Glycol Jacket with two zones...

[SB Brewer]

I ordered a Glycol Jacketed fermenter. It is a 7 barrel. I already have some glycol jacketed tanks but they only have one in and one out. One zone to cool for example.

On the new tank, there are two zones. One on top and one on bottom.

With the one zone glycol jackets, I just have the glycol go through when the temp goes higher than it is set. But on this one, how do I handle two zones? Do I have to install two separate thermometers and valves and treat each zone like two separate fermentations even though it is one?

Or can I just have the output from one zone go directly into the input of the other zone and run it on one thermometer?

Thank you,
Pete

[soia1138]

It's best to have each zone on it's own temp control. You will get the best temp control that way and the flexibility of being able to manage a half full tank.

[SMiller]

On this small of a tank two zones won't matter much. Use a jumper line from the top outlet of the lower jacket to the bottom inlet of the top jacket. Much simpler.

[jimvgjr]

Typically on this size vessel, we would see a single controller and control valve that feeds both jackets.

Cooling zones can be piped in series (feed into the bottom zone, pipe the outlet of the bottom zone to the inlet on the top zone, and the outlet of the top zone to our RETURN glycol header) or in parallel (off of SUPPLY, feed both inlets and tie in outlets to RETURN).

Good luck!

Jim
Pro Chiller Systems

[mmussen]

If you can I would run the lines in Parallel - Just like Jim above mentioned. 1 line off the supply split it to each inlet - put a valve on each inlet. Then join the outlets back to the main header. You can use a single temperature controller and solenoid to run the tank, just put the solenoid before you split the lines to each tank.
I like plumbing tanks this way so I can adjust the glycol flow - say to allow more cooling into the cone during the end of fermentation to keep the yeast cold as it settles.
That being said, I'm currently running several tanks that are plumbed in series, and I haven't experienced any problems with them, I just like having more control.

Cheers