Tube & Shell Heat Exchanger

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Sorry guys, I guess I kind of dropped off the map! I tried it out a few times and it didn't really blow my hair back...IIRC it took 15-20 mins to chill about 6 gallons of wort from boiling to ~100F...constantly recirculating because the output was too hot to go right into the fermenter. I ended up chopping it apart thinking I would weld new endcaps on and rebuild it with more and smaller tubes. I kinda shelved the whole project though. Don't let my lack of progress discourage you...I think it's probably still worth doing. BTW, have any of you seen THESE ?
 
Sorry guys, I guess I kind of dropped off the map! I tried it out a few times and it didn't really blow my hair back...IIRC it took 15-20 mins to chill about 6 gallons of wort from boiling to ~100F...constantly recirculating because the output was too hot to go right into the fermenter. I ended up chopping it apart thinking I would weld new endcaps on and rebuild it with more and smaller tubes. I kinda shelved the whole project though. Don't let my lack of progress discourage you...I think it's probably still worth doing. BTW, have any of you seen THESE ?

I actually saw one of those not to long ago. my biggest worry is how sanitary it would be. Most likely its garbage. Have you seen this? http://stilldragon.com/index.php/2-long-product-shotgun.html
 
My approach to this has been to build one of these but I am having trouble finding some parts and may have to resort to some fabrication myself.
 
Wow, that StillDragon looks like what I was trying to build....I still think the tubes should be smaller and more numerous. As a condenser it just needs to take ethanol gas and return it to liquid, right? Not sure about the delta or temp change required.....but I do know we are asking quite a bit of our other chillers to return boiling high gravity wort to about 90F.....
 
Wow, that StillDragon looks like what I was trying to build....I still think the tubes should be smaller and more numerous. As a condenser it just needs to take ethanol gas and return it to liquid, right? Not sure about the delta or temp change required.....but I do know we are asking quite a bit of our other chillers to return boiling high gravity wort to about 90F.....

I was thinking about removing my counterflow and building one using 3/8 straight tubing, and 2"x 3 ft stainless spool. I did the math and I can get about 13 rods in a 2" spool. giving me 39' of chilling capacity. But it also seems like a pain in the ass. The one thing I am worried about is how much waste I will have left in the chiller after I pump to my fermenter.
 
If the hex is vertical and you have the wort enter from the top, you will have almost zero waste left in chiller. You'd need to "fill" the hex before chilling, then flow at a rate that would not evacuate the tubes, otherwise you'd lose your surface area. Alternatively, flow wort up from the bottom but have a valve so you can disconnect tubing at the end and dump the rest in the fermenter by opening the valve. Hope that makes sense....its the same concept with a plate or chillzilla.
 
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