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Brewery Chiller-The Ultimate FAQ Guide by TopChiller

What is a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller is a specified cooling system that removes process heat from the brewing process by using air or water. It is used to cool the fermentation process and cooking wort.

It uses a coolant that can be glycol or propylene glycol combined with water to dissipate the excess heat from a brewing unit using a multi-plated heat exchanger or cooling system.

A Brewery Chiller as the name suggests is used in brewery industries to cool the processes. Micro-chillers are used for smaller units whereas size grows to meet the requirements.

Brewery chiller designed by TopChiller

What is the Purpose of a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller is used for performing various functions in the industry. Its purpose is to cool the system, the process occurring during the production, and to cool the fermentation process.

A Brewery Chiller is an efficient way of cooling the liquids such as alcohol in the brewing industry along with cooling worts. Its purpose also includes preparing, packaging process, and fermentation heat control.

Chilling the wort is an important function to perform a process successfully in a brewing unit. The basic purpose of a Brewery Chiller is to cool the worts and increase the efficiency of the process.

What is the Working Principle of a Brewery Chiller?

Brewery Chiller works on the principle of compression and vapor evaporation. It operates on a chemical compound called refrigerant. The coolant absorbs heat from the process and boils it.

The compressor absorbs heat and converts it from low-pressure gas into high-pressure gas. The gas again changes its transition to the liquid phase and dissipates the heat by a heat exchanger or a Brewery Chiller.

It uses glycol as a coolant. The concentration of glycol influences the heat flows indirectly. An increase in glycol concentration causes a reduction in heat transfer by several mechanisms.

What are the Basic Features of a Brewery Chiller?

The Brewery Chiller has many basic features that make it remarkable equipment in the brewing industry. The major features that enhance its efficiency and specificity include:

• P-trap overflow
• Glycol economizers
• Hermetic compressor
• High thermal efficiency tan
• High flow glycol connections
• Electronic expansion valves
• Dual refrigeration circuits

Brewery chiller hermetic compressor

What are the Main Components of a Brewery Chiller?

Brewery Chiller has some common components as the other chillers. It comprises tanks and pumps having a range of 31 to 30,000 gallons made up of polyethylene or stainless steel. Other components include:

Compressor

A dual compressor is a major component of the Brewery Chiller that ensures the movement of the refrigerant throughout the system and compresses the pressure and volume of the gas.

Evaporator

An evaporator absorbs the heat from the worts and fermentation process and sends it to the refrigerant to cool it down. It is placed between the compressor and the expansion valve.

Control Unit

A control unit is mounted that monitors the efficiency of the Brewery Chiller. Control units have certain alarms for safety reasons that can shut down the system instantly.

What is the Working Process of a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller works by use of a multiple-section heat exchanger that uses chilled glycol and water to circulate heat away from the brew to the refrigeration system or heat exchanger.

In the first step, the evaporator absorbs heat from the process and sends it to the refrigerant which is moved throughout the system with the aid of a compressor. A condenser is located next which dissipate this heat.

The condenser forwards the refrigerant to expansion value which increases its volume. An expansion value operates by two major components such as a thermal operation valve and a pilot.

Which Refrigerant can be used in a Brewery Chiller?

A refrigerant is an organic compound that is used in Brewery Chiller as a coolant. It acts as an anti-freezing agent, having a high heat absorption rating, and a non-corrosive agent.

Commonly, a glycol-based coolant is used in a Brewery Chiller. Glycol can be ethylene glycol or propylene glycol mixed with water. The coolant is used in proper concentration to make the process efficient.

Glycol-based coolant for brewery chiller

Why Glycol is used in a Brewery Chiller?

Glycol is used as a refrigerant in the Brewery Chiller because it can operate at low-temperature ranges and maintain a consistent temperature to cool the wort more quickly than a water-based chilling agent.

A smaller glycol-based coolant can perform the same function as a much larger water-based cooling liquid.

The cool temperature provided by the glycol supports the Brewery Chiller to respond to temperature spikes.

A low-temperature coolant such as glycol is beneficial in returning the system to its target temperature more quickly in a very less time as compared to other refrigerants.

How Much Glycol should be used in a Brewery Chiller?

It is an important step to use the right concentration of glycol in the Brewery Chiller. It varies depending upon the ambient temperature that should be colder than the process.

Typically, 30% and 40% glycol concentration is used depending upon the lowest air temperature of the location site. Water is mixed considerably to maintain the system efficiency.

What are the Types of Brewery Chiller?

There are two types brewery chillers:air-cooled brewery chillers and water-cooled brewery chillers are available for fast shipment. Topchiller also have engineers to design customized brewery chillers based customers’ special requirements.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AIR COOLED & WATER COOLED BREWERY CHILLERS?

