How use thin plate wort coller to expand facility life

The thin plate cooler is composed of a plurality of stainless steel sheets having corrugations on both sides, and the wrinkles and refrigerant water (low temperature water, alcohol water, etc.) to be cooled are introduced on both sides of each of the sheets. Since the heat exchange area of the thin plate is relatively large, the corrugated shape of the thin plate is favorable for the formation of intense turbulence. Therefore, the cooling effect of this cooler is very good.

How the thin plate cooler works

The thin plate cooler is divided into several types according to the heat exchange area and the shape of the plate surface corrugation. The outer edge of each sheet and the groove in the inlet and outlet have closed rubber gaskets bonded by special glue. The different arrangement of the sheets allows the wort and coolant to flow in a single-sided or diagonal flow. The gap between the two sheets flows down to form a thin layer flow, and the heat exchange is performed through the corrugated sheets to achieve the purpose of cooling the wort.

1. Prepare for the early stage

Before the wort is cooled, the wort side of the thin plate cooler and the wort line must be sterilized by hot water of 70 ° C or higher or sterilized by pumping cycle, and the sterilization time should not be less than 30 min. After the cooling starts, the wort should be allowed to drain the remaining water from the equipment, then let the cold wort enter the yeast addition tank. (The three-way valve and glass observation can be installed on the outlet of the thin plate cooler to facilitate the observation of the operator. Switch).

2. Use caution

During the cooling process, the temperature of the cold wort should be controlled within ±0.5 °C of the specified temperature of the process, and no large fluctuations should occur. Especially at the end of cooling, the flow of wort is significantly reduced, and the cooling water should be reduced accordingly. The flow rate prevents the wort from falling sharply. At the end of the wort cooling, a certain amount of water should be fed to drain the wort from the equipment and the pipe, and the operator can switch according to the observation of the glass observation cover.

3. Equipment maintenance

1 It is necessary to regularly remove and wash the sheet, usually it should be washed and washed once a week, because the cold coagulum and hop resin in the wort will adhere to the thin plate on the side of the wort due to cold precipitation, which will affect the heat transfer effect.

2 After the thin plate is removed, it can be immersed in 1%~2% dilute lye, and then brushed with a brush to clean the dirt. When loading the film, check whether the rubber gasket of each sheet is complete and whether it has fallen off. If the gasket is found to be aging or falling off, it should be replaced or glued in time.

3 The loading sheets shall be arranged in the order of the number of the thin plates. The pressing sheets shall be inspected according to the specified spacing requirements. The upper and lower ends shall be consistent, and shall not be too loose or too tight. After the loading is completed, water leakage may be detected to further adjust the spacing. In order to ensure continuous production, it is best to have a spare set for interchange.

4. Notes on small details

1 The cooling water of the thin plate cooler should use ice water or alcohol water (can be used with ordinary tap water or deep well water when cooling in two stages). It is not allowed to use salt water because the chloride ion of calcium chloride in the brine has corrosive effect on the stainless steel sheet. It affects the service life of the sheet. In addition, if the sheet is poorly installed, the phenomenon that salt water leaks into the wort will occur, which will affect the quality of the wort.

2 The pressure on both sides of the thin plate should be balanced as much as possible, and the pressure difference should not be too large. Otherwise, it is very likely that the “blinking” phenomenon occurs due to poor installation of the thin plate, which causes the cooling water to penetrate into the wort and affect the quality of the wort.

3 On the outlet pipe of the thin plate cooler, it is better to install an automatic temperature recorder. The indexing value of the recorder requires 0.5 °C per scale to effectively control and check the cooling temperature of the wort.

4 After each cooling period, the side of the wort of the sheet cooler is cleaned with hot water to remove the solids or other debris remaining on the sheet. The room where the thin plate cooler is placed should be kept clean, the floor should be washed frequently, and the bacteria should be sterilized regularly to ensure the sanitary condition of the cooling room.

5. Cleaning attention

Most of the modern times use the CIP system as a special equipment for cleaning pipes, pots and tanks, and the thin plate cooler can also be cleaned by means of the CIP system.

  1 The time for removing the sheet can be extended to one quarter or half a year.

  2 The water quality for the refrigerant water has certain requirements. Whether it is alcohol water or low temperature water (2 °C), water with a relatively low temporary hardness and a low iron ion content should be used (especially when such water is recycled as brewing water). ), otherwise it is easy to form scale on the side of the refrigerant water of the thin plate, which affects the heat transfer effect and is not easy to clean.

Proper use and maintenance will make the "life" of the equipment longer.

The above preparation, use, maintenance methods, did you GET?!