This the Ultimate Wort Chiller?

[WPStrassburg]

Should have went with TC endcaps so you could pull the ends and clean the tubes to be 100% sure they are clear like most shell & tube exchangers are setup. Would have also removed threads on the cold side. Did you mean 0.2" id for the tubes instead of 0.02"? What wall thickness? Thinner wall would give a bit better exchange if available.
Nice work any which way you look at it and if it meets your needs and expectations that's the most important part

 

[BrunDog]

Good points WP. I already have threaded connections in other places, so it didn't seem necessary to change it here. I circulate at the end of the boil so everything gets sterilized before the flush water is turned on. I also have a CIP process in place, which runs hot PBW through everything for a few hours with pumps running and paused, so I am fairly confident in the post brew cleaning.

Yes, tubes are ~ 0.2". Whoops! Thanks for pointing out.

 

[milldoggy]

Edit- meant to pm that message

I am doing a vertical run with mine tomorrow, already got it flooded.
Make sure you have a mounting system so you can rotate it to get all the air out. Mine traps a lot.

 

[BrunDog]

It will be vertically mounted, wort fed from bottom.

 

[milldoggy]

I was going to try wort exiting the bottom. Any logic around entering the bottom?

 

[BrunDog]

As long as you can ensure there is no air inside, it's ok. You would have to have a pathway for air to back up all the way to the source of when it is displaced by the wort. You don't want the wort "running past" the air inside (like a waterfall). Otherwise you won't get proper heat transfer. Horizontally the pump might push all the air out, but it won't vertically, unless you had a massive pump and volume behind it. Going bottom up ensures the air is evacuated first. I also want to minimize aeration, so this is the orientation to do it.

 

[itsnotrequired]

how long is the tube inside the shell?

 

[maierhof]

Edit- meant to pm that message

I am doing a vertical run with mine tomorrow, already got it flooded.
Make sure you have a mounting system so you can rotate it to get all the air out. Mine traps a lot.

A simple purge with co2 might help that oxidation risk... simple tee before the unit with a ball lock to npt thread or even TC style if you are there yet...

 

[BrunDog]

how long is the tube inside the shell?

Tubes are about 30 inches long and there are 19 of them.

 

[milldoggy]

Tried vertically, mine actually perform better horizontally for heating

 

[BrunDog]

Again, I think it doesn't matter so long as the air is evacuated.

 

[augiedoggy]

. Agree, the longer the better

Kind of off topic but related The same holds true for a rims configuration I've found.

And for plate chillers... Which is why a longer 20 plate chiller is more effective than a short 40 plate model. And really why CFC work so well..

I love the idea of eliminating the copper myself and have taken some heat for this stance in the past.

 

[panaceabeachbum]

Im curious, the OP and another poster, Florida resident, mentioned having groundwater temps of 90 to 100 degrees?? Im in florida and our ground water temp is 62 degrees. Even in the dead of summer at 105 ive never had at faucet temps exceed 74 degrees.

Are you guys referring to municipal water when you say ground water or do you have your water tanks in the attic or on an asphalt slab.

If you are indeed pulling water out of the ground from your own wells and you have those kinds of temps at the spigot then your best wort temp reduction per dollar spent, might be in reducing at spigot temps by figuring out how water that comes out of the ground at 62-64 is being heated by 30-40 degrees by the time it reaches your faucet.

Just a thought.

 

[BrunDog]

I live in West Palm Beach area and have municipal water. Therefore it is not pumped out of the ground via a well or aquifer. It therefore only runs a few feet below the ground on the way to my street and house. In the summer it's usually in the low 80's. After a few cold days, it will drop into the lower 70's maybe, but that's it.

Anyway you thought was valid - thanks for offering!

 

[jcav]

Im curious, the OP and another poster, Florida resident, mentioned having groundwater temps of 90 to 100 degrees?? Im in florida and our ground water temp is 62 degrees. Even in the dead of summer at 105 ive never had at faucet temps exceed 74 degrees.

Are you guys referring to municipal water when you say ground water or do you have your water tanks in the attic or on an asphalt slab.

