Boil kettle condenser - no overhead ventilation needed

[AF1HomeBrew]

I'm looking forward to giving the SteamSlayer a trial run this weekend. I've had my kettles for a few years and they all have 1 1/2" TC ports at the top side of the kettle. With some spare TC parts I am hoping the following works. Would love to try it now, but it's 18 degrees in the garage and 4 degrees outside w/o windchill. Wish I would have found this thread earlier, because two weeks ago I brewed a triple batch of G. Strong's Irish Stout in the garage, and the garage looked like Dr.Zhivago's ice palace when we were done.

 

[Gravitysucks]

I like the way you have your nozzle set up. I wish I'd seen that 1/8 to 1/2 npt fitting from McMaster when I was trying to piece my nozzle together. It would have saved me a lot of chasing parts down that didn't end up working and in the end having to drill out a fitting to clear the filter on the nozzle I used.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I like the way you have your nozzle set up. I wish I'd seen that 1/8 to 1/2 npt fitting from McMaster when I was trying to piece my nozzle together. It would have saved me a lot of chasing parts down that didn't end up working and in the end having to drill out a fitting to clear the filter on the nozzle I used.

Thanks, it took some time to find, but I think Brundog or another poster had it in one of their photo’s.

 

[BrunDog]

I'm looking forward to giving the SteamSlayer a trial run this weekend. I've had my kettles for a few years and they all have 1 1/2" TC ports at the top side of the kettle. With some spare TC parts I am hoping the following works. Would love to try it now, but it's 18 degrees in the garage and 4 degrees outside w/o windchill. Wish I would have found this thread earlier, because two weeks ago I brewed a triple batch of G. Strong's Irish Stout in the garage, and the garage looked like Dr.Zhivago's ice palace when we were done.

Two concerns with the tube feeding the sprayer: 1. The sprayer may not be centered in the tee, allowing some of the spray to hit the inner wall. This will render that spray water ineffective. 2. If that hose is silicone, the water pressure will probably cause it to burst or at least swell. Make sure the tube you use can handle the incoming water pressure.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Two concerns with the tube feeding the sprayer: 1. The sprayer may not be centered in the tee, allowing some of the spray to hit the inner wall. This will render that spray water ineffective. 2. If that hose is silicone, the water pressure will probably cause it to burst or at least swell. Make sure the tube you use can handle the incoming water pressure.

Thanks for your feedback. I’ll give it a try and see if it works, and modify if I can find something else.

 

[BrunDog]

If you can find a 2” TC cap with 1/2” NPT females on both sides, you can mount the sprayer directly.

 

[Gravitysucks]

If you can find a 2” TC cap with 1/2” NPT females on both sides, you can mount the sprayer directly.

BobbyM has those in stock now...https://www.brewhardware.com/category_s/1841.htm?searching=Y&sort=5&cat=1841&show=40&page=2

I wasn't able to find a 2" cap like that when I was piecing my nozzle together so I just drilled out a 2" blank TC cap and silver soldered a 1/4" npt female to male elbow on to it. Then I was able to thread a 1/4" compression fitting on to the elbow from other side along with a short piece of 1/4" stainless tubing and another compression fitting (which I had to drill out on the thread side to clear the nozzle filter) to eventually get to the nozzle. Not the most elegant or simple solution but I'm getting a good spray pattern out of it so it doesn't seem to be too restrictive.

 

[Blazinlow86]

BobbyM has those in stock now...https://www.brewhardware.com/category_s/1841.htm?searching=Y&sort=5&cat=1841&show=40&page=2

I wasn't able to find a 2" cap like that when I was piecing my nozzle together so I just drilled out a 2" blank TC cap and silver soldered a 1/4" npt female to male elbow on to it. Then I was able to thread a 1/4" compression fitting on to the elbow from other side along with a short piece of 1/4" stainless tubing and another compression fitting (which I had to drill out on the thread side to clear the nozzle filter) to eventually get to the nozzle. Not the most elegant or simple solution but I'm getting a good spray pattern out of it so it doesn't seem to be too restrictive.
View attachment 609818 View attachment 609819

