Fermentation cooling

[carpet19]

Hi all. May i ask a question. Regards cooling the fermenters. I have 2 x 430 litre HDPE conical fermenters Keeping it cool is the problem. Some say that their set up has immersion coils connected to a chiller. Does this work? I have tried with a maxi 110 flash chiller and copper cooling coil in the fermenter but the wort simply doesnt cool. I filled the fv with 400 litres of water at 20c, dropped in the coil and connected to the python of the chiller, switched on and in over 6 hours it was still at 20c. Should i be using glycol perhaps? Am I being too impatient? The frustrating thing is that many members on the forum say they have cooled their wort like this and that it works well for them. I just dont get it. My thinking is that because i am using the copper coil as a heat exchanger, then surely the heat from the fv is simply passing through the chiller and warming the whole system up, therefore i am simply recirculating water at 20c. Do I have to wait for an ice bank to form in the chiller before switching on and connecting the copper coil?
Hope this all makes sense and that you can help. Really starting to pull my hair out on this one.
Cheers and all the best.
Ken

 

[Hawks]

My local micro uses a chiller which passes through his FV to keep the temp down so it must work, and as you say I am sure people on here do it.

I would think you'd need the ice bank to form so that you are passing the water as cold as possible through the loop, the bigger you can get that difference in temp between wort and the cooling loop the more effective it will be. The principal is the same as an immersion chiller but generally with less surface area from the ones I have seen, but then you are attempting far less cooling.

Good luck, sure more info will also appear soon, hopefully from someone with the same sort of set up :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

Yes you will need an Ice Bank

No they do not cool rapidly,I can get a 10C drop over a few hours though which is in a 90L well insulated conical, and can eventually get down to 2C, if I have the desire to, for crash cooling. It is at this point that the poor Maxi 310 is running flat out though.

Two things,
One The cooler needs to be ready to cool with an Ice bank formed.
Two You need to insulate your FV's from ambient at that size the heat transfer from the room is going to be significant.
Three I use a stainless product coil for heat transfer, rather than copper . .they are easily obtainable . . .keep them at the surface of the brew to encourage convection currents to form circulating wort around the conical.
Four Your Maxi 110 is just not man enough for 860L of beer. You need one of the commercial 10Way chillers which is the size of a large fridge and has a huge reservoir.

counting was never my strong point :whistle:

 

[carpet19]

Thanks lads. Appreciate your help. The fermenter is currently sitting full of 400 litres water at 15c. i will turn on the chiller and leave it for 2 hours to create the ice bank. (Is this long enough as its just plain water? Would Polypropylene Glycol help the process?) before I submerge the coil into the fermenter and see what happens. Aleman, I agree i should really insulate it and will look to be doing that soon but for now will see what happens. The fermenters are conical HDPE tanks, what would you recommend for insulating? Will leave the chiller on overnight.

Cheers

 

[Vossy1]

i will turn on the chiller and leave it for 2 hours to create the ice bank. (Is this long enough

It will be ready when the compressor isn't running all the time, ie the ice bank has formed and the comp is only coming on every now and then to maintain the temp.

Would Polypropylene Glycol help the process?) before I submerge the coil into the fermenter and see what happens.

Not really.

The fermenters are conical HDPE tanks, what would you recommend for insulating?

Armaflex has been used by a few on HDPE and stainless conicals.