Ok guys and gals... I've been trying to design an immersion chiller
that will cut my cooldown rate by a factor of 3. Right now, I immerse
the pot in another larger pot and fill that outer area with cold water
and allow it to flow. Here's where I'm at. Right now, I estimate I've
improved about 63%. I'd like any suggestions:

Pot: dp=12"
hp=10"

Tubing: dt=3/8"

The coil will be half the diameter of the pot, and the there will be one
coil of space inbetween each coil-wrap.

There will also be a riser tube coming up the center of the pot and out
the side.

lcoil= pi*dp/2
Ncoils=hp/(2*dt)
L= lcoil*Ncoils

L=pi*dp*hp/(4*dt)
Acoil=pi*dt*L = pi^2 *dp*hp/4
Ariser=pi*dt*hp

Apot=pi*dp*hp (surface area of pot)

With my pot, that gives:

Acoil= 296 in^2
Ariser=14.1 in^2
Apot =490 in^2

Two relatively interesting things come out of this analysis. 1) The
diameter of the tubing does not appear to provide much of an advantage,
except that a smaller diameter tube will displace less of your wort when
you dip it in the pot. 2) The outer edges of the pot have a great
amount of heat transfer surface, which is hard to match with one set of
coils.

Things my analysis ignores:

1) The better flow of water through the coils than what I now have in my
current setup.
2) Dipping the coils will increase the height of the pot that the water
sees, thuse giving more heat transfer surface.

Things my design ignores:
1) Natural circulation to improve mixing.
2) Paralell flows/higher flow rate = cooler water (multiple coils)

"Steven Hay" <hays@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:aBxsb.35276$E9.13327@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...[color=blue]
> Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:[color=green]
> > Buy 50' of 3/8" copper tubing. Wrap it tightly around an empty[/color][/color]
cornelius[color=blue][color=green]
> > keg. Put 3/8" hose on each end (bend ends so they are vertical and and[/color][/color]
will[color=blue][color=green]
> > stick out of the kettle) and clamp it. Put the coils in your kettle and
> > vertically expand so that the top end of the coil is just below the[/color][/color]
level of[color=blue][color=green]
> > your cooling wort.[/color]
>
> So how fast does it cool the wort? Say you are at near boiling when you
> start, and you have 68F tapwater... how long to get it to pitching
> temperature? I'd like to get my 5 gallon batches down to temp in about
> 10-15 minutes if possible.
>[/color]

With my 50' IC, I'm able to get 10 gallons of wort within 8-10 F of my tap
water in 15 mins if I stir every 2-3 minutes. With no stirring, it takes
about 30 mins.

Beer here,

Mike

--
sarge0503 at sbabootcamp dot commercial
[url]www.schwedhelm.net/brew/[/url]

Uhmm, almost too much info for me. I built my own chiller out of 1/4"
tubing because my closest Lowes didn't have 3/8" at the time. It
works really well, and will work better in the summers when I build a
prechiller. I will say that my kettle (a converted keg) retains a lot
of heat, so I'm thinking about putting it in a large washtub full of
ice water to help speed the process. Stir your wort, or build a
stirring device to keep it constantly flowing. The trub cone is not a
myth, but I think you really only benefit from it when using a kettle
with a rounded bottom, like my keg. Anyway, you can see the chiller
at [url]http://www.olderascal.com/brewing/wortchiller/index.html[/url]

Maybe that will help someone make their own. I'd recommend 3/8" for
the simple reason that it is a little more sturdy than 1/4". I'm
always stretching my chiller to help it stay near the top of the wort
level instead of sitting at the bottom.

BTW, this was an EASY thing to build. Super easy. The washing
machine hoses made it a lot simpler to make and use.