If that's a lid added to your lid that I'm seeing I like it. Good idea

 

[Gravitysucks]

If that's a lid added to your lid that I'm seeing I like it. Good idea

It's an old 1qt saucepan lid I added to make hop additions a bit easier but I can't take credit for the idea. That goes to Brewbuzzard. I noticed he had one in a picture he posted a couple of pages back and I thought it was brilliant.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I did a test last weekend, but found that I need another piece. This morning after extended research found a piece from NorCal that will work perfectly with my 2" TC tee and misting nozzle.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Was able to successfully try out my 30G Spike kettle with the SteamSlayer, using some spare parts I had lying around. After boiling water for an hour to see the rate and effectiveness, I decided to try with some wort. I had bought a More Beer Blonde Ale extract kit for a test. While I have a drain in my garage, I was glad to dump that smelly water outside. The garage stayed dry!

View of the 2" TC Tee piece with the misting nozzle:

Tear down. With the Norcal piece that I ordered this morning, I will be able to reduce several of the pieces when it comes on Friday.

View attachment 610987

Edit:
When the Norcal part arrives the items in purple will no longer be needed.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Two concerns with the tube feeding the sprayer: 1. The sprayer may not be centered in the tee, allowing some of the spray to hit the inner wall. This will render that spray water ineffective. 2. If that hose is silicone, the water pressure will probably cause it to burst or at least swell. Make sure the tube you use can handle the incoming water pressure.

As predicted the Silicon tubing quickly was taken off the part list on Sunday afternoon. I was hoping to use it to confirm the length needed within the Tee.

Almost made it as an entry into the Most embarrassing homebrewing mistakes
thread

 

[BrunDog]

Lol!

 

[Mybuddypete]

Commercial version of a boil condenser: (EDIT: 8 minutes into video)

 

[Crazybob]

I was just a wondering if there is an update to the availability for the steam slayer from Bobby? I just got in my new boil kettle this week and would like to get it or parts on order. Mostly curious if it's in days/ weeks/ months timeframe.

 

[Ridenour64]

Got mine set up.

 

[BrunDog]

Nice! One comment for people hooking up water initially... If its easier, you can use a very small tube, like 1/8" or 1/4" polyethylene and push-in fittings. There is such a small amount of flow, a tiny tube will supply enough and makes it easier to handle the pressure.

 

[jcav]

As predicted the Silicon tubing quickly was taken off the part list on Sunday afternoon. I was hoping to use it to confirm the length needed within the Tee.

Almost made it as an entry into the Most embarrassing homebrewing mistakes
thread

View attachment 611007

Nice save!

 

[Wagon_6]

I was just a wondering if there is an update to the availability for the steam slayer from Bobby? I just got in my new boil kettle this week and would like to get it or parts on order. Mostly curious if it's in days/ weeks/ months timeframe.

Same here!

 

[Bobby_M]

Same here!

Mid March

 

[Black_Z28]

Mid March

Sounds like the Chinese New Years go ya?

 

[Bobby_M]

Sounds like the Chinese New Years go ya?

It stings me every darn year. I walk a fine line between overbuying and running out right in the middle of their party.

 

[mongoose33]

About the smell:

I brewed on Sunday and tried something new to see if I could reduce the smell. I drain the effluent into a PVC pipe and down the drain. I stuffed a rag in the top to try to seal it.



I felt that it reduced the odor a fair amount but it was still significant. However, when I opened the garage doors after brewing to air out the space it was better than the previous time.

I poked my head down under the sink and it seemed clear to me that this is where the odor seems to mostly be coming from.

I'm going to try a few other variants; I probably can seal that pipe better than I did. I didn't put a plug in the sink drain and it's possible I had some odor coming back up from the P-trap. I may try some foam sealer to seal up the top.

*********

Here's one other question: I'm using Fermcap-S to prevent boilovers. Any chance this is part of what's producing the smell? Is there an alternative to using Fermcap that would also prevent boilovers?

