Liquid CO2?

[Obliviousbrew]

This thread is dated but I really want to know what the OP wants to achieve, I know my fare share of molecular cuisine so maybe I can help if I ever understand this thread

 

[acidrain]

Thanat0s last post was 10-22-12... one day after starting this thread. I don't think he's coming back.

 

[Thanat0s]

What? No, I'm still here! haha
Once I get to an actual computer I'll type up my plan.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

What are you trying to achieve?

 

[zeg]

FWIW, the how-to starts on p.33 of the Baker thesis.

This is all done at very high pressure---the relief valve in the proof-of-principle apparatus is rated at 1420 PSI. No obscure cryogenic materials seem to be used, just stainless steel.

Really, though, this isn't in the realm of a garage project unless you know what you're doing. You've got to be maintaining high pressures throughout the system, including the ingredient and product containers, and you're dealing with liquids that are intended to freeze solid. That introduces opportunities for things to clog, running the risk of vents failing to vent, which could lead to catastrophic (deadly) failures. This is far more involved than offgassing CO2 into a keg of beer.

If you can get your parts machined and/or buy parts intended for this kind of use, that's one thing. But I would really caution against kludging something together by the seat of your pants on this.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

OK ok so the Op wants to make some kind of sorbet with carbonation: using "liquid" co2 is not the way to go, a better explanation of the desire final product is needed, do you intend it to be fizzy? or just sorbet with solidify bubbles in it?.

 

[zeg]

OK ok so the Op wants to make some kind of sorbet with carbonation: using "liquid" co2 is not the way to go, a better explanation of the desire final product is needed, do you intend it to be fizzy? or just sorbet with solidify bubbles in it?.

From the thesis, it certainly does seem like liquid CO2 is a viable way to do it, it's just more involved than spraying that CO2 into a bowl of liquid. Also, I think the intent of the flash freeze is to get finer ice crystals, which will give you a finer texture. At least, that seems to be the idea for ice cream.

 

[RobertRGeorge]

It has been my hypothesis all along that someone who comes to a homebrew forum to get detailed engineering advice for a project that has all kinds of ways to go haywire is an underfunded dilletante that is very likely to injure himself and/or any garage-band collaborators involved. I certainly could be wrong but I still maintain that this is not the way a serious product developer goes about this kind of thing.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

Low temperatures reach fast will give smaller ice cristal in icecream and because of that a finner texture, I don´t understand why using co2 when you can perfectly use an ISI shipon (or any rechargle whipe creamer) and liquid nitrogen. That works perfectly. And if you want bubbles adding dry ice to a fruit juice works, Arzak makes a dessert like that, and well nitro icecream is been around for quite some time

 

[zeg]

From the thesis (which I lean on simply because I have no first-hand experience), regarding use for flash freezing, "Other cryogenic gases are not practical for this because either the critical point is much lower than the desired temperature of ice cream (i.e. Nitrogen), the gas is not consumable (i.e. Ammonia), or the gas is prohibitively expensive (i.e. Krypton)." I think the key is that you can get liquid CO2 near 0°C at a high but reasonable pressure, though I'm not certain that's the reasoning.

For the OP's application, whatever it is exactly, I don't know whether this is relevant.