MG Thermal Consulting

Good to know Capt! I have client that bought a Chinese still and are struggling to put it together. I have a distiller who got the whole thing from china, including the chiller. He’s hooking it up now. Mike

Where are you located. i have an associate who turn-keys breweries and distilleries, mostly the production end. I have worked with him on the cooling end (chillers, etc.). He works downstate NY.

Just wonder why don’t you precool mash with a heat-x . The colder the cooling fluid, the more it will make the mash separate unless the agitation is aggressive enough to keep a film find someplace to stick. Even mash sticks inside a tube unless the tube diameter matches the pump velocity flow of the mash pump. Quirky stuff. Mike

I have chiller available to match this still cooling. Mike

Welcome! Have we talked recently? I recently discussed a cooling system with someone in your area. Mike Gronski

Hey Corey! I advise and consult on cooling systems- chillers, evap coolers, mash coolers, clear liquid heat exchangers, etc. Closest systems I have worked on to you are located in Milwaukee and another in N Chicago area. I can get referrals if you would like to get ideas for system configurations. Mike G

Good luck Steve! Happy New Year!

Good luck on your new position. I have worked with many start ups and there are many details and pitfalls that come up. I work with the cooling equipment sizing and general layout for distilleries, so if you have questions that pop up, give me a shout and I can give you advice to that part of your distilling. Mike G.

Cody, welcome! If you need any cooling load sizing or general layout of cooling equipment, contact me. I just gave some advice to a AZ distiller who needed the cooling load sizing so he knew the general HP required to use for other construction budgets.

I have supplied glycol chillers to distilleries that use the chiller to cold chill product in a CLT such that it can be canned by a mobile canning company which saves on spillage and such. You need a glycol chiller to be able to chill the product to near 32F before canning, so if you are using city or well water cooling for your still, it won’t be cold enough to cold chill product. If you are looking to purchase a canning setup, you would still be looking at adding a CLT and glycol chiller. If you have any questions, contact me anytime. Mike Gronski MG Thermal 678-773-2794

You normally wouldn’t see baffling on HX this size. You generally adjust your flows by the amount of temperature drop on either side, bothe the mash and coolant sides. If you know the manufacturer, they may be able help. You shouldn’t want more than 10 degree delta TD on the coolant side. If you do not control the coolant TD , it can become more than the chiller can handle and will overheat. Mike

To make the glycol chiller as small as possible, you add an intermediate plate exchanger, a water pump and water reservoir as the primary coolant to your mash exchanger. I generally use a water reservoir twice the volume of the mash tun, but the size I reservoir is dependent also on the size of your glycol chiller. Your water reservoir is used for the still condenser, so most distillers do not run both loads at once, but alternate days of use so reservoir water temperature can recover. Let me know if I can be of further help. Mike

I have done it using an underground tank of water pumped through a plate exchanger from where the cooling is transferred via a plate exchanger using a process or recirculating pump from the chiller loop. If you are located up North, I use radiator type coolers with circulating pump as well. Using a chiller as last step if need in summer. I has photos of a typical installation.

Paul, Happy New Year! Changing and adding more “dry” and “hybrid” cooling systems to my chiller lines here at MG Thermal. Keep us in mind if you have any applications, especially on your large systems- this is where the kw payback can reduce operational costs. Regards, Mike

Paul, just been talking to the contractor that is installing one of your systems in Durham. Been about three years since that was ordered and has been sitting on-site for a while. Been a thrill getting details on the cooling system combo of hydro cooler and chiller pulled together. So far, 😊 so good 😊

Curious, how many btu/hr did you figure it performed? Did you use city water or a chiller with reservoir. I design and offer cooling equipment for distilleries in US and CAN.

If you use a chiller to chill the water, chlorine will damage the evaporator, even if it’s stainless because off the shelf brazed plate evaporators brazing will corrode from chlorine- you would need a nickel brazed a special order.

I just sent Mark some photos of a distillery with the typical setup- glycol chiller, reservoir, isolation exchanger and process pump along with a winter glycol cooler. He runs the chiller from April to August, the wintercooler the rest of the time, saving 15 HP of electricity for the 8-10 hrs. The location is in the Berkshire Mnts. in W. CT. Tank size of course depends on the load profile and how that matches up to the chiller and you are sure you have enough time overnight to cool the tank. If you make more than one run per day, you will run out of chilled water unless that is taken into account. Everyone have a nice Spring!

For the internal coil application- I am really careful about the residual heat from the mash tun itself. Also, i like to use a 2 stage cooling- first stage cools mash to 150F, then use a chiller and reservoir for second stage. Pictured is evaporative glycol cooler that I have used on large apps for first stage- expensive now, but for multiple mash runs per week, helps on power usage using a fan to do the work rather than a refrigeration system, but the first cost is a doozey for a 3-5 year payback. Typical for a Northern climate, a chiller and drycooler each with its own circulator attached to an internal plate exchanger to make cold water for the cold water reservoir. Customer uses the drycooler alone from September to March up in the Western CT mountains. Chiller is 10 Ton, Drycooler is 6 Ton nominal (12 ton, at least, in winter). Who knows what KW cost will be in the next year. Mike

Cool man! What are you using for mash cooling, a straight chiller/reservoir tank or a drycooler for the high temp cooling glycol/water?

I often work with the lead designers/engineers/architects on the cooling system design for distilleries. There are designers here on the Forums that can help you out, I am sure. Mike Gronski 678-773-2794

Chillers for small batches will run between $5 to 6 K. If you go with non-ferrous for water passages, you can get it a little cheaper and use city water pump/pressure and dump into a chilled water tank.

Mikegronski@gmail.com 678-773-2794 www.mgthermalconsultingco.com

Howdy, if you get stuck with cooling needs or budgets,give me a shout! Mike

The stand alone Hybrid Cooler and shell and tube exchanger start out at amount $20k. This will get the mash down to 105F in summer, colder from Fall thru Spring. Additional cooling would need to be done in the fermenters by a chiller if needed. You can reduce the size of the hybrid cooler by setting up a two stage cooling by cutting in the chiller sooner running with with a chilled water reservoir. It all depends how much chiller you need during summer. The Hybrid Cooler will get nearly triple the cooling in off seasons, so if you are not running a chiller 24/7, it may be cost effective to integrate the chiller in the crash cooling, but only when needed, so you can keep your power consumption at a minimum. For a 1000 Gal system, this is a sizable savings which we can determine for you. The Hybrid Cooler will pay for itself in a few years from power savings. Mike G 678-773-2794