Chiller design

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leondz

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I'm planning something really similar to MD's chiller:
DSCF0029-1.jpg


I'll use two coils of 10mm microbore, set up like this - not being a plumber I can't help but think that this design would lead to a higher pressure in the inner coil, seeing as it's straight over the tee from the water inlet - would that cause any problems? Anyway it looks like a really sound design for some rapid cooling.

However this idea, to me, seems unusual - http://www.instructables.com/id/S1N2BF3FYTCMAXR/
FWTILALFZWXOZPP.MEDIUM.jpg

Making a counterflow but using a cooler box to contain the surrounding cold material. Surely you want as much heat dissipation as possible, not to retain all the heat absorbed from wort? Might be a good idea if the ambient temperature is over 30 I suppose - anyone care to correct my physics?

Taking lessons from a childhood visit to Hinckley Point, I was thinking of going with (eventually) a chiller that took water via a pump from the bottom of an open container, and sprayed warmed water back into the top of the container, thus allowing air cooling and massively shrinking water usage. Could that work?

Thanks for looking!
 
Hi Leon
My cooler brings 25ltr from boiling to 25c in 15 mins haven't noticed any temp differences between outputs from each coil.
The water that comes out of the chiller is very warm and I think you would need something like a 200ltr barrel for you to recirc the water without it getting warm. Air cooling won't work for the start of chilling the water is just too warm hence I think you'd need a larger body of water to stop it heating up so quick.
 
Immersion chillers work best when the temperature difference between coolant and wort is high. . . as the wort approaches the coolant temp the cooling effect is less . . . its at this point you want to dump a second coil into a plastic bucket full of ice water . . . coolant travels through that and then through the wort coils. . . . Very effective and cuts down water use considerably . . .
 
Thanks guys - should be a good toy to play with! Counterflow sounds a bit more efficient but a bit of a bugger to clean, though I suppose the only way to really end up is with a plate exchanger or some single unit like that. Out of interest, MD, do you know how much 10mm copper you used to make the whole thing?
 
evanvine said:
Sorry Guys,to me beer is more important than saving the planet.
Apart from anything else I pay through the nose for my water rates!!!
My CFC is therefore run from the cold tap.
Flack expected.

Never really thought much about saving the planet with this one - I just loathe inefficiency! Plus, well, copying ideas from nuclear reactors sounds like fun, even if it is impractical :>
 
I must admit, I've wondered about the feasibility of running an air-cooling system attached to my immersion chiller, especially at this time of year when the ambient tempertaure is often in single figures. It was only when I was in mid-chill yesterday that I remembered I have a high efficiency multi-core automotive radiator/fan assembly in the garage (originally from a motorcycle I broke for parts), a fairly high throughput condensate pump with a sump and also piles of assorted rubber/silicon/PVC hoses.

I wonder if it would reject sufficient heat? If so, I could see myself mounting it all in a box for a complete chiller solution :)
 
Rad cores are normally rated in kW aren't they? Just knowing that ought to be enough to scratch out some fag packet guesstimations.
 

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