Air Cooled Brewery Chiller uses ambient air to remove excessive heat from liquids and processes. These are energy-efficient, space-saving come with an installation package to save the extra money.

Another type is the Water Cooled Brewery Chiller that uses water mixed with coolant to remove the heat from the brewing industry. These are long-lasting systems with cooling towers installed that boost the energy efficiency of the unit.

Air cooled brewery chiller

What is a Modular Brewery Chiller?

Modular Brewery Chiller is the specialized type of cooling system that is used as a booster product to an existing Brewery Chiller that is not sufficient for the needs of the brewing process.

It has no additional tank or pump but owns a microprocessor controller, suction accumulator, and water flow switch to back up the brewery system with extra cooling and low temperature.

What is Package Brewery Chiller?

Package Brewery Chiller is water cooling system built-in water tank and water pump all in one package.

Package Brewery Chiller can start up by running wires, connecting with the fluid supply and return lines, filling with water/glycol, which is simplified installation ,so it is popular in brewery industry because of its all-in-one design.

What are the Uses of a Split Brewery Chiller?

There are some circumstances where the Brewery Chiller does not provide enough ventilation to dissipate the heat and becomes insufficient to maintain the low temperatures.

For such situations, a split Brewery Chiller is the best thing to choose. It comes in two pieces, the evaporator, and a remote compressor. These are installed outdoor to provide extra cooling to the existing chilling system.

What is the Role of a Compressor in a Brewery Chiller?

A compressor is a device that is mounted between the evaporator and condenser. A hermetic compressor is used for reliability and efficiency to handle the returned liquid without any damage.

Brewery Chiller requires a dual compressor to protect the reverse rotation by an electronic phase monitor. A motor works as a driving force to ensure the movement of refrigerant in the pipelines and storage tanks.

What is the Composition of an Evaporator in a Brewery Chiller?

An evaporator is a major component of a Brewery Chiller that is made up of copper coaxial, stainless steel, and brazed plate evaporator plates specifically designed for heat extraction.

The evaporator protects against freezing by microprocessor controllers which play a vital role in sending the refrigerant to the cooling tower for the provision of air conditioning.

Brewery chiller evaporator working diagram

How you can Calculate the size of a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller can be sized depending upon the requirements of the brewing industry. It depends upon several circumstances including the heat load, chiller capacity, and ambient temperature. To size a Brewery Chiller:

• Calculate the primary heat load.
• Calculate the pull-down load per 24 hours.
• Calculate holding tank load.
• Calculate secondary load of the wort heat exchanger.
• Size the Brewery Chiller by higher primary and secondary loads and add 15% safety factors to recover for the heat loss during the process of fermentation and brewing.

Which Industrial Operations Require Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller has many uses in several industrial operations. From heat dissipation to cooling the liquid, it is a major part of the brewing industry.

Wort Cooling

A Brewery Chiller is used for wort cooling using a three-section heat exchanger using glycol and water mixture which is typically designed according to the capacity of the brewhouse.

Fermentation Temperature Control

The fermentation process yields heat in a huge amount due to the alcohol formation and metabolic cycles in the brewing bacteria. The generated heat is dissipated by using the right Brewery Chiller.

Product Storage

Alcohol and other brew drinks are prepared, packed, and stored at low temperatures. A Brewery Chiller not only aids in processing the heat of the system but is also used to store freshly prepared liquid and alcohol.

What Technologies are used in a Brewery Chiller?

With the advanced and digitalized era, modern technologies have evolved Brewery Chiller. These technologies have a wide range from reservoir tanks to digital control panels. Other recent technologies installed include:

Tanks and Pump Systems

Polyethylene stainless steel pumps are new in trend and hold a capacity range from 31 gallons to 30,000 gallons. Tanks function as a huge reservoir for circulating water and glycol.

Condenser Systems

Remote condenser systems fulfill the requirements of separate condenser and evaporator. Remote condenser systems can be placed outdoor and indoors for easy access.

What is the Capacity of a Brewery Chiller?

The capacity of a Brewery Chiller is defined as the power required to process heat load. A Brewery Chiller requires more horsepower than an air-conditioning chiller due to low-temperature ranges.

It can be calculated for a brewery by multiplying the number of brewing hours per week by the number of weeks in a year. It is mostly measured according to the fluid being cooled, which is 2.4 gallons per year ton.

2 ton brewery chiller

What is the Role of Compression Modulation in a Brewery Chiller?

Brewery Chiller comes with a dual set remote compressor and compressor circuit for critical conditions. It depends according to the temperature of the system.

