Wort chiller for condenser water???

Anything cooling/condenser related.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
rubberduck71
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 735
Joined: Sat May 30, 2020 11:22 am
Location: Eastern PA

Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by rubberduck71 »

I've been getting frustrated with having enough frozen jugs to keep my condenser water cool (SWIMBO already giving me the hairy eyeball with an entire shelf of upright freezer for my hobby). I have 8 one gal jugs in a half full 20 gal storage bin of water. For stripping runs this is fine (~3-4 hrs), but on spirit runs (~6-8 hrs), it doesn't seem to last.

I was thinking about a mini-freezer with a plate wort chiller inside (pic below), attached via quick connect or standard 3/4" hose connect mounted on or through the door and a submersible pump in a 5 gal bucket of water to circulate the water.

Any thoughts from the experienced veterans on this concept? Is this sustainable to keep my condenser water cold for the duration of the longer spirit runs???

I run in my basement, so I don't have a sink or water/sewer lines near my "lab."
image.png
There are two times of year: FOOTBALL SEASON and... Waiting For Football Season
User avatar
Salt Must Flow
Distiller
Posts: 1920
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2022 2:06 pm
Location: Wuhan China (Novel Coronavirus Laboratory)

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Salt Must Flow »

I use well water and don't care about water usage. My water goes down the drain. What is your circumstance? If water consumption is not an issue, you can simply tap into the home's water supply and also tap into the home's water drain from somewhere or just out onto the ground.
User avatar
subbrew
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1275
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:40 pm
Location: West of the Mississippi

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by subbrew »

You are not in dry country so a little extra water usage should be OK. I would try volume. Get two or three 55 gallon barrels and chain them together with siphon tubes. Draw from one end of the chain and dump back into the other end. I can get by with 50 gallons starting at 60 F. to do a spirit run. Have not tried reflux yet but think I will need to do the barrel chain for that.
User avatar
Ben
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1292
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 6:13 am
Location: Colorado

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Ben »

Small radiator and fan inline on your hot side. It will heat up your space, but you could drop some of the temp off your recycled water before it goes into the ice bath. Could be a power steering cooler, trans cooler, whatever. Grab something out of a junkyard and put a fan on it. Potentially even just a long copper coil with a fan on it if you have spare copper laying around.
:)
User avatar
Rrmuf
Rumrunner
Posts: 667
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 3:07 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Rrmuf »

I don't care about water use in my cicumstances so I just spill hot water into the environment, but it strikes me that to conserve your ice/water bath temperature, the wort chiller would have to be chilled into the air with a fan. I suppose a fridge would help as well, but just getting air flow through the chiller before hitting the ice bath might be a good first step. Do you have good ventilation? Good luck and let us know how it goes. :thumbup:
-- Rrmuf
greggn
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1379
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2014 11:59 am
Location: East Coast

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by greggn »

rubberduck71 wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:00 pm
I run in my basement, so I don't have a sink or water/sewer lines near my "lab."



RedwoodHillbilly used transmission coolers and a remarkably small volume of water. His photo ...


Image
________________

I drank fifty pounds of feed-store corn
'till my clothes were ratty and torn
StillerBoy
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3387
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2016 6:27 pm
Location: Ontario

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by StillerBoy »

rubberduck71 wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:00 pm I've been getting frustrated with having enough frozen jugs to keep my condenser water cool (SWIMBO already giving me the hairy eyeball with an entire shelf of upright freezer for my hobby). I have 8 one gal jugs in a half full 20 gal storage bin of water. For stripping runs this is fine (~3-4 hrs), but on spirit runs (~6-8 hrs), it doesn't seem to last.
Using water from a half full 20 gal barrel at ambient temp and adding Ice blocks is distilling the hard way, not discounting the electricity used for making ice blocks, which is at a high cost now a days..

Information missing to really be of assistance, as to the size of the boiler load, and if the spirit run is pot or reflux column..

Having stated such, unless you set up a 2 - 55 gal barrel setup, you'll continuously had issue of water temp.. a spirit reflux column run of 7 gal takes 5 hrs of water usage for me, and that takes 225L (56 gal ) ( @ 3/4L pm ) of tap water at 55*F.. on the pot still setup a little less..

Since your time fact is at least double my, the two barrel setup would be the way to go.. as to using rad and fan, they done work out that well, they are slow to exchange heat plus the extra heat generated is a drawback in an enclosed area..

Yeah.. distilling uses lot of water, and unless one have a tap setup, it's not an enjoyable task of having to always check the water temp, as it's important to have constant water temp feeding the condenser(s), especially for a reflux column run..

