Yuri goes big with steam! (new boiler/point of use water heater)

[Clayton]

You will have to do some research to verify this, but please do some sort of check with other steam guys in your area to double check.
..

maybe you should do some research!

becase you are wrong about ss boilers
this is only 15 psi
and a sankey keg is thicker that most stove top SS pressure cookers.
a sankey key has a working max psi of 60 psi and that means by law it has to be safe at 2x that lvl so it can handle 120 psi

 

[soldstatic]

Yuri,

I'm in the process of figuring out how to build an automated system similar to what it sounds like you have. I was planning on a herms, but i think i like the idea about steam. It looks like the pictures have disappeared though, so i'm wondering if you could point me to some more pics of your setup? I think that would answer most of the questions I have lol

Thanks a bunch!!

 

[rhickman08]

Yuri,
I have a brew pot with a heat exchanger that I am looking to apply steam as a heating source. I am trying to decide if i want a return line for the condensate or just let the condensate drip off. I like your idea of using the keg as a steam generator, which I probably will use. I was told that I could keep my exchanger higher than the steam generator, (along with a one way valve) gravity would return the condensate to the steam keg. Using that kind of setup it would be a closed system pressure cooker (with gauge and pressure relief) with heat exchanger at a higher level. One thing that I am worried about is if the one way valve and gravity will be enough to keep the steam flowing. Do you have any suggestions for making a system like that flowing and possibly even something to keep it flowing without being higher than my steam keg, or any other suggestions for safety devices that would eliminate problems?

 

[Catt22]

maybe you should do some research!

becase you are wrong about ss boilers
this is only 15 psi
and a sankey keg is thicker that most stove top SS pressure cookers.
a sankey key has a working max psi of 60 psi and that means by law it has to be safe at 2x that lvl so it can handle 120 psi

Maybe so, but if something goes wrong it could be a major bummer. Run your hand over a small 250+*F steam leak once and you will understand what I'm saying. Explosions are not the only risk. I freely admit that DIY steam boilers scare the hell out of me.

 

[kladue]

Good luck with the steam boiling, you might want to check out GreenMontis threads on flash boiler and steam heated coils and calandras for boiling.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/mk-i-161799/index15.html

 

[rhickman08]

i am not able to see his pics.
are they gone or do i need to upgrade

 

[kladue]

It looks like GreenMonti's pictures are gone, here is a a link to Sanch's build thread with a flash boiler https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/sanchs-official-all-tri-clover-rig-build-242040/index4.html. With steam for boiling the primary problem will be how much steam you can generate, which is directly related to the heat source. If trying to use electric water heater elements, it would be more efficient to just install them in the kettle to eliminate losses. With the flash boiler the burner under the boiler is the limiting factor, 100K Btu burner in a 6" tube is what is currently used, for a net heating yield in the range of 10 - 15 Kw. This approach is controlled by varying the burner flame, not the water flow or steam pressure. While the burner flame can be controlled electronically with a mass flow controller and pid controller with voltage or current output, it is not simple or cheap.

 

[rhickman08]

Yuri, I was wondering what was your maximum pressure that you achieved on this set up?
just wondering if it creaks any when the psi picks up?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Never more than 12 psi. No creaking.

 

[duckdogs]

Any updates on this topic? Were you able to replace your HLT altogether? I may have missed it in the previous post but the water that you were using as sparge water was it pulled from the steam vessel itself or circulated in via an outside water source?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I have no HLT. The steam "nozzle" heats incoming cold tap water to sparge temp (all the way up to 180+ if I so desire). I can regulate the temperature by changing the steam and water flow rates.

It's too slow to heat strike water that way, so I use my electric boil kettle for that.

 

[duckdogs]

Very nice! How large are your batches, and about how much water are you going threw in the steam vessel to maintain/ramp up the mash temps and heat sparge watter? I'm trying to decide if this is something that will work for my system. I have 58 gallon HLT & BK but currently using 2 sankys as HLTs. A typical brew for instance last weekend we(4-5 of us brew together) made a Drifter clone we mashed 58.77 lbs of grain with 18.6 gallons loosing 7.6 to the grain absorb this required 27.53 gallons of sparge water bringing our boil volume up to 38.84 gallons after 60 min. boil we ended up with 34.5 gallons loosing about .5 to trub. This looks like something that would be fun(& a little dangerous) to play with. If it will work to maintain/ramp up the mash temp & provide the needed sparge water while maintaining the original footprint of my system it's win win.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I fill the boiler with 10-12 gallons of water and never run out of steam. I'm guessing I only use 3-4 gallons of water for steam generation per 1/2 bbl batch. I'm considering using a large pressure cooker instead, since it takes a long time to heat 10+ gallons of water to beyond boiling.

 

[duckdogs]

Thanks for the info and the OP on this subject.

 

[duckdogs]

Right now, it's just a 1/4" dump. It hammers a bit and is obviously inefficient, so I plan on silver soldering a screen like you showed in a previous post.

What is this screen that you mention? I searched around and don't see any posts by Klaudue mentioning a screen. I have some hammering as well but it seems to only be when there is some liquid still in the pipe at the bottom of the MT once it is cleared out the hammering goes away. I'm using 1/2" id copper for the steam delivery & 1/2" id silicone for the tap water into the "point of use" my tests with raising mash temp have been very promising. I'm still working out the tap water temp increases.

 

[mikescooling]

Nice welding man! Did you install a low water cut-off and a high pressure release? I'm guessing you've worked in the trades, ya got some skills.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

A fine mesh stainless screen over the steam output at the point of cold water in-rush would likely keep the hammer effect minimized. Kladue did some fancy silver solder work on the end of a stainless fitting, inside his steam injection port.

The one thing I'm missing is a level indicator/cutoff switch. I DEFINITELY installed a blow-off valve!