 

[Brewbuzzard]

About the smell:

I brewed on Sunday and tried something new to see if I could reduce the smell. I drain the effluent into a PVC pipe and down the drain. I stuffed a rag in the top to try to seal it.

View attachment 612445

I felt that it reduced the odor a fair amount but it was still significant. However, when I opened the garage doors after brewing to air out the space it was better than the previous time.

I poked my head down under the sink and it seemed clear to me that this is where the odor seems to mostly be coming from.

I'm going to try a few other variants; I probably can seal that pipe better than I did. I didn't put a plug in the sink drain and it's possible I had some odor coming back up from the P-trap. I may try some foam sealer to seal up the top.

*********

Here's one other question: I'm using Fermcap-S to prevent boilovers. Any chance this is part of what's producing the smell? Is there an alternative to using Fermcap that would also prevent boilovers?

Observation!

 

[gtslate]

Brundog, did you go with a solder-on TC ferrule to avoid interference with the steamer basket? I have the same Bayou Classic kettle and I'm curious if there would be enough space between the kettle inner wall and the steamer basket to accommodate a weldless ferrule.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

View attachment 611006 Was able to successfully try out my 30G Spike kettle with the SteamSlayer, using some spare parts I had lying around. After boiling water for an hour to see the rate and effectiveness, I decided to try with some wort. I had bought a More Beer Blonde Ale extract kit for a test. While I have a drain in my garage, I was glad to dump that smelly water outside. The garage stayed dry!

View attachment 610984

View of the 2" TC Tee piece with the misting nozzle:

View attachment 610985

Tear down. With the Norcal piece that I ordered this morning, I will be able to reduce several of the pieces when it comes on Friday.

View attachment 610987

Edit:
When the Norcal part arrives the items in purple will no longer be needed.

The results of my test using a MoreBeer Blonde Ale kit. Pretty tasty for what it is. Tried to use my version of the SteamSlayer on a 3 batch G.Strong Helle's brewsession, but it was a little too much wort in my kettle.

 

[BrunDog]

I don’t use the basket but yes I used a solder-on ferrule, so there is nothing inside. I actually epoxied (food and temp safe) it to the kettle as it would have been difficult to solder at that point.

 

[Ridenour64]

About the smell:

I brewed on Sunday and tried something new to see if I could reduce the smell. I drain the effluent into a PVC pipe and down the drain. I stuffed a rag in the top to try to seal it.

View attachment 612445

I felt that it reduced the odor a fair amount but it was still significant. However, when I opened the garage doors after brewing to air out the space it was better than the previous time.

I poked my head down under the sink and it seemed clear to me that this is where the odor seems to mostly be coming from.

I'm going to try a few other variants; I probably can seal that pipe better than I did. I didn't put a plug in the sink drain and it's possible I had some odor coming back up from the P-trap. I may try some foam sealer to seal up the top.

*********

Here's one other question: I'm using Fermcap-S to prevent boilovers. Any chance this is part of what's producing the smell? Is there an alternative to using Fermcap that would also prevent boilovers?

I brewed Saturday using my setup for the first time. I did not notice any unpleasant odors. My hose was running to a bucket right under my brew table so there was nothing sealing off vapors. I did not use any ingredients for preventing boil overs. So maybe?

With that being said, I had 7 gallons in a 15 gallon spike kettle and there was a “boil over” that all ran down the steam hose. Another benefit of this. I think I was boiling with too much power to the element.

 

[cbier60]

With that being said, I had 7 gallons in a 15 gallon spike kettle and there was a “boil over” that all ran down the steam hose. Another benefit of this. I think I was boiling with too much power to the element.

As many have reported in this thread, the power to maintain a boil is much less than with an open kettle, typically 50-60%. So if you didn't turn down the power during the boil, the overly vigorous "boil over" is expected.

Next time, you have to carefully crack the lid to observe the boil vigor to determine the correct power level. Be very careful to not burn yourself from the released steam when you check.

