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Chilling uninsulated vessels

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  • Chilling uninsulated vessels

    We have 3 7bbl vessels on hand in which we plan on using glycol to chill. Has anyone retrofitted uninsulated vessels for use with glycol?

    We are metal fabricators by trade and can build something just need help with surface area, flow rates, btu’s Etc! The first idea was to form 3-4 1/2” deep channels and weld directly to vessel for the glycol loop. These channels would have jumper pipes for continuous flow.. We would them cap with a stainless channel and spray foam inside for insulation. Approx 2-3” thick.

    Anyone go down this road before? Can you share your experiences? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    I think brazing or welding thinwall tubing directly to the outer surface is probably the best way to retrofit a tank, assuming an internal cooling coil won't work in this case. Regular dimpled jackets are the best way to do this on a new build. Welding channel face down around the circumference might work, but there is a potential for flexing/expansion failures down the road, and you'll probably struggle to keep pinhole leaks from happening. I've been experimenting with a clamp-on jacket for small CV fermenters which works pretty well. Chilling the cone is the hard part, when that's necessary.

    In your case I would suggest two vertical manifolds, with TW tubing that goes from one to the other around the outside, brazed to the vessel. No issues with leaking, and it will tolerate pretty high pressure, which is a disadvantage of trying to weld any large surface area jacket.

    Figuring out what size, how many tubes, etc. is hard, because it's not just about surface area. The vessel wall thickness is involved, too. But you might want to try to target a particular glycol flow rate, knowing how much heat you want to remove. Then size everything according to that.

    Make sure the insulation is vapor tight on the exterior, or else removable (which would suck unless the vessels are small).

    Regards,
    Mike Sharp

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