Terrazza
06-05-2010, 07:19 PM
First post here, and I am going to get flamed!!!!
So I am needing refrigeration engineering/component help for a very small brewery application. What we are faced with is the need to chill 35 gallons of propylene glycol/water mix and maintain it at 29 degrees F.
What we were envisioning as a solution was to obtain a 1/3 to 1/2 HP compressor, braze in a copper capillary tube, a drier/filter, and run a coil of copper line submerged inside the glycol tank to act as the evaporator. And then find an appropriate sized condenser/fan for heat removal.
I was turned on to this idea after seeing PC overclockers building phase change chillers for cooling their processors. I spoke with a refrigeration/brewery technician who calculated out a required BTU load of approximately 1100 btus.
So is building something as described doable? Could it be done similarly to how overclockers are buying individual refrigeration used components, and if yes to both of these questions, how would I find out what type of compressor, length of capillary tube, length/size of copper evaporator, and size of condenser would be needed and where to get them frome?
That's a lot of questions for a first time poster, so I appreciate any help. Thanks!
So I am needing refrigeration engineering/component help for a very small brewery application. What we are faced with is the need to chill 35 gallons of propylene glycol/water mix and maintain it at 29 degrees F.
What we were envisioning as a solution was to obtain a 1/3 to 1/2 HP compressor, braze in a copper capillary tube, a drier/filter, and run a coil of copper line submerged inside the glycol tank to act as the evaporator. And then find an appropriate sized condenser/fan for heat removal.
I was turned on to this idea after seeing PC overclockers building phase change chillers for cooling their processors. I spoke with a refrigeration/brewery technician who calculated out a required BTU load of approximately 1100 btus.
So is building something as described doable? Could it be done similarly to how overclockers are buying individual refrigeration used components, and if yes to both of these questions, how would I find out what type of compressor, length of capillary tube, length/size of copper evaporator, and size of condenser would be needed and where to get them frome?
That's a lot of questions for a first time poster, so I appreciate any help. Thanks!