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Counterflow Wort Chiller Build

 
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mjo2125




Joined: 27 Feb 2017
Posts: 248
Location: Dayton, OH


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:01 am    Post subject: Counterflow Wort Chiller Build Reply with quote


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I decided to build a counterflow wort chiller after doing some research on available products and borrowing design features from many. The seminal book from Palmer “How to Brew” includes an interesting discussion on design parameters for counterflow chillers. He maintains one of the most important aspects of counterflow chilling efficiency is the flow ratio of water to wort. The higher the ratio, the greater the efficiency.

The flow ratio (water flow area to wort flow area) of a typical DIY counterflow chiller using a standard US garden hose and copper tubing (5/8” ID x 3/8” OD, respectively) is 2.6:1. In tests, this set-up chills 5.3 gallons in 10 minutes (source water at 63 deg-f). Copper tube length is 25 feet.

Available garden hoses limit the flow ratio and 3/8” OD copper tubing was the smallest I wanted to use. But by using a 1-1/4” OD hot water heater hose (7/8” ID) and 3/8” OD copper tubing, I should be able to increase the flow ratio to 6.4:1 (more than doubling the flow ratio over the standard garden hose chiller!) and reduce chill time.

12 ga. solid copper wire will be spiral-wound and tacked on the copper tube to create turbulence and mixing of cooling water in contact with the copper tube. The chill time will be determined in tests (hopefully, less than 5 minute chill time will be achieved). My ground water is 63 deg-f also.

Interestingly, if I were able to fit two 25 ft. 3/8” OD copper tubing lengths in parallel in my 7/8” ID hot water heater hose, the flow ratio would have been reduced to 2.5:1 - lower than the standard garden hose set-up! this seems counterintuitive – after all, if one copper tube is good, wouldn’t two be better? You would need a 1-1/4” ID hose with two 25 ft. parallel copper tubes to equal the efficiency of a single 25 ft. copper tube in the 7/8” ID hose.

The Exchilerator “Brutus Pro” model has two parallel 25 ft. copper coils (3/8”), but I couldn’t find any info on the diameter of the PEX housing for comparison.

My parts were sourced from Amazon. I could have purchased a counterflow chiller but wanted to build somewhat of a hybrid using Palmer’s criteria (and because it was fun teaching my kid how to solder copper). Plumbing skills may come in handy one day!

Very Happy



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dp Brewing Company




Joined: 08 Jul 2013
Posts: 664
Location: Midwest

Drinking: Chocolate Taco, Raspberry Mango Cider, American X, Sandy Dunes

Working on: Nothing


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm interested in seeing your results. I use the standard CFC and have no issues with it. I actually slow down the flow of the water sometimes because it is coming back to me to cold. So I assume that means I'm just wasting water by such a high flow rate. So I slow it down until the water coming back is the same temp as what I want my final product to be.
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mjo2125




Joined: 27 Feb 2017
Posts: 248
Location: Dayton, OH


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Update: The build is complete although not quite what I imagined originally. The hot water heater tube was shipped in a damaged state. The big box suppliers near me didn’t carry 25ft of hot water heater hose so I was forced to look at alternative materials – as a substitute, I chose 25ft of 1-1/4” OD clear vinyl tubing at a big box store.

The ID of the vinyl tube is 1” and is larger than the hot water tube originally planned (7/8”). This increases the water to wort flow ratio from 6.4:1 to 8.9:1. Also instead of using 12ga. solid copper wire to spiral-wrap and tack to the 3/8 copper tube, I found a spool of twisted yellow trimmer cord in my garage to use as a substitute. The trimmer cord was spiral-wound around the copper tube and secured in place at every foot with a small cable tie-wrap. The knobs of the tie-wraps act as stand-offs to help center the copper wort tube in the vinyl water tube. I reversed the direction of the spiral wrap every four or five feet. There should be no problem with establishing turbulence.

The test will result in the following info:

• Time required to lower “wort” (in this case, water test) to 70°F (assumed yeast pitching temp)
• Gallons of cooling water used
• Cooling Water Outlet Temp
• Calculated heat exchanger efficiency (%)

Hopefully, I’ll be able to test in a few days. Below are in-process pics



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Ozarks Mountain Brew




Joined: 22 May 2013
Posts: 737
Location: The Ozark Mountains of Missouri


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my only thought is are you sure that hose will handle the heat if the pipe heats up at any point above 180F
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mtweeman




Joined: 10 Feb 2017
Posts: 29



PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For various reasons I went with self-made counterflow chiller as well. As @Ozarks Mountain Brew mentioned, I am also concerned about vinyl in high temperatures. In my version I used corrugated stainless steel tube with thin walls which is inside silicone tubing. See picture.
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mjo2125




Joined: 27 Feb 2017
Posts: 248
Location: Dayton, OH


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice! the vinyl is rated @180 deg-f. Temp was my concern as well and I'm at the edge with vinyl. I'll make sure the cooling water is flowing first. My biggest concern is how to support the hose - did you fabricate your frame or buy it?

thanks.
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mtweeman




Joined: 10 Feb 2017
Posts: 29



PostLink    Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I made it myself. I bought flat sheetmetal bar which was 20mm x 2000mm x 4mm (width x length x thickness), cut it as needed and then bent it. As a result I had four pieces which I welded together using welding equipment that I have. Then, it was only about drilling a holes in it, removing burrs and painting. Here it is before the tubing was attached. I'm very pleased with efficiency that is has. 0,2mm currugated tube wall make it works like a charm.

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mjo2125




Joined: 27 Feb 2017
Posts: 248
Location: Dayton, OH


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Test Results:

The objective of the test was to determine how quickly I could chill 5 gallons to pitching temp. The test was a wet test (no wort used). However, it should be fairly representative. The heat transfer calc uses specific heat. The specific heat of water is 1 btu/lbm deg-f. The average specific heat of wort is 0.988 btu/lbm deg-f.

The results are below. A few comments/observations:

1. the Blichmann products performed flawlessly. Out of the box, the Blichmann analog dial thermometer (wort out) was spot on with the handheld thermapen digital thermomemter (cooling water out)

2. the riptide pump was easy to prime and stayed primed. The valve stem travel on the linear flow discharge valve is 1/2" for full open. The use of a ruler allowed flow rate adjustments with accuracy. 1/2" = 100% GPM, 1/4" = 50% GPM

3. There were no issues with the vinly tubing temperature limit (180 deg-f). The large flow area ratio of water to wort (9:1) dropped the boiling water temp immediately upon entry (thanks, John Palmer). The cooling water was turbulent (Re = 33,000) so there was adequate mixing of cooling water.

4. Was able to achieve additional cooling to 70 deg-f by reducing the pump discharge to 87.5% (7/16") of full flow.

5. would minimize the number of copper fittings and use ss compression fittings as possible (had a couple of leaks to repair).

6. Didn't optimize between time and cooling water usesage. Just a test to see how fast it would be bring temp down. 3 minutes to cool 212 deg-f water to 74 deg-f (5.5 gallons).



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