Pure O2 Equipment

[donchiquon]

Did a quick test....fail!

Back to the wand!

[orlando]

I aerate through the dump valve. I have a stone fitted into a 1/2" flange (Brewbuilder) and clamp that to it. Looking at your set up I would use the port above.

[donchiquon]

The racking arm....I'll make that my next test once the current brew is done. Thanks Orlando.

I guess I could also use the thermowell hole but this would mean leaving the stone in for the duration of the fermentation which would mean a load of cleaning at the end.

[orlando]

The racking arm....I'll make that my next test once the current brew is done. Thanks Orlando.

I guess I could also use the thermowell hole but this would mean leaving the stone in for the duration of the fermentation which would mean a load of cleaning at the end.

Yes, the racking arm. As long as the stone is immersed in the brew and has a channel through to the wort you'll be fine. Stones are notorious for getting gummed up with wort, after all they are really for water. The less contact with wort the better.

[PeeBee]

The racking arm....I'll make that my next test once the current brew is done. Thanks Orlando. ...

Yes, would work with your racking arm because from the photos I see there isn't really an "arm". My racking arm (it is an arm, or extension) has a small turn on the end so it can point down and won't fill up with yeast. But it will fill up with oxygen if I was to use that port.

I also see from the photos it probably isn't practical to attach the tap direct to the dump port? My guess is the oxygen accumulates in that bend and hence comes out in big bubbles.

But. The fact that I can attach the stone directly (vertically) to the dump valve is because it's a much bigger fermenter (40-70L). Which poses a QUESTION: The accepted method of using pure oxygen (reading through this thread) is bubble at about 1L a minute for 30-60 seconds. This is for 5 gallons. What about 10 or 15 gallons? And I can't get anywhere close to 1L a minute, more like 3L a minute.

Big "Hobbyweld" cylinder, 1.33 cubic meters capacity packed in at nearly 2000PSI. That might be a clue as to why I can't get 1L a minute.

[orlando]

can't get anywhere close to 1L a minute, more like 3L a minute.

Big "Hobbyweld" cylinder, 1.33 cubic meters capacity packed in at nearly 2000PSI. That might be a clue as to why I can't get 1L a minute.

Worth looking out for a small O2 bottle and a medical O2 flow meter, mine goes down to 1l a minute.

[PeeBee]

...
I'd really recommend making a stand for your gas bottle so you don't end up shooting liquid oxygen out the regulator. I made mine out of some left over pieces of slotted angle. ...

This is from along time ago, and I don't like contradicting Jocky's excellent information (and he is probably wise of this now). But. There's no liquid oxygen. Oxygen is supplied as a compressed gas (maybe 2000-3000PSI in bigger cylinders) because the pressure to keep oxygen as a liquid would be astronomical. So it is sold as a volume of gas at atmospheric pressure (my cylinder had 1.33 cubic meters when new). CO2 on the other hand conveniently stays liquid at about 850-900PSI and is sold by weight.

Nitrogen and mixed gas are sold the same way as oxygen because they are gases too.

If there is liquid in the oxygen cylinder it will be as a contaminant. Probably water, perhaps CO2? I've got a mini filter I don't use (was for an air compressor system), perhaps I should put it in service.

The reason for picking up on it was I was considering laying the oxygen cylinder on its side so I don't need to secure it upright against a wall like the CO2 cylinder. I guess I'll have to talk with the supplier. (The FAQ says "keep upright" but why, and I wonder if that's just a generalisation?).

[PeeBee]

can't get anywhere close to 1L a minute, more like 3L a minute.

Big "Hobbyweld" cylinder, 1.33 cubic meters capacity packed in at nearly 2000PSI. That might be a clue as to why I can't get 1L a minute.

Worth looking out for a small O2 bottle and a medical O2 flow meter, mine goes down to 1l a minute.

Okay. But I've got n years of O2 in that cylinder so I consider myself stuck with it. I'll look up flow meters (will they restrict too?). Any idea what 10-15gallons of beer might need in the way of O2?
Thanks.

[Jocky]

...
I'd really recommend making a stand for your gas bottle so you don't end up shooting liquid oxygen out the regulator. I made mine out of some left over pieces of slotted angle. ...

