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- Apr 19, 2012
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I wanted to get some feedback on an idea I have for a dual purpose helical coil heat exchanger that can be used for both maintaining mash temps and chilling. The design consists of a 24" long, 3" diameter Tri-clamp spool and 17' long coil made with 1/2" flexible corrugated stainless steel tubing. The HEX would stand vertically and water (hot or cold) would enter and exit at the top of the HEX while wort would enter at the bottom and out the top (in a crossflow arrangement).
For maintaining mash temps, hot water from the HLT would be pumped through the coil and for chilling cold water from the tap.
Advantages:
1. Dual purpose HERMS/Chiller
2. Easy cleaning. Having coil connections going in and out at the top of the HEX (built into a Tri-clamp end cap or orifice plate) the coil can be easily removed for cleaning. Only water is ever pumped through the coil.
3. Wort flow restriction would be minimized when mashing.
4. Corrugated tubing provides larger surface area for heat transfer then regular stainless tubing (it's also thinner - 0.01").
5. Compact all stainless steel design.
Disadvantages:
1. To step or mash out the entire volume of water in HLT must be heated (although this is no different then having a coil in the HLT).
2. Flow rate through coil may be restricted due to coil diameter and corrugated tubing.
3. ???
I guess one of the bigger issues I can see is if the length of the coil is too short for cooling. I don't think there would be a problem with the length for maintaining mash temps. I used this online calculator to determine the length of coil that could fit in a 24" long spool (http://www.deepfriedneon.com/tesla_f_calchelix.html). If the length of the spool is 36" long the coil could be 24' in length.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan
For maintaining mash temps, hot water from the HLT would be pumped through the coil and for chilling cold water from the tap.
Advantages:
1. Dual purpose HERMS/Chiller
2. Easy cleaning. Having coil connections going in and out at the top of the HEX (built into a Tri-clamp end cap or orifice plate) the coil can be easily removed for cleaning. Only water is ever pumped through the coil.
3. Wort flow restriction would be minimized when mashing.
4. Corrugated tubing provides larger surface area for heat transfer then regular stainless tubing (it's also thinner - 0.01").
5. Compact all stainless steel design.
Disadvantages:
1. To step or mash out the entire volume of water in HLT must be heated (although this is no different then having a coil in the HLT).
2. Flow rate through coil may be restricted due to coil diameter and corrugated tubing.
3. ???
I guess one of the bigger issues I can see is if the length of the coil is too short for cooling. I don't think there would be a problem with the length for maintaining mash temps. I used this online calculator to determine the length of coil that could fit in a 24" long spool (http://www.deepfriedneon.com/tesla_f_calchelix.html). If the length of the spool is 36" long the coil could be 24' in length.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Dan