Counter-flow chiller

Back in July 2006 I built a counter-flow chiller using 1/2" hosepipe and 8m of 8mm copper pipe giving an area of ~0.2m2. Gravity feed wort, and a washing machine pump to pull the cooled wort into the barrels. This sat under the stand which held a modified 115L direct copper cylinder. It worked well from what I remember and I think it used less water compared to the immersion chiller.  I didn't really have much choice as I was trying to cool 85L of wart. I sold the lot in 2009. No notes, just a photo below.

I'd been thinking about a plate chiller as Vivor has a 40 plate at ~53€. More reading suggests they are a pain to clean well and block fairly readily. About 1m2 area.

Roll on 18 years to April 2024 and I'm rummaging in the garage. I see 7.6m of 22mm polyplumb pipe I'd removed from the house last year and 2 x 4m coils of 12.7mm OD ac pipe I'd been given. A few hours later my brain says counter-flow chiller. Approx 0.32m2

Twisted approx 14m of 1.5mm copper wire (od ~1mm) onto the pipe and soldered every 2m to create turbulent flow. Must break up laminar flow for best cooling. Didn't pass through the polypipe insert at the copper joint (flared out pipe). Cut and re-soldered wire. Pipe inserts restrict CW flow. Cant increase opening. Used plenty of cable lubricant. Lead free solder and new flux for the join. The rest was lead solder which is lower temperature and better flow for non-standard work. Wet rags kept the heat off the plastic. 

The wort outlet at the bottom is a 22mm right angle compression to 3/4" BSP with a 12.7mm hole drilled to allow the wort pipe to pass through, then soldered. After being coiled up at a diameter of 502mm (to make it fit with both inlet and outlet at the right place) it largely self held, but it's pinned into a frame. Then a 22x22x15 compression was put on the other end (the wort inlet). It would have been a equal T if I'd had one that also had a 3/4" thread. A 22x15 reducer was soldered into place to terminate wort pipe. A old piece of 1/2" copper provided the reduction from 15mm to 13mm. 1/2 to 3/4" fitting gave a water connector. The wort inlet slipped nicely onto some silicon tube that goes to the boiler. The wort inlet had another piece of 15mm reducer and a 1/2" BSP female for the connection to the pump.

3/4 BSP fittings are for the cooling water. All tested to 2.5 bar. The polypipe has a min radius of 8x22mm = 176mm. Settled for 250mm as it is tricky stuff to handle. The copper was soft annealed and was already in a 400mm diameter coil. The polypipe is good for occasional 100C.

Pressure test of the finished coil

Warming polypipe in the sun

Joint at 4m

wrap of copper wire ~100mm

If I do this again I'll probably get 20mm PER which is also rated to 100C. The fittings are either crimp or slide and I'd look for compression onto the copper.

Back to 2006

First attempt at the counter-flow chiller

Washing machine valve put in right at the bottom. CW in front right, meaning the hot water out is the hose pipe just visible on the right. Crystal/braided hose for the wort in. The copper hook is the wort out to hang on the barrel. The tank is about 47cm diameter, putting the chiller at about 30cm. ID of hosepipe is 12.7mm, so a 10mm copper pipe sounds too big. Assuming 8m of 8mm pipe this gives an area of 0.2m2. A 10mm pipe would give 0.25m2.

Research. Some notes on NAS

NB If using plastic/rubber outer be careful not to block cooling outlet / too high pressure else could rupture.

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=327899 some theory

https://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/homebrewing/wort_chiller/ tuto

Other chillers

https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005002900523594.html Rubber

https://www.kegland.com.au/products/coolossus-passivated-stainless-steel-counter-flow-chiller-heat-exchanger

https://brouwland.com/fr/refroidissement/20087-refroidisseur-a-contre-courant-brew-monk-counterflow-chiller.html

cools 20L to 20C in 5 mins. 9.5m 10mm SS 

From a review : wort pipe 10mm od (0.3m2 area) , water pipe 14 id

Pond (again)

 On the 4th May 2013, we built a pond using a 4x4m underlay and liner. The pics are here

G:\photos\Garden\Pond\Construction

We'd been suspicious that it was leaking for a few years and finally bit the bullet and changed the liner. About 100 common newts, 7 marbled newts and 3 midwife tadpoles were temporarily re-homed along with a lot of other wildlife. The old liner did have a hole - looks like a mouse. The old liner was a woven affair with a plastic coating. The UV weakens it and it can then tear if pulled.

