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Were in the glycol loop to install Wort chiller lines?

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  • Were in the glycol loop to install Wort chiller lines?

    I have our design for our glycol loop (thanks probrewer) but I need some help. I have a 3bbl system with 4-3bbl fermenters. I don't know where to tap in for wort chiller. Should I install them on the main lines before the fermenters and valve out so all glycol is sent to Wort chiller for the 45-60 minutes it takes to cool? Or put them in the header same as a fermenters or neither.

    Thanks,
    Brian

  • #2
    Someone with more experience than me can chime in, but from what I've learned planning my commercial setup, you don't want to use glycol in your HX unless it's a 2 stage. It's too much load on your chiller and you'll cook it. Most use groundwater and then save that heated water in your HLT, or use their chiller to chill water in their CLT and then use that water in there HX.

    -J.
    Last edited by Jer; 03-11-2017, 08:24 AM.
    Jeremy Reed
    Co-Founder and President, assistant brewer, amateur electrician, plumber, welder, refrigeration tech, and intermediately swell fella
    The North of 48 Brewing Company
    Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

    www.no48.ca

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Jer View Post
      Someone with more experience than me can chime in, but from what I've learned planning my commercial setup, you don't want to use glycol in your HX unless it's a 2 stage. It's too much load on your chiller and you'll cool it. Most use groundwater and then save that heated water in your HLT, or use their chiller to chill water in their CLT and then use that water in there HX.

      -J.
      It is a Thermaline 34 plate 2 stage.

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      • #4
        When you are cooling wort, the glycol coming out of the heat exchanger can warm up considerably. It can take some time for your chiller to recover and bring the temperature of the reservoir back down. If you have been crash chilling some of your fermenters and then the glycol is warmer than the fermenter temperature, then it will warm the beer rather than cool it.

        So, on a smaller system, it is not a bad idea to temporarily shut off all of the fermenter glycol controllers until after the wort cooling is complete and the glycol reservoir temperature has come back down. You could install a switch on the power supply that feeds the solenoids so that even if their controllers are calling for cooling then the solenoids can't open.

        The reason for the fancy glycol pipework loops is to ensure all fermenters get an even flow rate but since they should all be off when you are wort cooling then where you connect the wort heat exchanger to the system is not as critical. I would run the least complicated pipework to it depending on how you are set up.

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        • #5
          Ours is pretty simple. Total 120' pipe, loop includes 4FV +4 future FV, FILO. Glycol chiller outside.


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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