Dairy Plate Chiller

[barneey]

Just reassembled the plate (only need the replacement 4 seals - the originals look a bit iffy).

So from this




to this...





If the new washers and everything holds a seal - it will be the best £30 I`ve spent for a while

[Andy]

Lovely

[orlando]

If the new washers and everything holds a seal - it will be the best £30 I`ve spent for a while

Well you'll be wanting to sell that now then; how much ? £30 you say, plus postage of course.

[darkonnis]

Looking lovely mate!

You could find out the kW rating using Q = m CP DT
m being your flow rate (probably m3/sec or L as long as you remember which you use)
Cp being the heat transfer coefficient of water which if I remember right is 4.2
DT being the temp change of the liquid being cooled/heated. (in c or k)

If you get chance to boil 100L of water you could do 4 tests of 25L at different flow rates which you are likely to use.

[alix101]

Barneey...I have something similar. ... How easy is it to strip down and put back together.. mine also needs cleaning but I was terrified I wouldn't get it back together.

[barneey]

Barneey...I have something similar. ... How easy is it to strip down and put back together.. mine also needs cleaning but I was terrified I wouldn't get it back together.

They are really easy to strip down, all the plates are the same except the top one (doesn't have any rubber seals) so in my case just undo the 4 holding down bolts (I`ve shortened mine to allow access to a socket / torque spanner) lift the top aluminium heavy plate off and then the rest of the stainless plates just slide off - you couldn't ask for anything more simple to clean after brewing.

The only negative I can see with this sort of plate is your very reliant on the rubber seals v a fully braided enclosed unit.

I know that one other member (BigR - I think) has a proper brewery one in his set up? - no idea of the cost - might it might be worth seeing if a smaller domestic one is available for home brewers ? If the seals on this don't hold up I might be on the hunt for another.

Sam pointed me in this direction regarding similar specifications

http://www.uk-exchangers.com/plate_heat_exchangers.htm

[barneey]

Just sent uk exchangers an email to ask on prices....

Also found the BigR thread I was looking for viewtopic.php?f=6&t=56046&start=15

A link for Fil http://www.spx.com/en/apv/pd-040_mp-tubular-the/

and another http://www.spx.com/en/apv/pd-010_mp-phe ... ndustrial/

[critch]

these guys are used extensively in the micro brewery worldhttp://www.uk-exchangers.com/

[jez666]

Hi barneey

I've just got one of these how are you getting along with yours? Was wondering if its up to the job of cooling boiling wort as its only designed for body temp milk before I go ahead and refurbish mine.

Jez

[orlando]

Hi barneey

I've just got one of these how are you getting along with yours? Was wondering if its up to the job of cooling boiling wort as its only designed for body temp milk before I go ahead and refurbish mine.

Jez

Better off asking asd, he has it now.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

These plate chillers are not used for cooling milk from body temperature. They are used, you have two of them in a dairy, for rapid heating up to 75c, for pasteurisation then rapid cooling down to about 3c.
I don't think it will have any problem with cooling your wort.

[kebabman]

It looks like the HEX manufacturer has made life easy with the long bars which will take a bolt and washer. So obviously when you want to give the plates a quick hose off you can unclamp and move them apart one at a time to the end of the long bars without a complete dismantle.

[ciderhead]

+1 never seen the inside of one before, all those nooks and crannies , thats convinced me never to buy one!
Best of luck getting her back to perform and thanks for the pics.

[jez666]

Hi barneey

I've just got one of these how are you getting along with yours? Was wondering if its up to the job of cooling boiling wort as its only designed for body temp milk before I go ahead and refurbish mine.

Jez

Better off asking asd, he has it now.

Ok thanks orlando

[jez666]

These plate chillers are not used for cooling milk from body temperature. They are used, you have two of them in a dairy, for rapid heating up to 75c, for pasteurisation then rapid cooling down to about 3c.
I don't think it will have any problem with cooling your wort.

Thanks for replying and thanks for educating me on their use in the dairy. I only asked because I was told about the body temp thing by a guy I spoke to on the phone at Fabdec.

I will now go ahead and refurbish it.