However, we also had a natural spring and this, along with heavy rain was pushing the liner out. 50mm of hardcore at the bottom got rid of the soggy clay. A 8cm drainage pipe was dug from the bottom to let any water out. EDPM 1mm liner and 300g/m2 underlay.

Carried about 600L of rain water up, plus say 300L from the temporary pond got the level approaching the top. Temporary pond followed the contour of the land and was a new 3mx3m tarp. Boards and concrete blocks (~10)

https://boutique.aquatiss.net/bache-bassin/200002-bache-epdm-bassin-feutre-protection-300gr-etancheite-bassin-baignade-naturelle.html#/200002_dimensions_epdm_bassin_1_mm-4_57_m_par_5_00_m

EPDM bassin 1 mm + feutre de protection PECT bassin 300gr/m² (certifié CE)

Largeurs de l'EPDM : 3,05m  / 4.57m / 6,10m / 7,62m 

Largeur du feutre géotextile : 3 ou 6 m. Le feutre est découpé dans la longueur.

LA BACHE EPDM BASSIN

L'étanchéité pour bassin en bâche EPDM (éthylène-propylènediène-terpolymère) est un élastomère (caoutchouc synthétique obtenu par polymérisation) qui offre une très grande élasticité (400%), même à basse température.

Utilisations 

La membrane EPDM est utilisée comme système d'étanchéité dans la réalisation d'un bassin de jardin ou d'une baignade naturelle. Elle est posée sur un feutre de protection 300gr/m² pour la protéger des éléments du sol pouvant l'abimer.

Avantages

Grande élasticité

S'adapte à toutes les formes de bassin

+ économique qu'une coque préfabriqué

Durée de vie : 50 ans

Résistance anti UV / rayonnement / ozone / oxydation

Installation : toutes saisons.

Installation

On peut envisager une installation en plein hiver, elle reste tout à fait malléable et garde ses propriétés mécaniques jusqu’à -45°c.

Sa longévité est garantie pendant 20 ans.

Ce produit est recyclable, il ne dégage pas de produit toxique à l’incinération et reste inerte dans l’eau, le sol, et à l’air. Le collage s’effectue par vulcanisation à froid.

Découvrez toute notre gamme d'accessoire pour l'assemblage et le collage de votre membrane EPDM.

  

GEOTEXTILE DE PROTECTION 300gr

Géotextile non tissé en polyester coloré, aiguilleté et calandré. Produit sans utilisation de liants chimiques.

Feutre de protection certifié CE PECT300   300 gr/m² en différentes largeurs.

Les géotextiles de protection sont utilisés pour protéger principalement les systèmes d’étanchéité tel que les géomembranes, bâches de bassin, liners de piscine, complexes drainant, et tous autres matériaux ne pouvant pas supporter les agressions plus ou moins prononcées des sols, des bétons ou tous types de matériaux poinçonnant. 

Caractéristiques 

Marquage CE, 

Couleur : grise, 

Fibres polypropylènes insensibles et résistants aux agents cryptogamiques et fongiques.

Résistance à la traction : 15 kN/m

Résistance au poinçonnement dynamique (mm) 15 mm

Résistance au poinçonnement statique pyramidal (N) 200 N

Résistance au poinçonnement statique CBR (kN) 2,20 kN

Vous pouvez également commander ce géotextile seul dans notre rubrique "Feutre de protection bassin". 

