Cleaning plate chiller and chugger

[kombujo]

Hi All,
I use 40 plate chiller for cooling down sweet tea for kombucha production. Usually just flush through after use with 40L of 70C water after use. Needs a more solid cleaning as sweet tea residue caked on. I have peracetic acid 5% and sodium percarbonate. Can anyone advise on the best procedure to give the plate chiller a really thorough cleaning? Thanks

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm not all that familiar with commercial applications, cleaning, and maintenance of plate chillers. But I'll tell you what I know and do.
Maybe ask in some Pro Brewing forums too?

First, how big is that plate chiller?
Is it homebrewer size, such as a Blichmann Therminator?
Or much larger, like 10x larger?
Or one that can be taken apart for cleaning and maintenance?

FWIW, I have been using a similar small, homebrew size 30-plate Duda Diesel plate chiller for 12 years. I've used somewhat bigger ones on different rigs, but those type are all pretty much alike. Proud to say, I never had an (unintended) infected batch of beer.

If it's a (small) Therminator size/kind, first of all you need to prevent it from clogging! That's sort of mandatory to prevent a majority of problems later on, including the ability to clean and subsequent sanitize the chiller.

From what I understand, a good water pre-rinse/flush followed by recirculating a (hot) alkaline wash, is needed to kill and remove organic deposits. I add some NaOH (lye) to my (homemade) PBW solution for that. I do that every 4-5 brew sessions, or when I feel it needs it.

I guess Peracetic Acid would do pretty the same. Or maybe do Alkaline first, followed by Peracetic?

Mind, the smaller homebrew plate chillers cannot and should not be stored with acid in them between uses. They are typically brazed together with copper, and copper dissolves in acids. I guess storing with an alkaline solution is out, as Copper also reacts with that too.
So they need to be flushed with water after using a cleaning/sanitation solution, and probably best to shake out as much as you can and left to air dry in between uses.
Then re-sanitize during your next brew, by running boiling hot tea through for a few (10) minutes, before you start chilling.

Once every 5-10 uses, I stick mine in a 400-450F oven for a few hours, to burn (char) any debris that may have accumulated. Followed by a recirculating cleaning cycle, right before the next use.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've taken to using an easy method.

I have one of the Bucket Blaster setups from MoreBeer for cleaning kegs (and my fermenters). I already had additional/spare NPT QD male fittings. I simply replace the PVC fitting/tube on the pump and connect the QD fitting in it's place. This is right at the pump, before the T fitting.
I then add hot water to enough PBW to be at the desired strength (usually 4-5oz for 3 gallons of hot water).
I then connect the plate chiller (also with QD fittings) to the pump with another tube running back into the bucket.
Run for 5-10 minutes in one direction, then another 5-10 minutes in the other direction.
I then flush with clean water via the tube I made to backflush the chiller (hose connection on one end, female QD on the other).
With the amount that comes out after brewing, even with running clear water through the chiller post use, it really reinforces the need to do something like this. With using the Bucket Blaster setup, it also means it gets good and clean.
Keep in mind, I use a hop spider, so hop matter isn't plugging up the chiller. This is cold break and other things that get stuck in there.
I also changed out the tip on the PVC pipe that the blaster came with for a CIP ball. IMO, it makes for a more effective solution.

For reference, I use a Duda Diesel 40 plate, ~12" long, plate chiller that I bought about 10 years ago. I mount it to my brew stand on brew day so that it's easy to use. I also used to do a better clean every several brew days. But with what I've been seeing when cleaning the chiller out, I've changed to doing that after every brew day. Not necessarily ON brew day, but before the following one for certain. With how little effort the method I outlined takes, it's no issue and well worth doing.