Tons = BTU

[obvance]

I am trying to size a chiller system for a 4bbl brew system. I have one 4bbl fermentor and 2 4bbl conditioning / serving tanks (jacketed) I may add another fermentor and brite later on but for this discussion I will start here. I have been told I will need at least 3,000 BTU per tank and have seen some models rated in TONS. Other places rate it by the compressor size like 2 hp. Can someone tell me how these all equate? Am I on the right track with my size? Also what size glycol bath do I need? Thanks

[jimvgjr]

I ran a cooling load estimate based on a 4 Bbl FV being crash cooled from fermentation temp (68 F) to conditioning temp (34 F) in 24 hours and 2 Ea 4 Bbl Conditioning tanks holding at 34 F. The estimated cooling load is about 3,000 BTU/HR.

You will want a chiller system rated at least at 3,000 BTU/HR cooling capacity at 28 F Glycol and 90 F Ambient. This is roughly something in the 1/2 HP Range.

1 ton of refrigeration is 12,000 BTU/HR.

Our systems currently start at 2 HP, rated at about 15,000 BTU/HR. Quite a bit oversized for this duty, unless you plan to expand and add tanks in the near future.

Hope this helps,

Jim
Pro Refrigeration.com

[obvance]

Thank you Jim, that helps me alot.
One other question, What size glycol bath (reserve) do you think I will need ?
I see alot of chillers for longline draft systems and the Micromatic MMPP 4302 perhaps could work? I am in India building this thing and will be shipping it to Kiev to install. Micromatic Asia will not even return my calls nor will the Russia Rep. I will have a few weeks in Germany to deal with this but I have an option to have it custom built in Germany as we eventually need dozens of them. So thinking now weather I should waste more time dealing with Micromatic or start fresh in a country that knows what a Brewery is.
Thanks,
Vance

[jimvgjr]

What is your budget for this unit, would you be interested in a quote for a system imported from the United States?

We just manufactured a small 1/2 HP Chiller system rated at apprx 6,000 BTU/HR- this was built for a tradeshow display. We are considering adding this to our product line. This system is supplied with a 5 gallon reservoir. We will be testing this in a brewery following the tradeshow.

With our ChilStar Series (2 HP to 7.5 HP) operate with a 22 gallon reservoir, our larger systems are supplied with reservoirs from 100 gallons up to 2,000 Gallons.

Good luck in your venture.

Jim
www.prochiller.com

[obvance]

To be honest I don't know what my budget is but I I know my bosses are cheap (aren't they all?). Multiple units are will be needed and maintaining and servicing them all over the world plays into a factor of x=1 quality source from 1location Y=a knockoff from ? &Z sourcing our refridgeration in each location. My bosses are willing to listen to any informed suggestions I make but we are talking about 20+ countries here. What do you suggest? The mantra is "do it right" but we we do have costs and realites to deal with.