 

[mongoose33]

I brewed Saturday using my setup for the first time. I did not notice any unpleasant odors. My hose was running to a bucket right under my brew table so there was nothing sealing off vapors. I did not use any ingredients for preventing boil overs. So maybe?

Hmmm....everybody who's had that odor is hoping you figured something out...


No Fermcap-S. Hmmm....

That'll have to be my next experiment. I had thought about sealing off the drain pipe into which the effluent flows, but maybe no Fermcap-S should be the next thing.

With that being said, I had 7 gallons in a 15 gallon spike kettle and there was a “boil over” that all ran down the steam hose. Another benefit of this. I think I was boiling with too much power to the element.

I have a 5500-watt element in a 10-gallon kettle, with about 6.5 gallons of wort typically. I'm moving toward a gentler boil given some of the current theory on heat stress during the boil.

<thinking out loud> Perhaps one way to avoid boilovers, besides a low intensity boil, is to turn down the power to the element when hops are added....

I've had the power percentage as low as 29 percent during the boil and it's still kicking out enough steam for the steamslayer to work. I could go lower, I'm sure, thinking that perhaps 20 percent or even less would give me a decent simmer.

BTW, thanks for trying this.

 

[mongoose33]

I just finished a brew day using the steam slayer. Since @Ridenour64 had done his brew day without Fermcap-S, I decided I'd do the same thing.

There still was an odor, but not nearly as bad as before. Since I never did a brew day indoors prior to using the steam slayer, I can't say what it would have been like. There still was a hop odor, but not a bad one.

So, perhaps Fermcap-S is to blame. Of course, different hops, different amounts, could also be the culprit, but given the results today, next time I'll also omit Fermcap-S, plus I'll seal off the effluent hose in the pipe it drains in.

The only doubt I have is that I had fewer hops in this recipe. It's an amber, half an ounce at 60 minutes, half an ounce at 10 minutes, half an ounce at flameout.

But the nature of the odor changed, which still leads me to believe Fermcap is the culprit.

 

[beermaestro]

What are the thoughts on trying something like this? I was thinking that the steam could pass through the smaller inner tubes and hooking this up to my glycol chiller to run through the inside of larger tube. This type of condenser is used in larger applications like power plants where they condense their steam from their combustion turbine and then recirculate and reheat it for the steam turbine. This would eliminate the use of having a water spray system. Would the glycol chiller provide enough cooling to condense the steam and provide the vacuum?

 

[ancientmariner52]

What are the thoughts on trying something like this? I was thinking that the steam could pass through the smaller inner tubes and hooking this up to my glycol chiller to run through the inside of larger tube. This type of condenser is used in larger applications like power plants where they condense their steam from their combustion turbine and then recirculate and reheat it for the steam turbine. This would eliminate the use of having a water spray system. Would the glycol chiller provide enough cooling to condense the steam and provide the vacuum?

Certainly you could make it work. Would it have any advantage over the steam slayer? Just off the top of my head, I'd say no.

My experience is limited to steam propulsion plants on board ship. Lots of auxiliary machinery required to support the condenser systems. Steam air ejector to initially create the vacuum. Condensate pump, because you can't gravity drain from a vacuum chamber. Probably other things I can't recall right now.

Overall, for our small scale operations, the steam slayer would be hard to beat. Just my two cent's worth.

 

[mongoose33]

What are the thoughts on trying something like this? I was thinking that the steam could pass through the smaller inner tubes and hooking this up to my glycol chiller to run through the inside of larger tube. This type of condenser is used in larger applications like power plants where they condense their steam from their combustion turbine and then recirculate and reheat it for the steam turbine. This would eliminate the use of having a water spray system. Would the glycol chiller provide enough cooling to condense the steam and provide the vacuum?

There are variables to consider. In the pics you show I can't see where either the steam or the glycol would flow--the tubes look like they are sealed tightly to each other--but if there was space between them, I think it would work.

