Take that co2 out of fridge!

[revrand65]

I just had my co2 tank filled today..and i told the guy that i kept it in my fridge and he told me to keep it on the outside..i told him the tank pressure dropped considerably when it was in the fridge..he explained that when the liquid gas is cold you lose about 25 to 30 % head pressure ..which means your useing more gas to dispense...make sense to me...oh well just my 2 cents...

 

[david_42]

Not so, you do lose tank pressure, but since it is much higher than regulator pressure, it doesn't matter. Temperature doesn't change the amount of CO2 in the bottle, just the pressure. Start with 1000 psi or 600 psi, you still reduce it to 10-30 psi for the kegs and the volume of gas going to the kegs doesn't change.

I moved mine out to make room for another keg.

 

[Mikey]

.he explained that when the liquid gas is cold you lose about 25 to 30 % head pressure ..which means your useing more gas to dispense.

Sorry, but that's just bad science.

The CO2 is stored in liquified form in the bottle. As it is released via the regulator, it 'evaporates' into a gaseous from at a pressure that is determined by ambient temperature. The lower the temperature, the lower the pressure required to turn the CO2 from liquid to gas. Does not affect the VOLUME of gas dispensed one way or the other.

The regulator then reduces the gas pressure in the bottle to whatever you need to carbonate your beer and be able to dispense it properly. The ratio between pressure in the bottle and in your kegs may change with temperature, but so what. The volume of gas used is what's important, and that does not change with temperature of the bottle.

 

[revrand65]

ok ,well i stand corrected,or at least he doe's...the place that filled it sells fire extingushers...i'd thought he would have known better...

 

[Mikey]

Your supplier wasn't totally wrong. He just gave you info that isn't of value or applicable to kegging beer.

If you had a need for CO2 gas at 500 -700 psi and at maximum flow rates (lets say to squirt out the nozzle of a fire extinguisher) then your guy would be correct- keep it at warmer temperatures.

In the case of kegged beer where flow rates are extremely low and pressures are only ~12 psi, then it doesn't matter whether the CO2 bottle is at 12 PSI or 12 million PSI, the regulator drops the pressure to 12 PSI.