Bamboo

Kind of regretting planting bambou phyllostachys bissetii (just found the label) in March 2010. It was such a sweet little plant and we're sure it said it wouldn't spread much. It's now about 10m x 4m. It is classed as a running type as opposed to clumping. Some sites describe it as a vigorous runner, but that doesn't seem to be the case for us on clay in southern France.

Every year we remove new shoots and it's usually several hundred. 2023 gave ~560. 1 popped up in the middle of the drive, so I felt it was time to investigate. A trench revealed 8 rhizomes under the concrete drive.

There is no commercial product to kill rhizomes (possibly stump killer) and glyphosate only works on leaves. We'll be chopping the rhizomes off and watching for new growth.

 Almost every year our neighbour has told us a story of bamboo appearing in his house from his neighbour on the other side. Luckily it's a long way from his house...

I've just dug a test trench and it looks like I'll 'only' need to trench down to 0.5m to install the barrier. The soil is almost normal there and from the 2010 pictures it is firmly clay.

20/3/24 Dug a trench about 13m along all around the bamboo. Had to cut out 3 large parts, one towards the ditch and 2 towards the large rock. I had originally decided to trench more towards the drive, but decided that the level changes would be too tricky to bend a barrier around. Bought a 1mm barrier from here https://barriere-anti-racine.com/sol-standard-1-mm/126-569-barriere-anti-racines-eco-1mm-speciale-bambous.html#/33-rouleau-050m_x_25m. Even at 1mm thick it could be fairly readily creased and pleated to keep a slight lean, and still go around corners. 69.49€ delivered.

Barrière anti racine ECO 1mm spéciale bambous

Référence : JAR_BA_50_10_25_R

Polyéthylène Haute Densité (PEHD), noir, 100% recyclable, densité 940 g/m², épaisseur 1 mm

Got 16m of barrier and had some spare. Angled slightly, and back filled just as a storm started.

Found the 10cm outlet pipe from the fosse at 45cm deep on the uphill side. The join is about 20cm to the right of the pipe. Didn't find the pipe at the other side.

31/3/24 removed 10 shoots outside the barrier ditch side. 3 good size ones inside.

4/4/24 removed 35 in last 2 days. A lot inside the barrier

5/4 54 removed. 2 out of reach.

14/4 Kind of got bored of picking shoots, so spent an hour or so over the last week digging out the remaining clumps.  I got lucky with a few into the ditch that were thin. I now have a very impressive pile of rhizomes drying in the sum before I knock off the soil and return it to the increasingly holy area around the bamboo. Today I dug some more out that sprouted including a stealth one that had mad it half way to the road.

23/4 found another 2 stragglers today. They grew 15cm overnight. Not particularly long and had been cut off from the mother originally. New growth inside seems vigorous and has in some places exceeded the existing height of approx 1,5m. 1.5m at the rear, ~2m at the front was chosen last year as easier to maintain and get the bramble out.

Bamboo was beyond the 3 rocks

Ditch to the left. This was all bamboo.
Plenty of new growth

Plenty of new growth

Growth to the left was the rock and down the slope on the right

Research sites

https://bambouenfrance.fr/racines-bambou/ table showing root depth (to ~40cm but phyllostachys bissetii  not mentioned)

https://lewisbamboo.com/pages/controlling-bamboo trench to 45cm generic bamboo

https://www.gardenersguild.com/5-things-to-know-about-the-bamboo-plant

tough horizontal bit is rhizome. Thin bits are roots.

Like the roots of other non-rhizomatous plants, these are the soft, white, fibrous tendrils that creep down into the dirt. In bamboo, the roots tend to emerge from the nodes of the rhizomes. While the rhizomes spread out and generate the growths that will become new shoots and culms, the delicate roots mainly grow downward and are responsible for drawing water and precious nutrients out of the soil.

https://bambubatu.com/bamboo-anatomy-9-parts-of-the-bamboo-plant/

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/1735570/phyllostachys-bissetii-clumping-or-runner

'Most definitely, positively, NOT a clumping species. '

no need to remove rhizomes - they die.

Hedge

 Cut the neighbour's hedge near the log pile and the bamboo