The determining factors would be how quickly the glycol system could recover, the rate of flow of the glycol through the tubes, and the amount of steam being produced. The steam from a rolling boil has a lot more heat energy produced for the steam slayer to cool than a simmer.

You could calculate the number of BTUs needed, I think--In my system, with a fairly rigorous boil, the effluent was about 140 degrees. I was boiling off 1 gallon per hour, and the water spray is about 9 gph. The water starts out about 50 degrees or so. It takes a BTU to raise a pound of water 1 degree fahrenheit (about--that's at 39 degrees IIRC, but close enough for purposes here). Ten gallons is 84.3 pounds. Nine gallons is 75.06 pounds.

This is where it's early, I haven't had enough coffee, and I'm sure there's an engineer out there who can more accurately figure this out, but I'm thinking that if 75.06 pounds of water is raised in temperature from 50 to 140, that would be a capture of (75.06 pounds of water x 90 degrees of temp change) of 6755 BTUs of energy.

Engineers, is that at least in the ballpark? Or has the lack of coffee sapped my brainpower?

So my thinking (such as it is) is that you'd need at least 6755 BTUs of glycol cooling power to do this, spread out over an hour's time. I have a Penguin chiller; at 28 degrees it's rated at 2850 BTUs (presumably per hour), at 38 degrees it's rated at 3580 BTUs; what would it be at 200 degrees? It recovers very, VERY fast, so I'm guessing that chiller would produce enough cooling (by far, actually) to be able to do this, given proper geometry of the steam slayer and tubing.

I'm with @ancientmariner52 on this; it seems like a Rube Goldberg way of accomplishing what the steam slayer already does. It would save 9 gallons of water, and if you have no source of water it would work where otherwise nothing would, but how would the added complication make it a better option?

Interesting idea, though.

 

[beermaestro]

I actually have the penguin glycol chiller and it sits on the bottom shelf of my brewing stand which is why I had the idea to use that verses cooling water. If using the steam slayer with spray nozzle, I’d have to use a garden hose from outside to run into my garage. Although this is not a big deal to do. I work for a power company and was sitting through some training of how a natural gas combined cycle power plant operates and that is where I had the idea of using The condenser tube. The tube I have pictured above has the smaller tubes inside with space around them for the cooling water/glycol to flow while the steam passes through the inner tubes, or vice versa depending on how you hook it up. Could you collect the condensate as it runs out of the condenser and use that as your cleaning water? Like it has been said, not sure this would be any better than what is already available but just a thought.

 

[mongoose33]

The tube I have pictured above has the smaller tubes inside with space around them for the cooling water/glycol to flow while the steam passes through the inner tubes, or vice versa depending on how you hook it up. Could you collect the condensate as it runs out of the condenser and use that as your cleaning water?

You could, but how much do you think you'd collect? Only the amount of the boiloff minus whatever evaporates.

Extending the idea further, could you run the steam through any kind of a condenser--similar to what is used with moonshine stills--sitting in a bucket of icewater? I don't know, again depends on the variables.

With problems like this it can be helpful to step back and reframe the question. The fundamental question isn't how to get liquid cooling to condense the steam, the question is how to cool that steam.

Multiple ways to do that:

1. Use water in the steam slayer--the standard

2. Use a tube arrangement cooled by a glycol solution, as per your idea

3. Run the steam through a barrel of water in which a worm is immersed to condense the water.

4. Put a coil around a long tube through which the steam travels, with the coil cooled with glycol solution.

5. Thinking out loud, since in doing this it's in an outside garage, and presumably it's cold outside, I'd think a barrel in which a coil through which the steam passes was immersed would contain pretty cold water. That would work until the steam heated up the water to where it wasn't condensing enough. To combat that, perhaps you put a secondary coil in that barrel fed by the glycol solution to keep that water cold enough to condense.

6. ????? other ways of which I'm sure there are a few....

 

[Bobby_M]

For starters, I know that the load on the glycol system would cost more in electricity and wear and tear than 10 gal of tap water. It would also render your glycol useless fir fermentation control during boiling as it would be too hot. Finally, people are finding the diluted waste water to smell bad. What do you think the concentrate would smell like?