This is from along time ago, and I don't like contradicting Jocky's excellent information (and he is probably wise of this now). But. There's no liquid oxygen. Oxygen is supplied as a compressed gas (maybe 2000-3000PSI in bigger cylinders) because the pressure to keep oxygen as a liquid would be astronomical. So it is sold as a volume of gas at atmospheric pressure (my cylinder had 1.33 cubic meters when new). CO2 on the other hand conveniently stays liquid at about 850-900PSI and is sold by weight.

Nitrogen and mixed gas are sold the same way as oxygen because they are gases too.

If there is liquid in the oxygen cylinder it will be as a contaminant. Probably water, perhaps CO2? I've got a mini filter I don't use (was for an air compressor system), perhaps I should put it in service.

The reason for picking up on it was I was considering laying the oxygen cylinder on its side so I don't need to secure it upright against a wall like the CO2 cylinder. I guess I'll have to talk with the supplier. (The FAQ says "keep upright" but why, and I wonder if that's just a generalisation?).

Hah, I had been wondering about that recently after seeing someone else mounting their O2 cylinder horizontally and thought that it must not be the case that it is liquid.

Thanks, now I know for sure

[PeeBee]

... now I know for sure

Careful. Look at my avatar. That's not picked because I'm a fan of Vince in Rex the Runt, that's picked as a caricature!

I even voiced my concern to the man selling me a big dangerous O2 cylinder; that it wasn't questioned letting someone like me have it.

If that follows for you too, I'm slightly worried what your avatar is saying about you!

[orlando]

I've mounted mine to the wall using a fire extinguisher bracket and a clipped harness, all from eBay. PeeBee, my flow meter is last in line and doesn't let O2 through until I ask it to, on that basis I guess it does restrict but not sure that is exactly what you are asking. It is attached to an O2 regulator.

[PeeBee]

I've mounted mine to the wall using a fire extinguisher bracket and a clipped harness, all from eBay. PeeBee, my flow meter is last in line and doesn't let O2 through until I ask it to, on that basis I guess it does restrict but not sure that is exactly what you are asking. It is attached to an O2 regulator.

Ah, those things - often wondered what they did around hospitals. They have got some control (maybe a needle valve?) so I can fine tune the output - that's what I wanted. This makes them a sort of "flow regulator", just the sort of thing I warn people about, although in this case there will be the "pressure regulator" upstream too.
Ordered some jobbie with metal barbs from China (Ebay), steering clear of the LZQ ones as folk here weren't saying nice things about them.
Thanks.

[Jocky]

The LZQ one has been fine for £4 compared to the cost of a 'medical' one. But it's not great. The plastic barbs come unscrewed from the body and leak. It is not very good at holding the pressure if I screw it closed and open up the pressure reg.

But also, it seems reasonably accurate, and it was £4.

[Jocky]

... now I know for sure

Careful. Look at my avatar. That's not picked because I'm a fan of Vince in Rex the Runt, that's picked as a caricature!

I even voiced my concern to the man selling me a big dangerous O2 cylinder; that it wasn't questioned letting someone like me have it.

If that follows for you too, I'm slightly worried what your avatar is saying about you!

One day I will do great things in the pursuit of mad science.

[PeeBee]

No-one answered my question about how long to inject oxygen for a 10-15 gallon batch (the recommendations were 1 minute at 1L a minute for a 5 gallon batch. So I went with a guess, easy as this is the first time I've used oxygen (rather than pumped air) and 1 minute seems very short: I'd got 10 gallons of 1.070 beer and gave it 2 minutes with bubbles just breaking the surface (flow meter not arrived yet). Maybe too long?

Fermentation got going quite abruptly, no sign of the usual gradual start-up. This is also my first use of "liquid" yeast (Wyeast 1099; throwing myself in at the deep-end a bit) which had been cultured on stir plates to 1.0 million-cells/ml/degree-plato over two 36 hour steps: That seemed to grow a lot of yeast. Might be the over-zealous starter calculations that created such a quick start rather than over use of oxygen?

Piccie of fermentation progress graph (from "Beersmith" software, the temperature in blue so control of that seems to be working well):