Steam Heating Methodology

[Sumta]

Urk! Please move this to techniques.

For those of you using steam to heat and maintain your mash:

In Charlie Scandrett's article on steam heating he did two things that I have not seen in any one else's posting on the subject. He superheated the steam coming from his pressure cooker and he added a second "larger" outlet from the cooker that went down into a bucket filled with water.

Superheating the steam makes sense to me. It makes steam that is about as full of heat as it can get. The question that concerns me is, "Can the superheated steam be super enough to back up into the pressure cooker and blow the lid? Why the heck not?"

Maybe that is addressed in adding the second outlet. In his article, he implied that its a vacuum break, preventing the cooling cooker from drawing the wort into the steam pipe. But honestly, I am not sure what it does.

Can anyone address this (preferably with the math/science behind it)? Is anyone using that setup?

jw

 

[DyerNeedOfBeer]

Sounds quite complicated to me. I use a steam injection system but I do not superheat my steam. I can raise my mash temperature from 150f to 200f in five minutes (tested this in water only so as not to ruin any mash with high temps.). I do get water hammer but its of no concern. With these results, I see no reason to get any more complicated with the steam injection system. This doesn't directly answer your specific questions but may lead to avoiding them even being asked. I have a couple of pics in my gallery of my generator.

 

[Sumta]

I use a steam injection system but I do not superheat my steam.

That is good to hear. The superheating issue is what was causing me the most concern. I will leave it out till I get bored and need something to do.

What do you do when you get water hammered? Where did you get that bitchin pressure canner, and what brand is it?

jw

 

[DyerNeedOfBeer]

The name on top is 'Kitchen Tested'. It is an 18 qt. I got it from e-bay. There are many auctions for such items. I like the fact that it is very heavy duty (the older ones seem to be more so than ones produced these days) and has no o-ring seal (relies on metal to metal seating surface).

As far as water hammer? Nothing... thats just another indicator to me that there is flow going into my mash . It does no damage to the equipment so I am not a bit concerned over it. Maybe if I were hard piped all the way from the mash tun manifold to the pressure cooker, it may rattle a bit but I have a flexible hose from my cooker to my mash. You can see it in some of the pics in my gallery. I'm sure some will think that is insane but I have used that hose for a long time with no problems. It is a braided hot water heater hose. I'm sure if I superheated my steam, this hose would not be able to handle the temperatures but it works just fine in my app.

Cheers...

 

[parasonic]

Superheating the steam makes sense to me. It makes steam that is about as full of heat as it can get. The question that concerns me is, "Can the superheated steam be super enough to back up into the pressure cooker and blow the lid? Why the heck not?"

It could. You'll have to do some calculations. You definitely want a pressure relief valve to spew the steam upward or out of the way in case this happens. You may want to consult a boilermaker. He'd be happy to help you out, I'm sure.

 

[Sumta]

DyerNeed,
How did you secure your steam valve to the top of your pressure canner? At least it looks like the top and not the side.

jw

 

[Lounge Lizard]

Here is another steam system in Sir Sudster's gallery:


https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=6&c=1&userid=1413


Just as an example. Not saying anyone's system better than another...

 

[DyerNeedOfBeer]

DyerNeed,
How did you secure your steam valve to the top of your pressure canner? At least it looks like the top and not the side.

jw

The relief was threaded into the top so I simply removed that, purchased a closed nipple and a tee which allowed me to fit the lid with the original relief and the valve.