CO2 Flow meter for carbonation

[MikeS]

Hello All-

I am looking to put a gas flow meter in the CO2 line that feeds our carbonation stones to our 20bbl brite tanks in an attempt to dial in our carbonation procedures.

Two questions:

1- What is the optimal scfm for CO2 feeding a single stone in a 20 bbl tank? Does anyone know or know of a calculation to figure this out? In addition to wanting to know this for developing a carbonation SOP, I am trying to determine what scfm range is needed on the meter.

2- Does anyone have any recommendations of brands and/or sources of such a meter?

Additionally, if anyone has set up such a system I would love to hear any suggestions or comments.

Thanks and cheers- Mike

[SouthHouseBrew]

I found great deals on gas flow meters (O2 in my case) on Ebay - not a whole lot elsewhere.

They had them in much larger sizes than what I needed, so you should be able to find what you need.

Be careful on the models with cheap/free shipping - one seller is from China and it can take several MONTHS to receive your order.

[MikeS]

Hi again-

Just bumping this thread.

Does anyone have a lead on what's the rate (in scfm or Liters per minute) for carbonating a 20bbl tank in a reasonable amount of time? Or can anyone point me to where I may be able to find calculations to figure it out?

Thanks for the ebay tip. I very well may be looking there to get the meter. I'm just trying to figure what range I need to purchase.

Cheers- Mike

[Matt Dog]

Mcmaster has flowmeters that measure in LPM or CFM. There is no one optimum range. It depends on the size and porosity of your stone, wetting pressure, head pressure etc. You can however experiment to see what yields you the best results and go from there. Depends on fast you need it carbed as well. For 20 Bbls try something with a high range of 10-15CFM and experiment. I would start on the lower end of that range for the actual carbonation. If you can rig some type of inline carb setup during transfer that will help out a lot.

[gitchegumee]

I've posted a McMaster flow meter that has worked very well for us. Use search to find it. The actual SCFM doesn't really matter. The scale reads in air, not CO2, and the pressure is never exactly per the meter's calibration. But it does give you a fairly consistent flow which is what you want. Buy it and experiment. You'll be happy you did. Cheers!