MG Thermal Consulting

I have two 3 ton used chillers available , subject to run testing at the factory. One is 230/3/60 and the other 460/3/60. They can be sited indoors or outdoors. Capacity is 3 tons at 45F or 1 1/2 tons at 25F with glycol mix. Both have the remainder of a 5 year compressor warranty. No other warranty on parts. Regards, Mike G 678-773-2794

Uh, I have to pick up 6 discard barrels for my son's wedding reception next spring- where's my best bet to pick them up? It's for the ambiance...not full ones (that would be dangerous!). Thanks

Looking forward to hearing from you, John. Looks to be the way to go for you where the Wet bulb is as low as it is. Mike

John, Forgot to ask, what is the the highest water/glycol temp you can live with? Based on the worst case wet bulb, the best you could get is 60F, anything lower you would have to supplement. For example, if 55F was the lowest you can live with, you would be short 5 degrees and need a 500 ton chiller to get to 55F or you would have to have a large enough reservoir to chill it overnight to get to 55F during the day when you couldn't get any cooler than 60F. I hope you are planning on a large steel reservoir somewhere onsite. Mike

John, When you're figuring evaporative cooling, you require 15,000 btu/hr for cooling (evaporation increases the flow required which is where they get the 3 GPM per ton for a 10 degree rise in the cooling water. It looks like you could do this with an evaporative water cooler (I do have a large evaporative cooler line which would fit into your realm) and possibly run a smaller chiller with an isolation exchanger to boost the capacity if you run into trouble in summer (or even rent a chiller for a few months if you pre-pipe an exchanger to the process to gauge how much you need to add). The 64 dollar question are you going to have enough make-up water for the evaporative unit, about 2% of flow when not running "dry", or about .02 x 3gpm/ton x 1000 tons= 60 GPM plus or minus- doesn't look like a lot until you multiply it out what the daily volume will be. You also will have some large indoor sumps if you are thinking cooling tower instead of closed loop evaporative (water/glycol inside of steel/copper tubes with water running over tubes). You have a lot to consider and no doubt will have to spend time with you consulting engineer, too. When you get to the point of talking about the cooling equipment, I can budget out some possibilities for you. Mike

12-15,000,000 btu/hr for the cooling load as well? Certainly would have the efficency for it, but the first cost on them (absorbers) is way up there (!!!) unless you're getting a rebate to cover a share. The Absorption chiller uses a cooling tower for the "high pressure" side, which would be a monster, but you would be in the same boat if you were doing evaporative cooling only. Evaporative cooling can only get to within 7 to 8 degrees of the wet bulb temperature, which in the summer doesn't usually get you cool enough water. I think Tuthill is using something like this, aren't they? Mike

John, Are you going with absorption chillers using gas fired heat? Mike

Greetings! I'm sure this site will peak your interest! I concentrate on the cooling side so I can help with budgeting out that for you. Enjoy meeting a great bunch of people. Mike

Hey R'runner, we have friends in Morgan City, so the next trip there we'll try to look you up! Mike

There are dairy concentric tube-in-tube exchangers that would work well for wort as well.

Hi! likewise if I can be of assistance on cooling systems design, give me a shout. I should be having some pictures up on installations in the coming months and will keep you advised. Regards, Mike Gronski MG Thermal Consulting 770-995-4066

Will be sending a couple cooling systems up toward NY and CT soon and may visit them after install. Generally where are you going to be? (I am from Corning, NY and will be there as well- it's N of the PA line on RT15). Good luck!

Good luck, Ryan. I remember talking to you about a cooling system a while ago. Mike

FLA is quite the hotbed! I know of a few looking to put rum distilleries there. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with on your cooling system. Regards, Mike Gronski 770-995-4066

Bob, If a manufacturer does not have a US sales office or distribution for parts, this comes up and should be a question before buying. That being said, did you get other users names here in the US before purchasing? Maybe they can help if there are generic parts? Mike

If you're in an "industrial" market, selling equipment that is not as simple as a refrigerator, you come across this quite often. Customers make assumptions on how to run equipment and so do manufacturers (you try to minimize this!!!!) and I have had my share of customers who were part of a large company that weren't educated enough when they installed their equipment. What I'm getting at is that it should be easy for both parties to contact each other and cut off any issues at the bud. Unfortunately, in this day and age with multinational distribution, there is not only difficulties with time differences but also societal differences. I hope both parties resolve their differences, but there are frustrations somewhere involved that need educating, no?

I was trying to drum up some ideas with a friend who has been in the material handling and controls business for a long time, plus a designer of some items he has patented, but he has been too busy with industrial jobs to consider it. Good luck with it.

I recollect he has said he has around 400 stills in the US, is that right? I can hardly believe he doesn't have a little more presence here to deal with such issues. Bobs, hope you are able to straighten things out and let us know.

Others with more control expertise may well have much more to add, but you probably need to control the water flow/temp on both, don't you?

Good luck with it. Let us know how the performance turns out. Mike

Is this a new still & who made it? I do have someone looking for an "antique" looking still. You can email me photos at mikegronski@gmail.com Thanks.

TY, Mr. D. Hope you are having a busy summer!

It might be a stretch (shipping to Ireland) but I'm sure there are equivalent manufacturers there. Some here in the US are placing underground cisterns (poly, fiberglass or I know one is rebuilding a city water station with cement tank) utilizing ground temp of 55F to help out. This doesn't work for Southern US but in the Northern States, underground storage is used and well as dry coolers in the winter acting like a radiator to provide cooling for under 30F outdoor temperatures. So many here rely on revitalizing old dairy and pharmaceutical tanks as well. Mike

Pog, When you put together a closed loop chilled water system, it normally either also includes glycol (acts like an antifreeze if the chiller is located outdoors) or is treated with inhibitors (anti-biologicals) which makes it "process water" and not suitable for mixing with your sanitary water. Mike

You can see samples on my website, from the standard packaged unit to large scale central chiller plants. Regards, Mike Gronski www.mgthermalconsulting.com