Normally, the compressor modulation varies from 20% to 100% depending upon several factors, such as temperature, fluid, and efficiency of the system.

How you can Select the Right Size of a Brewery Chiller?

Choosing the right Brewery Chiller for industrial operations is a very critical decision. It includes a wide range of options and factors that can enhance or decrease the overall efficiency of the process. These factors include:

• Tank holding load
• Wort heat exchanger
• Pull-down crashing
• Active fermentation excessive heat
• Beer volume in a brewing industry
• Compensation factors such as pipes, pumps, and valves

Which Custom Controls are used in a Brewery Chiller?

Custom program controls are installed in a Brewery Chiller to make it easy for managing the functions of a brewing unit. A microbrewery chiller can be upgraded using custom controls.

By custom controls, the temperature of a cooling system can be monitored and adjusted as per requirements. The flow rates can be checked and revived to increase the system efficiency.

Brewery Chiller guard is the best custom control option that features for emailing or uses urgent text message service to warn about the alarms whenever it detects any malfunctioning in the system.

Smart home technology is also used to get warning updates whenever the flow rate or water level disturbs the storage tanks and circulating reservoirs to diagnose the upcoming system disturbances.

How to Enhance the Efficiency of a Brewery Chiller?

Brewery Chiller efficiency can be increased by using several ways and setting the factors that create a significant response on the cooling system of the brewing industry. It includes:

• Glycol economizer
• Electronic expansion valves
• Heat reclaim choices for hot liquor reservoir
• Floating head pressure for effective chilling
• Variable frequency pump devices to reduce the energy consumption

Brewery chiller electronic expansion valves

What is the Temperature Range of a Brewery Chiller?

Most brewing industries operate at low-temperature ranges such as 28 degrees Fahrenheit to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. A Brewery Chiller is maintained at this temperature to facilitate the brite tanks that operate at 32°.

Maintaining a critical temperature to avoid ice formation and providing consistent cooling to process is the most critical situation. It can be only managed by managing the temperature at a reasonable range.

What are the Customized Options for a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller has many basic features and specifications that make it extra-ordinary for brewing and alcohol fermentation.

Some additional customized options include:

• Dual compressor sets
• Castors for portability
• Dual pumps with lead/lag control
• Mangum microprocessor controller for automation control
• Condenser coil coating for corrosion protection in alkaline environments
• Inhibited propylene glycol concentration with huge capacity reservoir tanks

What is the Cost Range of a Brewery Chiller?

Normally, a Brewery Chiller is used in brewing industries to cool the fluid, chill worts, fermentation, maintain a low temperature, and quality packaging of the products.

Its cost ranges from $3000 to $15000 depending upon the basic features, specifications, installment of advanced technologies, and customized options available as per requirements.

What is the Role of Brewery Chiller in Fermentation?

Fermentation is an extremely important step in the brewing process. It is a very crucial step in the brewing process that requires monitoring of temperature in a brewing unit for the fermentation process.

Wort is cooled down to add the yeast and start fermentation.

This process can take weeks, so it is compulsory to maintain a consistent low temperature of the system.

For this purpose, a Brewery Chiller plays a vital role and maintains low temperature efficiently.

Fermentation is an extreme exothermic process and produces heat as long as it operates.

To control this heat, proper coolant temperature is maintained to control the fermentation temperature.

Brewery chiller is famous for fermentation industry

How can you Use Brewery Chiller for Cooling Wort?

Chilling the wort is a very crucial step in brewing beer and alcohol fermentation. A Brewery Chiller can cool the wort instantly by supplying low temperature continuously.

Cool wort is achieved to prevent the yeast and bacteria growth from surviving in the pipelines and produce clearer beer without any compromise on the flavor and quality.

Quick chilling of wort can be induced by circulating chilled coolant in the circulating system channels that absorb the heat from the wort and convert ambient air into cool air.

Why Packaging Requires a Brewery Chiller?

Packaging is a final stage of the brewing process but its importance cannot be neglected. A product is recognized by its packaging. Mechanical cooling is provided in the packaging process by using a Brewery Chiller.

Heat is generated in the process of bottling and canning step of liquor that should not be transferred to the final product. In this case, a Brewery Chiller aids in maintaining the low temperature in the production and packaging line.

How can you Maintain your Brewery Chiller?

It is necessary to maintain a Brewery Chiller to extend its lifespan and efficiency. For this purpose, maintain the daily logbooks and check the system components to maintain the system.

Here is the checklist of some basic tasks to maintain a Brewery Chiller:

• Pay Attention To Warning Signs

Every chiller is designed differently depending upon the capacity, requirements, and budget. However, automatic alarms are installed in every system that warns when the system is not working properly. Pay attention to them.

