Glycol chiller for bright tank

[Dhruv Jain]

Hello,

Anyone using a jacketed bright tank / unitank of 1,000 litre working capacity? Would be great to get numbers on glycol inlet and exit temperatures as well as flow rate through the jacket.

Trying to size a dedicated chiller for a bright tank and chiller manufacturer isn't happy with the usual back of the envelope calculation of time required to chill the cider from x degs C to 2 degs C. Says that it also depends of heat transfer coefficient of the jacket and since that will be difficult to agree upon in case of issues later, he would prefer to have the glycol inlet, exit temperatures and the glycol flow rate.

Thanks

  

[jo...@bvcider.ca]

Hi Dhruv,

I have a dedicated chiller for a 2,000 L bright tank. I don't measure those parameters, but my chiller has a 1 ton capacity and the pump has a rated flow rate of 12 GPM. For a 1,000 L batch, I generally allow a minimum of 5 days for the temperature to drop from 15 C to 2 C -- keeping in mind that the final few degrees takes the majority of the time. For maximum efficiency, the glycol lines should be as short as possible and the lines and tank should be insulated. Topping up the glycol fluid to the full volume of the system is also important. 

Due to thermal expansion, the latter factor means that you will have excess glycol when the chiller is off (and especially when you perform a hot water wash on the tank) and you will have to provide a method for catching and preserving the overflow.

The standard ports on glycol jackets tend to be quite restrictive. I had to install a bypass on the glycol line in order to avoid tripping the chiller's flow switch.

As with many things, I think over-sizing is better than under-sizing -- within the restraints of your budget of course.

If you would like more information, feel free to ask.

John Mott

Beaver Valley Cidery

[Dhruv Jain]

Hi John,

Thank you! I hadn't even considered thermal expansion of glycol and will now definitely try to account for it. My jackets are to have 1 inch inlet and outlet, what size are your ports on the jacket that you found restrictive? 

The chiller manufacturer doesn't like capacity in TR at all as he logically states that TR efficiency drastically falls as the glycol temeprature falls below 0. For example (from a quote I received recently) a 5TR nominal capacity chiller will only deliver 2TR at glycol temperature of -4 degs C. Which is why I was specifically looking for glycol inlet, exit temperatures and flowrates.

Did you get you chiller from your tank manufacturer or from a chiller manufacturer directly? I'm hesitant to buy a chiller from anyone but a manufacturer and almost all tank manufacturers don't make their own chillers (atleast here in India).

Thanks again,

Dhruv.

[John Mott]

Hi Dhruv,

I don't have temperature sensors installed, so I can't provide the
parameters you desire. I can tell you that my controller is configured
to a setpoint temperature of -4 C and a 2 deg differential. This seems
to be a very comfortable load on my 1 ton chiller, as the chiller
kicks in for a comparatively short periods.

I purchased my chiller from Temperature Corporation, a local
manufacturer here in Ontario.

G&D Chillers based in Oregon, USA is a ubiquitous presence at
wine/cider/beer trade shows. You may want to check into their sizing
recommendations.

Good luck.


/John
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Kimberley, ON N0C 1G0
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