.com/jb_web/front_door.asp
Bearings fail for many reasons, and of course it's often a combination of several conditions. Here are some of them:
See you on the next monthly update of the Construction Millwright Feature Page!
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