MG Thermal Consulting

Hey,

I'm just down the road (more or less via I85) from you in Lawrenceville, GA.

I'd like to see your set up sometime.

When you get to a closed loop cooling rather than city water, I can give you some suggestions and costs.

I know around Anderson, SC they are constricting water use in places (I know one plant that had to put Johnny on the Spots outdoors becasue they weren't allowed to flush water in the summer).

Welcome and I hope to meet you some day!

I just have worked out a system with a fiberglass tower manufacturer for a tower mounted on rollers with or without a plate/frame exchanger- for those that want to put it away when not processing. It can be fitted with sump heaters as well- 5 thru 20 ton models.

It can be matched up to a small chiller (somewhat special in that it can tolderate higher inlet water temps) in series, using the chiller as a booster.

I know of a fellow that is starting one up, but is collecting the Do-Re-MI first.

Using tower water is an option, but seldom works year-round in the US because the best outlet temp you can get is around 85F and here in the US the thought of that type water being used for a tower without massive treatment to satisfy the inspectors would be prohibitive.

Unless you have well water for make-up and condition it, it becomes expensive to use "open" water systems.

I'd have to agree on the small Plate and frame htx, brazed plate variety will not work if fouled in any way, and are darned near impossible to clean.

Large plate and frames are available used at plenty of dealers, it's then a matter of finding a small one (I know, easier said than done).

I provide chillers to dealers of plate and frames and have bought them myself, so it depends how cold your cooling water can be, it makes the plate and frame smaller.

Good Luck.

I have experience with Carl as far as supplying chillers for their set-ups, but the users seem happy with them and I find them very knowlegeable and cordial.

Gulf side or Atlantic side?

Mike,

Welcome, I'm transplanted from Corning but lived for many years outside Buffalo.

We travelled up to the 1000 Islands when my son was on a youth lacrosse team- a wonderful area (Being a history buff, I enjoyed Sackett's Harbor). Of course this was in the summer!

Mike Gronski @ MG Thermal Consulting

A refrigeration chiller that can chill a large tank (PVC would be least expensive unless you can pick up something used) is the typical solution if you have time to chill process water overnight. You can get to 32F with some chillers with water (a coil in tank designed evaporator). You can continue to run the chiller while the tank water is used by the process the next day- you will lose ground on the tank temp, but if you size it right, it won't get to the 68F water or whatever temp you cannot properly function.

This is typical of the way bakeries have batch cooled water for large mixers, chiling the city water between batches of dough mixing.

You''ll need pumps as well, one for circulating the water to and from the chiller and the second for the process. Pressure reducing valve for the city water inlet to the process reservoir. The tank should be insulated so you don't lose ground on temp.

I've heard of old bulk milk tanks being used for this and many other purposes, not as efficient, but less expensive if you can pick one up cheap. just get the refrigerant compressor to match, but BEWARE, most of the old tanks used R-12 refrigerant and compressors mineral based oil, so you have oil inside the tank coils and it would be near impossible to flush out to use present day non-mineral oil type compressors- the result will be a burned out compressor motor. The same holds true for R-502. The compressor manufacturer usually will not honor warranty if they find the oils are mixed. Have a good refrigerantion mechanic in the family!

I have water or glycol chillers if you are going that route. Don't have anything used right now except a 10 ton indoor portable chiller.

Call me if you need that or other cooling equipment requirements.

Mike Gronski

MG Thermal Consulting770-995-4066

I supply small and large glycol chillers similar to what was pointed out for jacket cooling. The small portables include a circulating pump and a glycol reservoir. Where you have multiple tanks, the chiller is moved from tank to tank doing the cooling required.

Size of the chiller depends on how quickly you want the tank cooled to temp.

Generally for a 1000 L tank, a 3.5 to 5 HP chiller is required supplying a 20 to 25F glycol mix.

The colder the temp glycol, the quicker the tank cools but the greater the HP for the chiller.

Good Luck.

Mike

Hey, it won't be long and you'll be warming up the snowblower again!

I lived in Hamburg, NY, a stones throw from Rich Stadium and called on everything from industrial to wholesalers from Pittsburgh to Utica for Dunham-Bush before they got out of the refrig business.

My brother lives North of Binghamton and travels often to see a fishing buddy near Syracuse ( He's a retired teacher now) and has said how many more small wineries are still sprouting up on the Finger Lakes, so I think the same will be true for distilleries.

I know the US sales person from Carl and always wanted to meet those folks, but haven't gotten the chance thus far.

Good luck and much success!

Hi to everyone.

I grew up around the Finger Lakes (Corning) and sold glycol chillers to wineries around there as part of the product line I sold.

Since moving to Atlanta area I have sold chillers to a few micro-distillers and was happy to bump across this website- good stuff here!

I have noticed a couple of your members I supplied chillers to as well.

I have to laugh when I read a post about hard cider- when I was little on the farm my grandparents owned (it had an apple orchard, too), my father found some cider in the cellar of the house many years after my grandfather died and couldn't pass up the urge to take a swig. He never said (or maybe couldn't) what it tasted like.

If anyone has any questions about water/glycol chilling or storage refrigeration, I'd be glad to help out, if possible.

Mike Gronski

MG Thermal Consulting

678-773-2794