"Steven Hay" <hays@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:aBxsb.35276$E9.13327@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...[color=blue]
> Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:[color=green]
> > Buy 50' of 3/8" copper tubing. Wrap it tightly around an empty[/color][/color]
cornelius[color=blue][color=green]
> > keg. Put 3/8" hose on each end (bend ends so they are vertical and and[/color][/color]
will[color=blue][color=green]
> > stick out of the kettle) and clamp it. Put the coils in your kettle and
> > vertically expand so that the top end of the coil is just below the[/color][/color]
level of[color=blue][color=green]
> > your cooling wort.[/color]
>
> So how fast does it cool the wort? Say you are at near boiling when you
> start, and you have 68F tapwater... how long to get it to pitching
> temperature? I'd like to get my 5 gallon batches down to temp in about
> 10-15 minutes if possible.
>
> Steve
>[/color]

With a 50' chiller immersed in your 5 gallons of wort with tap water at 68F.
You will have it down to about 72F in at most 15 minutes. In the summer our
water temp is in the mid to high 60s and and I cool 6 gallons of wort to 70F
in 20 minutes or so, and that is with a 25' immersion chiller. I will be
making a 50' chiller very soon and retiring my old 25' after 10 years
(actually, I will give it to a friend just getting into brewing).

Tom Veldhouse

To much for me as well and I like math.

I made a copper coil 3/8" ~25'.

But the kicker to this is I use a pre-chiller. I bought a truck heater core

for $12, at auto zone. I put it in a 3 gal pot of ice / water.

This greatly reduces the incoming water temp to the coil. Cooling from

200 - 80 F in 20-25 minutes.

Frank

ATF Homebrew Club

New Bern NC

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de
news:3fb3baf0$0$75886$a1866201@newsreader.visi.com...[color=blue]
>
> "Steven Hay" <hays@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:aBxsb.35276$E9.13327@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...[color=green]
> > Thomas T. Veldhouse wrote:[color=darkred]
> > > Buy 50' of 3/8" copper tubing. Wrap it tightly around an empty[/color][/color]
> cornelius[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > keg. Put 3/8" hose on each end (bend ends so they are vertical and[/color][/color][/color]
and[color=blue]
> will[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > stick out of the kettle) and clamp it. Put the coils in your kettle[/color][/color][/color]
and[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
> > > vertically expand so that the top end of the coil is just below the[/color][/color]
> level of[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > your cooling wort.[/color]
> >
> > So how fast does it cool the wort? Say you are at near boiling when you
> > start, and you have 68F tapwater... how long to get it to pitching
> > temperature? I'd like to get my 5 gallon batches down to temp in about
> > 10-15 minutes if possible.
> >
> > Steve
> >[/color]
>
> With a 50' chiller immersed in your 5 gallons of wort with tap water at[/color]
68F.[color=blue]
> You will have it down to about 72F in at most 15 minutes. In the summer[/color]
our[color=blue]
> water temp is in the mid to high 60s and and I cool 6 gallons of wort to[/color]
70F[color=blue]
> in 20 minutes or so, and that is with a 25' immersion chiller. I will be
> making a 50' chiller very soon and retiring my old 25' after 10 years
> (actually, I will give it to a friend just getting into brewing).
>
> Tom Veldhouse
>[/color]

I may be off tracks but what is the advantage of doubling the length of the
chiller? I guess that at the exit the cold water is not cold anymore and
making it go thrue an other 25' won't produce as much result as the first
25'. What is the temp. of the water going out of your chiller? Is it cold
enough to wort the expense to cool your wort just a few minutes faster?
--
Altair (:-o)>=®
"The History of every major Galactic Civilisation tends to pass through
three distinct and reconisable phases... characterised by the questions How
can we eat? Why do we eat? and Where shall we have lunch?"
Douglas Adams.

"Altair" <sylvain.dupuis@NoSpam@videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:7RWsb.11399$2l3.453210@wagner.videotron.net...[color=blue]
>
> I may be off tracks but what is the advantage of doubling the length of[/color]
the[color=blue]
> chiller? I guess that at the exit the cold water is not cold anymore and
> making it go thrue an other 25' won't produce as much result as the first
> 25'. What is the temp. of the water going out of your chiller? Is it cold
> enough to wort the expense to cool your wort just a few minutes faster?[/color]

It makes for a more efficient heat transfer, thus you get more cooling per
gallon with 50' than with 25'. Significantly more. I don't know where the
point of diminishing return starts, but 50' is a good length for a wort
chiller.

