Anyone have the Fire Department show up at the roastery?

[coffeemessiah]

I think I need an afterburner. Emissions are out of control. I was babying a 5 lb batch in my 15 kilo Ambex, someone saw smoke ,freaked out and called the FD. Everyone wants to be a hero. The were pretty cool about it though. I'm in the system now at least, next time a complaint comes in they have an idea.... Any advice on this subject would be great!

 

[DirtyDave]

As you know, even a 5 lb load can create quite a bit of smoke.
Unless you are in a remote location, emissions present a big problem.
Aside from the social and environmental issues, having an afterburner is really a good idea.
If you operate at accepted levels, you'll never have to clean your outlet stack ever again (big hasle, big cost over time).
You can promote yourself as being environmentally aware and responsible.
And, after a while, the fire dept will start to charge you for those unwanted visits.
It's 2012, time for emission controls.

 

[Ellie]

LOL! Where are you located? We are a small roastery located in a small city, and have not seen the need yet to control emissions. The fire dept. was called when we first started in business too, b/c the neighbors were not familiar with the smell of roasting coffee, and thought something was burning somewhere in the neighborhood...they just weren't sure where! We've been there six years now, and everyone is on board with what we do, so no more visits (other than to buy coffee) from the FD.

 

[DirtyDave]

Y'all keep those clean coal fired powerplants burning.
Roasting coffee emits hundreds of volitile chemicals and carcinogenes.
The earth is not flat.
Employ emission control.

 

[coffeemessiah]

I found a 15 kilo afterburner and chaff collector for $8500 from Delaware City Coffee Company. I'm guessing they have these built overseas, Turkey probably. Anyone have experience with them?

 

[CJevens]

Fire fighters enjoy coffee. Invite them over. They'll love it.

Doesnt anyone recognize that sudden changes to smells and appearance of smoke is going to raise suspicion and cause alarm? I would think that canvassing the neighborhood and letting them know you are roasting coffee and offering a sample would be wise. Letting the fire dept know is also important.

Maybe some have done all these things and still the FD comes with sirens blazing?

 

[DirtyDave]

Obviously, there is a monetary penalty for utilizing an afterburner.
But, people, please, we need to address the issue of pollution.
Is this not obvious?

 

[kanyevil]

Should have invited all your neighbours to come in for a cup or so!

 

[topher]

I'm with you Dave! It's funny how everyone is ignoring your posts..wait..it's not funny.

 

[jimbo]

So how much worse is it to roast coffee, than say, heat my house with a wood burning stove. And how much fuel (nat gas or propane) is used to fire the afterburner. Is there a carbon footprint issue to be considered. I'll try to look that info up. See what I can find.

 

[DirtyDave]

So many factors involved in answering this question.
The pollution components of coffee are different than those of wood cellulose.
Different roasters (drum vs air, large vs small) require lesser or greater afterburners etc etc.
CO2 will be present in the effluent regardless (A/B or no).
You will not discover that no afterburner is more desirable than using one.

 

[jimbo]

After thinking about the comparison I proposed, I realized the flaw in the comparison. They started building wood stoves with catalytic oxidizers, which clogged after a few years of use, and became useless. So then they designed them to recirculate the air in the firebox, thereby taking all the byproducts of combustion (smoke) and subjecting them to the heat in the combustion chamber multiple times, and when the temp is high enough in the combustion chamber it burns up more of the non-combusted gasses, and what leave's the chimney is supposedly much cleaner. same principle as the afterburner, only the wood stove uses its own heat to do the work. Too bad they cant figure out how to use the roaster's burners to burn off the gasses and voc's before they leave the roaster.
Hopefully in a year or so, I will be roasting and selling enough to warrant installing an afterburner. That would be a positive problem.
I did find this info, although I have not read through it all as of yet.
http://probatburns.com/pdfs/2009-Roasters-Guild-Retreat-Presentation.pdf

 

[DirtyDave]

There are presently coffe roaster designs that CLAIM to be smokeless (they are not).
They constantly recirculate the hot air inside of the roaster (imparting the WORST flavors to the coffee).
There are coffee roasters that use only one burner, claiming optimal efficiency (yet their outlet stacks require constant cleaning signifying that their outlet temperatures are way too low to clean the effluent).
Catalytic afterburners require a supplemental burner to bring the outlet gas temperatures up to a temperature sufficient to "light-off" the catalytic element. They also require constant maintenance, and are remarkably fragile, making them a questionable solution.
They also get consumed, requiring replacement.
There are power burners that can take elevated inlet air temperatures, allowing for afterburner air to be safely (and cleanly) recirculated.
These burners are quite expensive (of course).
So guess what......no free lunch.
For the small to medium coffee roaster, the once through system w/afterburner is still the best solution (if not the most economical).

 

[coffeemessiah]

I hear ya Dave. Wish I could run it all on solar power! But its hard finding a used afternurner, even if I had the cash. Nothing on Ebay, Craigslist, multiple forums. I dont know if anyone has one for sale on here very recently. In the meantime I'll have to limp along......

 

[DirtyDave]

When we all have fusion reactors on our roofs, we'll laugh at the bad old days.
Hey, weren't we all supposed to have rocket packs by the year 2010?!