Aluminum wort chiller?

[Noontime]

Can I use aluminum tubing to make a wort chiller? I just got 50' of 1/2" tubing for free and thought about making one. Any chemical interactions or other issues with this material coming into contact with wort?

Thanks.

 

[WCrane]

Guys use Aluminum pots, what's the difference?.

It was free - go for it, or send it to me I'll gladly use it!!
Cheers

 

[Bensiff]

You're GTG...aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat as well.

 

[HossTheGreat]

Not as efficient as copper, but what the hell...it was free. Go for it!

 

[kenc_zymurgy]

Not as efficient as copper, but what the hell...it was free. Go for it!

Not a problem. The conductivity of the metal is far from the limiting factor in an immersion chiller.

Thermal conductivity of:

Copper: 400
Aluminum: 250

Seems like a big difference, but of almost no practical consequence because the limiting factor is surface area and temp delta between the water and the wort.

Some people are using stainless steel wort chillers and say they work just fine compared to copper - so get ready for this:


Thermal conductivity of:

Stainless Steel: 16 !!!!

If they don't see a difference between 16 and 400, I sure wouldn't worry about going from 400 to 250. Unlax, you'll be fine.

OK, thickness of the material changes the picture, with most SS tubing being thinner, and offsetting the thermal conductivity factor somewhat - but still not a biggie.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html

-kenc