Introduction: Conical Fermenter Cooler/chiller (peltier)
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Hi
I have moved the discussion in a specific thread form the thread dedicated to fermentation chamber peltier cooled since the two project, a part from cooling technology, have different solutions and development.
The idea is to use an immersion water chiller inside the conical fermenter and recirculate cold water. The cooling is provided by a peltier air-water heat exchanger using a technology for PC watercooling (overclocking CPU)
I have sourced a surplus COOLIT freezone…that was made by a Canadian company. I got it from a surplus ebay auction
The basic principle is very simple the cool water is recirculated inside the conical fermenter via a stainless steal coil and is cooled by the peltier cells.
The unit can be controlled by software PC via USB but it can works also stand alone…it is possible also to log temperature and power during the whole time !
The stainless steel coil has a diameter of 20cm and an height of 30cm. The pipe is 8mm OD , 7mm ID. The terminal are 90degree bended in order to exit the side wall of the fermenter so all the coupling and fittings are external (safer !). Two compression fittings keeps the coil in the canter of the fermenter
In order to avoid dispersion I have insulated the fermenter (both the side wall and the cone) using a foil of polistirolo and some neoprene.
Than after some trial I have substituted the original small 12V pump with a bigger one capable of 500l/h. The pump is a Thermaltake P500 pump and the fittings again comes from the PC modding / watercooling thecnology. It’s very low noise with ceramic bearings for long term usage. It’s compatible with high flow systems utilizing ID 6.4mm(1/4”) and 9.5mm(3/8”) tubing.
Last addition is a water reservoir..it’s very usefull when you fill the circuit and for eliminating bubble in the flow. It’s very compact and transparent so you can se water flowing. It has 4 1/4’’ port one used for the inlet, one for the outlet , one for temperature sensor and the top one for refilling.
have also added a small water temperature monitor with a sensor inside the reservoir. It is not connected to the control board that has it’s own sensor but is just to monitor the temp without connecting to the PC via USB. The small circuit in front of the thermometer is a DC-DC step down converter in order to have 5V supply form 12V main power supply.
the video below show you details of the rig (as soon I have time I try to insert some label in English)
As far as performance concern it seem to work fine.. the temperature was dropped from 21C to 19.5C (my set point) in less than an hour...than the temperature was stable and the power applied to the pletier cells at the minimum (40%).
One point that I have to verify is that the controller software doesn't allow me to set minimum power=0 the lower value accepted is 40%...this could be an issue if the room temperature is not so hot the 40%of power continuously applied even if you reach the set point could lead temperature too low..
I have to verify this point when fermentation starts to produce heat..menwhile I try to contact the manufacturer in order to see if there is any chance to set lower limit =0
The system generally speaking is very compact, easy to manage, and …hi tech !
I will let you know further progress
Stay tuned
Davide
I have moved the discussion in a specific thread form the thread dedicated to fermentation chamber peltier cooled since the two project, a part from cooling technology, have different solutions and development.
The idea is to use an immersion water chiller inside the conical fermenter and recirculate cold water. The cooling is provided by a peltier air-water heat exchanger using a technology for PC watercooling (overclocking CPU)
I have sourced a surplus COOLIT freezone…that was made by a Canadian company. I got it from a surplus ebay auction
The basic principle is very simple the cool water is recirculated inside the conical fermenter via a stainless steal coil and is cooled by the peltier cells.
The unit can be controlled by software PC via USB but it can works also stand alone…it is possible also to log temperature and power during the whole time !
The stainless steel coil has a diameter of 20cm and an height of 30cm. The pipe is 8mm OD , 7mm ID. The terminal are 90degree bended in order to exit the side wall of the fermenter so all the coupling and fittings are external (safer !). Two compression fittings keeps the coil in the canter of the fermenter
In order to avoid dispersion I have insulated the fermenter (both the side wall and the cone) using a foil of polistirolo and some neoprene.
Than after some trial I have substituted the original small 12V pump with a bigger one capable of 500l/h. The pump is a Thermaltake P500 pump and the fittings again comes from the PC modding / watercooling thecnology. It’s very low noise with ceramic bearings for long term usage. It’s compatible with high flow systems utilizing ID 6.4mm(1/4”) and 9.5mm(3/8”) tubing.
Last addition is a water reservoir..it’s very usefull when you fill the circuit and for eliminating bubble in the flow. It’s very compact and transparent so you can se water flowing. It has 4 1/4’’ port one used for the inlet, one for the outlet , one for temperature sensor and the top one for refilling.
have also added a small water temperature monitor with a sensor inside the reservoir. It is not connected to the control board that has it’s own sensor but is just to monitor the temp without connecting to the PC via USB. The small circuit in front of the thermometer is a DC-DC step down converter in order to have 5V supply form 12V main power supply.
the video below show you details of the rig (as soon I have time I try to insert some label in English)
As far as performance concern it seem to work fine.. the temperature was dropped from 21C to 19.5C (my set point) in less than an hour...than the temperature was stable and the power applied to the pletier cells at the minimum (40%).
One point that I have to verify is that the controller software doesn't allow me to set minimum power=0 the lower value accepted is 40%...this could be an issue if the room temperature is not so hot the 40%of power continuously applied even if you reach the set point could lead temperature too low..
I have to verify this point when fermentation starts to produce heat..menwhile I try to contact the manufacturer in order to see if there is any chance to set lower limit =0
The system generally speaking is very compact, easy to manage, and …hi tech !
I will let you know further progress
Stay tuned
Davide
