Time to share this Idea.
Problem: eHERMS wort return was digging into the grain bed causing it to fluff up. Efficiency was low do to half the sparge water bypassing the grain bed and uneaven heat distribution.
Solution: Sparge Arm.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Fireglass-Stainless-Burner-18-Inch/dp/B005CXE650/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386360600&sr=8-3&keywords=fire+pit+ring
I have the jets facing up with a barbed fitting as the inlet. Tube comes through a valve through the keg wall for flow control.
This is with the valves wide open, the heat exchange coil and all the fittings restricts the flow such that the return flow is slow enough to not cause grain bed compaction.
The fittings are standard 1/2" NPT. The center inlet is threaded the whole way through (think half inch coupler). This is the 12" which just fits through a 12" opening. Bought a used one through Amazon, and its perfect. Took a quite a bit of Dawn and PBW soaks to get all the machine oil and welding/drilling debris out.
Efficiency jumped back to the normal 75%-80% eHERMS range. But this could work for just about any application if you wanted a shiney stainless steel sparge arm.
Problem: eHERMS wort return was digging into the grain bed causing it to fluff up. Efficiency was low do to half the sparge water bypassing the grain bed and uneaven heat distribution.
Solution: Sparge Arm.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Fireglass-Stainless-Burner-18-Inch/dp/B005CXE650/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386360600&sr=8-3&keywords=fire+pit+ring
I have the jets facing up with a barbed fitting as the inlet. Tube comes through a valve through the keg wall for flow control.
This is with the valves wide open, the heat exchange coil and all the fittings restricts the flow such that the return flow is slow enough to not cause grain bed compaction.
The fittings are standard 1/2" NPT. The center inlet is threaded the whole way through (think half inch coupler). This is the 12" which just fits through a 12" opening. Bought a used one through Amazon, and its perfect. Took a quite a bit of Dawn and PBW soaks to get all the machine oil and welding/drilling debris out.
Efficiency jumped back to the normal 75%-80% eHERMS range. But this could work for just about any application if you wanted a shiney stainless steel sparge arm.
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