If you are indeed pulling water out of the ground from your own wells and you have those kinds of temps at the spigot then your best wort temp reduction per dollar spent, might be in reducing at spigot temps by figuring out how water that comes out of the ground at 62-64 is being heated by 30-40 degrees by the time it reaches your faucet.

Just a thought.

Thought I'd answer, I think you may have misread my post. I was referring to chilling with my ground water until I get the temp of the wort down to 90 to 100 degrees, and then switching to ice in my mash tun. I do have pretty hot ground water in the summer though. I have a well and it's in the 70's in the winter and it does get in the 80's in the summer. I wish I had water in the 60's, that would be great!

John

 

[ten80]

BrunDog, are you using the chiller with the wort flowing in the opposite direction as the chilling water? Counter-flow cooling is much more effective than same-direction flow. Just checking!

Nice job on the chiller, I'd love to see what it could do with my <40 degree Fahrenheit groundwater!

 

[BrunDog]

Yessir. But I have certainly plumbed it backwards on tests more than once!

I suppose you are suggesting it is not fast enough... looking at passedpawn's test he just posted, they aren't far apart.

Your flush water would definitely make it fast!

 

[ten80]

No, it's plenty fast given your cooling water temperature. I really like how the unit is not prone to clogs and doesn't need to be added to the kettle, plus it is easier to store than a huge and awkward immersion chiller.

 

[BrunDog]

Thanks. It will be permanently mounted on my rig. The hard part will be plumbing valves to switch hose and ice bath flush water.

I am also not used to chilling back into the kettle (I currently chill one pass into the fermenter). I know that will remove cold break from the fermenter, which I am not fully certain is or is not a good thing.

 

[jcav]

Hey Brun, I think you will like the end result of chilling back into your fermenter. I believe it will help with chill haze and your beer will clear a little quicker as well. Let us know if you see this as well.

John

 

[BrunDog]

Thanks John. It will be a bit before I set it up, but will let you know.

 

[brewslinger]

How does this one compare BTU wise with the pool heaters? Any rough calculations?

 

[skraeling]

the CF chiller on my grainfather with water temps right now gets me to pitching temp in under 2mins roughly lol.

 

[BrunDog]

How does this one compare BTU wise with the pool heaters? Any rough calculations?

Its probably in the neighborhood of 2.5x 200k BTU.

 

[froot]

If you still have a copper IC in the shed, why not just drop it in a bucket of ice water and pre chill your cooling water. If your recircing back to the kettle to a set temp, I'd drop the ice in after this.

The chiller looks like a sweet bit of kit, and decent ground water temp would really give you a helping hand, I'm in the same boat in summer with up to 100°f from the tap, so I knock off the bulk temp with straight tap water (recirc to kettle) then add ice for the pre-chiller. Note pre-chiller being copper , still ain't in contact with wort.

 

[TexasWine]

Really digging the HEX @BrunDog. Quick Q. Did you have any baffles installed in the shell side?

 

[BrunDog]

No baffles @TexasWine. I think there is enough movement of the water, but you are right that baffles would create better turbulence and heat transfer.

@froot I have learned through lots of trial and error that pre-chillers do not work well compared to secondary chillers. It's a large volume of water you are trying to pre-chill, so it works, but not as efficiently as direct cooling via a second stage (either inline, or in sequential series).

 

[Duda_Energy]

Its probably in the neighborhood of 2.5x 200k BTU.

It's somewhere between 28,166 and 28,724 BTU/hr (I can't calculate it exactly without knowing the density and heat transfer coefficient of your wort (varies batch to batch), but its in that neighborhood).

Of course, in now way is the number I just gave the maximum heat transfer your set up can do - that would be much, much higher if you had faster fluids, lower temp cold fluid, etc. But 7.5 gallons of wort going from 212 to 100f is ~7k BTUs, which you did in 15min, so 28k BTU/hr.

 

[BrunDog]

Your math is correct. My number was an eyeball rating based upon the printed specs of similar models.

In any event the theory/math is less relevant because of the test data.

 

[TexasWine]

Hey @Brundog. Reviving this thread to move our discussion to an appropriate thread.

I'm in the same situation as you, groundwater temps in the 80s during the summer months. How much slower was the short hex you tested? And what was the length?