• Clean Condenser Coils

The overall maintenance depends upon cleanliness because this step gives an idea that how often this activity needs to be done. Cleaning of pipelines, distribution tubes, and storage tanks is compulsory for increasing system efficiency.

• Water Level And Flow Rate

The low water level in the tank can be the reason for freezing and damaging the system propellers. Pressurized tanks must be filled up to the correct level to prevent freezing at a low water level.

• Schedule Annual Maintenance 

Brewery Chiller is a closed-loop circuit that creates an image that its cleaning is not necessary. Whereas, annual cleaning and maintenance must be set up to test the components, clean closed-loop systems, and monitor other parameters.

Cleaning and maintenance must be set up for your brewery chiller

What Considerations are Required while Setting a Brewery Chiller?

Some considerations must be checked while setting a Brewery Chiller in a brewhouse to get an insight of pros and cons.

These considerations include:

• Environment

Unless the Brewery Chiller is designed for outdoor use, it must be placed indoors. Remember that most chillers contain copper in the condenser and piping that must be protected.

• Space

Check the space that is enough to set a Brewery Chiller with storage tanks and distribution pipelines. Consider that there must be plenty of airflow in the place where it is installed.

• Layout

Design a Brewery Chiller layout to place the chiller system close to your tanks. Customize the Brewery Chiller by adding the components according to the needs and requirements.

• Balance Flow

Check the balance of flow and assure even distribution to each tank by user’s manual guide. Use a “first in/last out” piping system to maintain a balance within the distribution pipelines.

• Composition

Have some knowledge about the composition material of pipes, tanks, and distribution channels. As PVC is used in pipe manufacturing, consider using heavy-duty schedule 80 PVC.

How can you Monitor Air Flow in a Brewery Chiller?

Monitoring airflow in a Brewery Chiller is an important step to maintain the performance of the cooling system. If the airflow diminishes, the pressure builds up. Once the pressure reaches a high level, the switch will be tripped.

For consistent temperature, the flow rate must be maintained to avoid instant shutting of supply because of any uncertain reasons. Check the pipelines to have an idea that there is no blockage for regular flow.

Clean the pipelines annually to remove the growth of yeast and fungus that can also diminish the system proficiency and result in freezing of chilled liquid because of lowered flow rates in the distribution channels.

What is the Role of a High/Low Switch in a Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller compressor can damage due to excessive load of supply. To prevent this issue, a safety feature is designed to protect the compressor from damage and failure.

A high/low switch is installed in a Brewery Chiller to resolve the high-pressure problems. Many other issues can disturb the supply of a Brewery Chiller such as reduced airflow, condenser blockage, and malfunctioning fan motor.

High/low switches can be manually set to maintain the load at a set point and it acts as a safety control to prevent the system from high-pressure load and instant damage due to any reason.

Brewery chiller flow switch

How can you Troubleshoot your Brewery Chiller?

A Brewery Chiller is user-friendly equipment that operates longer if monitored and maintained annually. Minor damages and repairs are necessary to maintain the system. Timely troubleshooting is also a complimentary event.

Beer temperature is maintained at a low range to provide excellent quality of the product. It is only possible when users troubleshoot the problems instantly. Troubleshooting includes:

• Motor and pump leakage checking to diagnose damage at an early stage.
• Glycol bath temperature maintenance for consistent temperature flow.
• Condenser obstructions to outlook the decreased flow rates and water levels.
• Damage at the line or storage site to mend the component and save the system from shutting down.

Brewery chiller troubleshooting

How to Prevent Freeze Up in your Brewery Chiller?

Freezing up is a general issue in the cooling systems. But having an insight into how to resolve this issue as soon as possible is the basic trick. It is one of the causes of the failure of the chilling system.

To overcome this issue, ensure the glycol level on the storage tank is above the minimum requirement. Check the glycol percentage at least on the monthly basis to prevent freeze-up in a Brewery Chiller.

How can you Test a Brewery Chiller?

Testing a Brewery Chiller is an important step to start using a Brewery Chiller. Many test parameters must be checked before initializing the complete process of brewing.

• Pressure Check

Test the pressurization of helium leakage, leak testing of the fluid circuit, and leak detection of refrigeration circuit to determine the risks involved in damage and failure of a system.

• Performance Test

Check the performance, capacity, and size at full load. Power consumption required for the complete process can be checked by having insights into the factors that affect the performance of a system.

• Electrical Testing

Control panels are digitalized and converted into electronic panels that must be tested according to the international standards for proper inspection of Brewery Chiller.

• Control Testing

Control testing is required to have a check on all the controls including safety devices, warning alarms, control panels, circulation flow rates, and water levels to inspect the pain points.

Brewery chiller pressure testing