Counter flow chilling time

[simon12]

I just replace the plate chiller in our 1BBL brewery with a couterflow/goat chiller as the plate chiller gets clogged after 10-20 mins and looses a huge amount of efficiency and takes over an hour to chill 180l. The new chiller is made of 15m of 15mm copper pipe inside 15m of 22mm pipe and if I adjust the flow so the chilled wort comes out at 23C it chills 180l in an hour. Last time I tried chilling it to 75C recirculating to the boiler and then set the flow to chill to 23C to the fermenter and it was about 10 mins quicker, is there and way to calculate the optimum way to chill or just keep trying and see what works best?
If anyone is interested I made it by drilling out john guest plastic reducing tees these http://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit-p ... x-15/16663 to allow the 15mm pipe to run all the way through which worked much better than I thought it might. If anyone wants to make something similar I suggest they do some measurements unlike me doing it all about right. I also think it would be more efficient if you could get thinner walled 15mm tubing &/or use larger than 22mm outside it.
Mainly writing this in case anyone's interested but comments, questions and suggestions all welcome.

[Pinto]

TBH, simon, the "optimal" cooling time is irrelevant - the beauty with the GOAT design is that you can just keep adding chill tubes until you can cool beer at whatever flow rate you require. That would just be a matter of trial and error

Only thing with a CFC is to make sure you are circulating the right way round or the efficiency tanks - the coldest water must meet the coolest wort thus maximising the cooling effect of the SHC of the water flowing through the system.

[lord groan]

Have you seen this?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=69638

[simon12]

Yes thats the main thing that inspired it in the 1st place.

[barneey]

Although I still own and use my Goat for the large batches, I recently made myself a small CFC, which by luck is a good match to the MrL topsflo pump I had. Boiling to 21c in a single past approx. 2l per minute (ish) & at that speed its a very good match with a BAC spring filter.

[chefgage]

Although I still own and use my Goat for the large batches, I recently made myself a small CFC, which by luck is a good match to the MrL topsflo pump I had. Boiling to 21c in a single past approx. 2l per minute (ish) & at that speed its a very good match with a BAC spring filter.

Can I ask what type and where you got the flexable stainless hose for your cfc. Looking to do something simialr myself, looks excellent by the way

[barneey]

Search ebay for "solar flexible stainless" make sure you buy the coupling set as well

[chefgage]

Thanks, I will have a look.

[wally]

Barneey, what's the length of the flexible stainless?

[barneey]

Barneey, what's the length of the flexible stainless?

It was the length before friction took over

The thing is 290mm diameter and approx. 10.5 turns, so 3.14 x 290mm x 10.5 turns = APPROX 9.5m.

I have approx. > 5m left stainless and copper left so will probably make another to trial, as 9.5m might be overkill? no real way of finding out until you have built & tested it.

[waynele]

That's so cool