Lesson 4 - Wort Cooling and Oxygenation Technology
This lesson will firstly compare the design and operation of different wort cooling systems, and will give you enough information to help you describe why you would choose one wort cooling system over another. It will then move on to wort oxygenation systems, giving you enough information to help you make the same decision regarding this type of system.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers
As an alternative to using a plate heat exchanger, we could use a shell and tube heat exchanger, as shown below. The wort is passed along both the inside of the tubes and the cooling water inside the shell surrounding the tubes.
Shell and tube heat exchangers are very uncommon in wort cooling. They are difficult to inspect, maintain and repair – especially when compared to plate heat exchangers.
There can be one to three cooling zones in shell and tube heat exchangers although almost all that are used for wort cooling will only have one. Where three cooling zones may be used there could be ambient water, followed by chilled water, followed by a refrigerant. This would achieve a greater heat exchange and lower wort discharge temperatures, progressively, over the length of the exchanger.
Figure: A shell and tube heat exchanger