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04-30-2008, 11:10 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 510
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HERMS Design Needs Review
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Well, here is my first attempt at a HERMS design:
http://www.hoppyhomebrewers.com/HERMS.pdf
This system would be a one tier setup using two pumps. I chose to dedicate a pump for the heat exchanger so that it can easily be modulated with a temperature controller. I want to try to find a way to reduce the number of valves, but I am not sure if I can based on my current design. The fewer I need the more likely I will replace them further down the road with solenoid valves. I also going to design my own temperature controller using a microcontroller and thermocouples. Then I can use a bluetooth transceiver to connect to my laptop where I can run a graphical user interface that controls and logs the entire brew process. Oh, and the entire rig will use electric heating. So that's my design in a nutshell, comment away!
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Sláinte,
Jared311
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05-01-2008, 01:54 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 510
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Nobody likes me,
everybody hates me,
guess I'll go eat worms...
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Sláinte,
Jared311
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05-01-2008, 02:01 AM
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#3
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I love making Beer
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 4,005
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Jared, I don't hate you at all! Unfortunately, I don't know anything about your very nice graphic but I'll give you a dancing banana. 
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Batch 1 Brewing
The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
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05-01-2008, 02:07 AM
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#4
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Mmm...beer.
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Southwest
Posts: 12,350
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That looks about right. I don't quite understand why you need two pumps, even with a temperature controller. There's no problem with it, and it will afford you some flexibility, but you can save some cash but cutting one pump out. Of course, that won't make the plumbing any easier...
Check out www.arduino.cc for some microcontroller ideas. |
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05-01-2008, 02:27 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 510
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nurmey
Jared, I don't hate you at all! Unfortunately, I don't know anything about your very nice graphic but I'll give you a dancing banana. |
I am glad you liked my graphic, however your banana wasn't actually dancing for me. Hes just standing there...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Yuri_Rage
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Thanks Yuri, I actually have a lot of experience with Microchip's microcontrollers so I think I should be set in that area.
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Sláinte,
Jared311
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05-01-2008, 06:35 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Acton, MA
Posts: 1,687
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You're from Mass Jared? Shame you are living in MD...
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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy.
--Tom Waits
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
--Frank Zappa
My Cheap and Easy Stirplate
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05-01-2008, 06:50 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 510
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NoClueBrewMaster
You're from Mass Jared? Shame you are living in MD...
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Yeah, tell me about it. I definitely rather be living in MA but I couldn't turn down the job offer. I lived in Westborough which is in Worcester County. I noticed you are from Acton, my mom use to teach in the Elementary School there.
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Sláinte,
Jared311
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05-01-2008, 07:07 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 510
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Alright, here's my updated design that uses only one pump as Yuri suggested:
http://www.hoppyhomebrewers.com/HERMS2.pdf
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Sláinte,
Jared311
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05-01-2008, 07:17 PM
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#9
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Mmm...beer.
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Southwest
Posts: 12,350
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I like both designs, and both look like they'll work well.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't necessarily trying to dissuade you from using two pumps. I just wanted to point out that you may be able to save yourself some money by using only one. A second pump might come in handy from time to time, but, as your second design shows, it's not required.
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05-01-2008, 07:28 PM
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#10
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Reinvented Biermann
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: East Peoria, IL
Posts: 1,469
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As an experiencec HERMS user, I'll add my .02.
first off, nice design. The only critique I have is that you aren't flushing/pumping your heat exchange coil with sparge water. I personally do this in order to rinse out that last bit of wort trapped in the coil, and to prevent gunk buildup over time. Before I started doing this, I actually had my heat exchange coil clot off with a dehydrated, syrupy plug that had to be flushed with hot tap water before I could use it. This was an unexpected, timely, messy, and frustrating delay in that particular brew day.
So, when I'm ready to sparge, I merely disconnect the hose from the MLT, and hook it up to the HLT, then pump out of the HLT, through the heating coil again, then into the MLT. In this way, the heated sparge water is going through the coil and is cleaning it out and delivering that last few tiny gravity points at the same time.  The next time you brew, your heating coil will already be clean!!
Your valves and manifold-type setup shows good thought, though, and it'll work as is. Thought I'd share my personal experiences. 
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Blackstrap porter 6.1%--under nitro
Freedom's Bitter Alimony Ale
Holding tanks:
Conical #1:Nichts
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