 

[mongoose33]

For starters, I know that the load on the glycol system would cost more in electricity and wear and tear than 10 gal of tap water. It would also render your glycol useless fir fermentation control during boiling as it would be too hot. Finally, people are finding the diluted waste water to smell bad. What do you think the concentrate would smell like?

I think the issue is a lack of a readily-accessible water source. As far as cost....if you had something like the Penguin, I'd be surprised if you spent more than 60 cents for an hour of cooling. Those things are FAST in recovery.

But agreed, water is much more elegant as a solution.

 

[BrunDog]

What are the thoughts on trying something like this? I was thinking that the steam could pass through the smaller inner tubes and hooking this up to my glycol chiller to run through the inside of larger tube. This type of condenser is used in larger applications like power plants where they condense their steam from their combustion turbine and then recirculate and reheat it for the steam turbine. This would eliminate the use of having a water spray system. Would the glycol chiller provide enough cooling to condense the steam and provide the vacuum?

You could absolutely use a HEX like this for a closed-loop system. I would pipe the steam via the shell, not the tubes, as the restriction is less. If I were to do it, I would not use a powered chiller - though you could if it had enough oomph (technical term). I would just use a recirculating water loop into a fan and radiator. It would need be pretty big and you'd need to calculate the anticipated temp differential into the cooling liquid to determine the size needed (ambient temp really matters too), so it could be done. I created the homebrew condenser since it was inexpensive and easy to implement, but have also said for those who were really water-waste sensitive, we could create a closed-loop system - it would just take a brave soul, some money and patience.

have said this all along in hopes some brave soul who was really

 

[Wizard_of_Frobozz]

What are the thoughts on trying something like this? I was thinking that the steam could pass through the smaller inner tubes and hooking this up to my glycol chiller to run through the inside of larger tube. This type of condenser is used in larger applications like power plants where they condense their steam from their combustion turbine and then recirculate and reheat it for the steam turbine. This would eliminate the use of having a water spray system. Would the glycol chiller provide enough cooling to condense the steam and provide the vacuum?

I'll chime in since heat transfer is my professional occupation. I'm in agreement that it COULD be done, but you'd be hard pressed to beat the steam slayer.

The reason the steam slayer is so effective is that the water spray is in direct contact with the steam, so it quickly transfers the heat energy from the steam, and thus condenses the steam.

In a closed loop heat exchanger, the most significant factor in heat transfer is the surface area of the heat exchanger. The heat has to flow from the steam, through the metal wall of the heat exchanger (tube or plate, depending on the design). The more surface area of that wall, the more opportunity the heat has to flow out of the steam and into the cooling fluid. Steam contains a LOT of heat energy, so you need a LOT of surface area to make it work. In other words, you'd need something a LOT bigger than the steam slayer to effectively condense the steam.

Now, that being said, I definitely see the desire to conserve water and keep the system closed loop if you live in an area where water conservation is important. I think an elegant solution in this case would be to have a large drum full of water sitting at room temperature. Pump it through the heat exchanger during the boil, and capture the hot water for cleaning. Single pass and make use of the heat. Another option would be to let that water/glycol cool off naturally between brew days. You'd have to prevent bacteria growth in the fluid, but it could work.

I would not personally try to chill the fluid, since that requires electricity and you really don't get that much benefit. Water is roughly 1 btu/lb/F, so if you chill the fluid down to say 25F from 70F, that's only 45 btu's/lb. To condense the steam, you have to remove 970 btu/lb from the steam, so chilling down the fluid only gives you a 4.6% improvement in heat removal...but that's assuming the heat exchanger is 100% efficient, which a closed loop heat exchanger is definitely NOT; in practical terms, you'd probably only get about 1-2% improvement by chilling the fluid. I would highly doubt you could make that cost-effective or worth the extra complexity of a chilling system. For some people, the complexity is what makes it fun, so I completely understand if that's not a concern...