Mars
Pictures of a member's setup..
Pictures of a member's setup..
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "

– Albert Einstein
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by shadylane »

rubberduck71 wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:00 pm

I was thinking about a mini-freezer with a plate wort chiller inside (pic below), attached via quick connect or standard 3/4" hose connect mounted on or through the door and a submersible pump in a 5 gal bucket of water to circulate the water.

From what I read a mini-freezer only uses around 100w while running.
Just guessing, it can only knock down that much boiler power.

Maybe put a coil in the bucket of water before freezing.
To let the little freezer, get a running head start before distilling.

Or as one of our members did awhile back.
He used his clothes washer for a reservoir and did a washing after the run.
User avatar
Chauncey
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1570
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:30 am
Location: NOLA

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Chauncey »

A 5 ton unit will do nicely

https://www.morebeer.com/products/glyco ... YLEALw_wcB

8)

Only 11k and change...
<no stopping to corner anytime [] no parking passenger zone>

When people tell me I'll regret that in the morning, I sleep till noon.
dmw_chef
Novice
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2022 10:21 am

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by dmw_chef »

What I do is use a 5 gallon bucket full of water that is used as the reservoir for the water that is circulated through the condenser. The bucket has a wort chiller in it connected to my tap water.

I monitor the temperature of the recirculating reservoir in the bucket and adjust the flow rate of the cooling water through the wort chiller to maintain a consistent temperature.

What I plan to do soon is buy a small chest freezer, seal the seams in the chamber, and fill it partway with water and a chlorine tab, and use a PID to maintain a temperature at 35 degrees.
NormandieStill
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1737
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 10:17 pm
Location: Northwest France

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by NormandieStill »

Active cooling is good and all but requires a shitload of power. For a pot still you're effectively doubling the energy consumption (at a minimum... you'll never get that efficiency) if you want to hold the temperature steady.

Unless space is just too much of an issue, get a big container (1000L IBC is overkill and I suspect fairly cheap for most folks) and recycle your water. By the time you've raised the temperature of 1000L to the point at which it's a problem you should be long done. As long as you're not running back to back stripping runs day after day the cool down period overnight should be enough to get you back to your starting point.
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo

A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by shadylane »

dmw_chef wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:29 am
What I plan to do soon is buy a small chest freezer, seal the seams in the chamber, and fill it partway with water and a chlorine tab, and use a PID to maintain a temperature at 35 degrees.
Sorry to say it, but it's not going to work.
A small chest freezer isn't near big enough.
Get a radiator and electric fan.
User avatar
shadylane
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10363
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:54 pm
Location: Hiding In the Boiler room of the Insane asylum

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by shadylane »

Chauncey wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:27 pm A 5 ton unit will do nicely

https://www.morebeer.com/products/glyco ... YLEALw_wcB

8)

Only 11k and change...

5 tons (60,000 BTU/hr) = 17.5 Kw

If my math is right with 50% coiling system efficiency.
The 5 ton chiller would be the size needed to cool my 4" column. :shock:
User avatar
Chauncey
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1570
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:30 am
Location: NOLA

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Chauncey »

Get 2 just to be sure :P

25 large lol
<no stopping to corner anytime [] no parking passenger zone>

When people tell me I'll regret that in the morning, I sleep till noon.
Moosehead
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:17 am

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Moosehead »

Has anyone tried a 1hp aquarium chiller before?
Moosehead
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:17 am

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Moosehead »

Has anyone tried a 1hp aquarium chiller before?
User avatar
Ben
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1292
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2020 6:13 am
Location: Colorado

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by Ben »

1hp is 2545 btu. Figure 50% efficiency.

1 watt is 3.41 btu.

The aquarium chiller will only knock down approximately 375 watts of electric. That's not much, about the same as a 1 gallon air still.
:)
User avatar
BlueSasquatch
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 407
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:00 am
Location: Midwest

Re: Wort chiller for condenser water???

Post by BlueSasquatch »

I've got a 6-gallon pot still with a worm-tube condenser that is probably a hair on the small side. I siphon water into it, from an elevated 5 gallon bucket, which is filled via faucet and hauled over when I need it. Well I have a spare bucket or two that I work in rotation. I'd say I ran my still on propane for 7 hours? Did two strips, and went through about 20 gallons? Helps that it was around 45 degree F out.

Hell when its cold out enough, I put a hot-bucket aside, and by the time I need it, it's cooled off enough to be of use. Winter-time distilling may be my favorite time.
"In the silence of the study one can discuss theories, but only in practice one becomes an artist" - Meunier
Post Reply