Just curious, why isn't there a commercially available plate chiller that can be disassembled and cleaned, similar to what professional breweries use? I assume the obvious answer is cost, but is there another reason I'm missing?
Serviceable plate chiller?
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You're not missing anything. Plate and frame chillers are pricey with entry level cost around $1500...
Cheers!
Cheers!
HighVoltageMan!
Well-Known Member
Ah nice, thanks!
Note the SABCO page shows it's out of stock and it's unlikely SABCO actually fabricates them.
There are companies that sell plate and frame chillers as their primary business. That's where I'd be looking.
Like, here: https://www.cpesystems.com/collections/plate-heat-exchangers/products/cpe-30h-heat-exchanger
Cheers!
There are companies that sell plate and frame chillers as their primary business. That's where I'd be looking.
Like, here: https://www.cpesystems.com/collections/plate-heat-exchangers/products/cpe-30h-heat-exchanger
Cheers!
I've always wondered this as well. What is it exactly that makes the plate and frame chillers so expensive, though?
Like, you've got 2 plastic end pieces, 30 or so stamped stainless sheets, a couple of yards of gasket material, some bolts and a bit of stainless piping. None of that seems like it would be particularly expensive. Are they built by hand? Are they just niche enough companies can charge whatever they want?
I feel like the one you linked to should be like $500, tops. But maybe I'm missing something.
Like, you've got 2 plastic end pieces, 30 or so stamped stainless sheets, a couple of yards of gasket material, some bolts and a bit of stainless piping. None of that seems like it would be particularly expensive. Are they built by hand? Are they just niche enough companies can charge whatever they want?
I feel like the one you linked to should be like $500, tops. But maybe I'm missing something.
It's likely a combination of a hand-assembled product using premium materials selling into an exotic if not outright niche market - I'm sure wort production is a minor market compared to bio & chem businesses...
Cheers!
Cheers!
This is an interesting Senior Project I found where a mechanical engineering student basically made his own from scratch. Of course, he had access to the University's machine shop, but the estimated materials cost was around $150.
Wow that's pretty cool! I wish I did something interesting like that for a school project.
I'd read page 47 before deciding if that cost is interesting 
"The heat exchanger system worked, although not quite to the extent that was desired. Ideally, the system would have taken 200 °F water down to ~70 °F. In actuality the system was able to take 120 °F water down to around 90 °F, although the cooling water was room temperature. Calculating the heat transfer for this system, a value of ~8500 BTU/h is found. Ideally, the system would have been able to transfer 76,000 BTU/h."
That's stunningly bad performance, imo. My 12" long 30 plate Dudadiesel PC can drop almost boiling wort to pitchable temperature in one pass using my ~55°F well water. Cost was around $150 iirc...
"The heat exchanger system worked, although not quite to the extent that was desired. Ideally, the system would have taken 200 °F water down to ~70 °F. In actuality the system was able to take 120 °F water down to around 90 °F, although the cooling water was room temperature. Calculating the heat transfer for this system, a value of ~8500 BTU/h is found. Ideally, the system would have been able to transfer 76,000 BTU/h."
That's stunningly bad performance, imo. My 12" long 30 plate Dudadiesel PC can drop almost boiling wort to pitchable temperature in one pass using my ~55°F well water. Cost was around $150 iirc...
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Yea I wonder what factors would lead to better performance in line with even cheapo amazon plate chillers? I believe he says the plates are made of 24ga steel, which is inline with some commercial heat exchangers, accord to my quick googling.I'd read page 47 before deciding if that cost is interesting
"The heat exchanger system worked, although not quite to the extent that was desired. Ideally, the system would have taken 200 °F water down to ~70 °F. In actuality the system was able to take 120 °F water down to around 90 °F, although the cooling water was room temperature. Calculating the heat transfer for this system, a value of ~8500 BTU/h is found. Ideally, the system would have been able to transfer 76,000 BTU/h."
That's stunningly bad performance, imo. My 12" long 30 plate Dudadiesel PC can drop almost boiling wort to pitchable temperature in one pass using my ~55°F well water. Cost was around $150 iirc...
If you look at those commercial plate and frame chillers they're from big to huge, and no doubt that factors quite a lot into the cost.
I'm sorta presuming the market for small plate and frame chillers may not be large enough to drive commercial development, else such thing probably would exist.
I'm sorta presuming the market for small plate and frame chillers may not be large enough to drive commercial development, else such thing probably would exist.
Maybe it's down to flow rate, he mentions the flow rates of 1-2 gpm, he's also very inconsistent with his documentation of flow rates I might add. Lol I wonder what this kid would think about all these people trying to brew beer and critiquing his paper.
Even the lower end wort pumps are flowing 5 gpm. Google says garden hoses flow between 9-17 gpm too, so that's a pretty big difference between his findings and a typical homebrew setup.
Even the lower end wort pumps are flowing 5 gpm. Google says garden hoses flow between 9-17 gpm too, so that's a pretty big difference between his findings and a typical homebrew setup.
Indian_villager
Well-Known Member
I used to be an application engineer at a company that built and sold all types of exchangers including plate and frame. Please look up the cost of a replacement set of gaskets before you decide to invest. These are a service item. Additionally, depending on your batch size, is the dead volume acceptable? If you are really against standard homebrew exchangers you may want to look into smaller shell/tube exchangers, McMaster, ITT Standard, and a few other companies carry them.
There are so many reasons. The cost of creating the press plates and gasket molds for starters. Then you have to do a production run that balances the high per-unit cost of a small amount of raw materials and the low per-unit cost of a high quantity run (at the high cost of long aging inventory). This isn't an iPhone we're talking about. You might sell 1000 units in a couple years. Then you have to hire a staff to field 1000 phone calls when the relatively novice user can't stop the leaks after the first breakdown.
Indian_villager
Well-Known Member
Those are pricey
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