volsherdeers
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd share my results after tweaking my first two-stage setup.
I decided to eliminate the second chill water tank that relied on gravity flow from an elevated kettle (PITA to regulate flow), to a single chill vessel. I chilled from 210F to 45F with a flow rate of .8GPM with ground water @ 60F (could have got lower temp with slower flow). I even went WOT a couple of times to see how much the temp would raise and to my surprise, it still remained in the mid to upper 50's. I also noticed that the ice bath remained intact with plenty of ice left to knock the wort down to lager pitching temp! I'm sure it will be more challenging in the summer months when ground water is in the 70-80 degree range. Cheers!
Two-Stage Heat Exchange: You'll need two chillers & two pumps.(make sure second chiller is sanitized)
Stage-One: Pump wort from BK thru 1st Chiller using ground water 60F-80F. (this is your knock down stage)
Adjust flow rate. (slow flow rate for maximum heat exchange)
Stage-Two: Setup a 15-20 gallon ice bath, using MT . (recirculate @ WOT),
Continue pumping thru second Chiller monitoring temp and adjusting flow rate.
Option B: glycol chiller, second stage only!
I decided to eliminate the second chill water tank that relied on gravity flow from an elevated kettle (PITA to regulate flow), to a single chill vessel. I chilled from 210F to 45F with a flow rate of .8GPM with ground water @ 60F (could have got lower temp with slower flow). I even went WOT a couple of times to see how much the temp would raise and to my surprise, it still remained in the mid to upper 50's. I also noticed that the ice bath remained intact with plenty of ice left to knock the wort down to lager pitching temp! I'm sure it will be more challenging in the summer months when ground water is in the 70-80 degree range. Cheers!
Two-Stage Heat Exchange: You'll need two chillers & two pumps.(make sure second chiller is sanitized)
Stage-One: Pump wort from BK thru 1st Chiller using ground water 60F-80F. (this is your knock down stage)
Adjust flow rate. (slow flow rate for maximum heat exchange)
Stage-Two: Setup a 15-20 gallon ice bath, using MT . (recirculate @ WOT),
Continue pumping thru second Chiller monitoring temp and adjusting flow rate.
Option B: glycol chiller, second stage only!