Lesson 5 - Wort Cooling and Oxygenation Technology and Process Control SAQ
This lesson provides the opportunity for you to test yourself on the material covered in Lesson 4 (Wort Cooling and Oxygenation Technology and Process Control) and determine the level to which you have attained the expected outcomes.
Suggested Response - Q2
**You have been asked to improve your local brewery’s wort cooling system, which is currently a coolship. What would you replace it with? Explain your reasoning.
Response:
The major pitfall of using a coolship is that they are very large and shallow vessels, which take up lots of floor space (large footprint). They are used to sediment the trub, due to their shallow depth. They are also used to rapidly cool the wort, by using their very large surface area. The vessels are open, which also exposes them to microbiological contamination and oxygen. The oxidation of the wort is another factor which is generally avoided across most breweries.
There are three key ways in which modern wort cooling systems have improved the coolship design. They do the following:
- Use separate refrigeration systems to achieve a very efficient cooling.
- Use closed systems, which are hygienic and highly cleanable, supporting cleaning in place (CIP).
- Achieve very rapid cooling, maintaining productive cycle times.
Plate heat exchangers are the most common and most preferred method for cooling wort. This is mainly due to their improved:
- Efficiency (highly conductive, very thin, profiled stainless steel plates).
- Compact size and versatility (small gap between plates, easily extendable).
- Inspectability (relatively quick to disassemble).
- Ease of maintenance (no moving parts).
- Low cost of maintenance and replacement parts (gaskets and plates).
- Cleanability using reverse flow (directional changes also possible).