Tom Veldhouse

Xiejol <pissedpiper@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8dc04e9f.0311121740.100b9421@posting.google.com...[color=blue]
> Uhmm, almost too much info for me. I built my own chiller out of 1/4"
> tubing because my closest Lowes didn't have 3/8" at the time. It
> works really well, and will work better in the summers when I build a
> prechiller. I will say that my kettle (a converted keg) retains a lot
> of heat, so I'm thinking about putting it in a large washtub full of
> ice water to help speed the process. Stir your wort, or build a
> stirring device to keep it constantly flowing. The trub cone is not a
> myth, but I think you really only benefit from it when using a kettle
> with a rounded bottom, like my keg. Anyway, you can see the chiller
> at [url]http://www.olderascal.com/brewing/wortchiller/index.html[/url]
>
> Maybe that will help someone make their own. I'd recommend 3/8" for
> the simple reason that it is a little more sturdy than 1/4". I'm
> always stretching my chiller to help it stay near the top of the wort
> level instead of sitting at the bottom.
>
> BTW, this was an EASY thing to build. Super easy. The washing
> machine hoses made it a lot simpler to make and use.[/color]

I snooped around the rest of your site, and saw the Prickly Pear Mead
recipe. A couple of questions:

How did it turn out? Was it a sweet or dry mel?
How did you get the seeds out? Split them down the middle and scoop?

I like the idea of making the juice instead of throwing in all of the pulp.
Were you able to get all of the flavor you wanted? Would you do anything
different the next time?

BTW, nice job on the wort chiller!

Beer here,

Mike

--
sarge0503 at sbabootcamp dot commercial
[url]www.schwedhelm.net/brew/[/url]

"Mike D'Brewer" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
[color=blue]
> How did it turn out? Was it a sweet or dry mel?
> How did you get the seeds out? Split them down the middle and scoop?[/color]

It is still in the fermenter, but at the last racking it was nice. I
can't really describe the flavor, I guess a very mildly sweet prickly
pear. The color is absolutely gorgeous, this stuff is beautiful just
to look at. When I pulped the pears I left the seeds in and they got
seperated out by the tea press. Just a quick peel and rough chop,
then the heating and juicing. The seeds may have added some tannin,
but if they did it isn't really noticeable.
[color=blue]
> I like the idea of making the juice instead of throwing in all of the pulp.
> Were you able to get all of the flavor you wanted? Would you do anything
> different the next time?[/color]

I might use more pears next time for even more color. The flavor is
definitely there, but for most people they wouldn't recognize it as
prickly pear. I had read some horror stories about wine made from
prickly pears, but I think next year I'll make at least one more
gallon of this mel.

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" <veldy71@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3fb29a66$0$41295$a1866201@newsreader.visi.com...[color=blue]
>
> "Steven Hay" <hays@nospam.net> wrote in message
> news:lassb.42155$p9.37622@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...[color=green]
> > Ok guys and gals... I've been trying to design an immersion chiller
> > that will cut my cooldown rate by a factor of 3. Right now, I immerse
> > the pot in another larger pot and fill that outer area with cold water
> > and allow it to flow. Here's where I'm at. Right now, I estimate I've
> > improved about 63%. I'd like any suggestions:[/color]
> <snip>
>
> You put way too much work into it :)
>
> Buy 50' of 3/8" copper tubing. Wrap it tightly around an empty cornelius
> keg. Put 3/8" hose on each end (bend ends so they are vertical and and[/color]
will[color=blue]
> stick out of the kettle) and clamp it. Put the coils in your kettle and
> vertically expand so that the top end of the coil is just below the level[/color]
of[color=blue]
> your cooling wort.
>
> That's it.
>
> Tom Veldhouse
>
>[/color]
Yeah, and don't even think it's going to stay nice and pretty looking. It
won't! That's one of the good things about it. You can twist, turn,
squish, or stretch it, as you see fit, during use or cleaning. Still works.
It's all about function. They is ugly things.
Ken