I think I may be confused on some stuff.
Is this how it is setup, or am I off:
-A bulkhead is installed about halfway up the keg. A bent pickup tube is installed here so the wort can flow in and swirl the wort around
Yes.
-A pick up tube is somewhere. Ive seen some where people just take a brass tube with a hose and stick it in over the top of the IC. I attached a pic below. I assume this is where the wort is picked up from, then a pump takes it to the bent pick up tube I mentioned before. (or do I have these two items backwards)
The arms you see going over the top of the vessels in between the chiller ins & outs are most likely the whirlpool arms. They will have a drain valve at the very bottom of the vessel hooked up to a pump, back up to the arm coming over the top of the vessel returning the wort.
-A side pick up tube is needed near the bottom since the whirlpool centers the cold break/hops/remnants.
yes, otherwise you'd pick up all the matter you're trying to leave behind. another alternative is simply having no pickup tube at all, just a side drain.
Question:
- I understand the whirlpool method accomplishes two things. Localization of sludge and cooling of wort quicker. Whats the order? Do you whirlpool to chill it, then gravity drain? If you do this I assume the sludge collects in the bottom center and doesn't move....or when it stops whirlpooling, does it expand back out to cover the whole bottom again? If this is so, do you drain while whirlpooling?
the actual whirlpool action itself is only to localize the sludge into a cone at the bottom. it would depend on your chiller as to when & how you would chill. if you have an immersion chiller or convoluted counterflow chiller, you can whirlpool while chilling. if you have a plate chiller, you'd most likely chill after the whirlpool is complete.
with immersion chillers, keeping the wort moving around the coils helps chill it faster than just simply letting the thing sit there in the wort without anyhting moving. during the whirlpool, the wort is constantly moving around the coils maximizing the efficiency of the heat exchange. with a convoluted chiller, it'd be: wort out -> pump -> chiller -> whirlpool in
if you have a plate chiller, then you'd want to whirlpool, let it settle, then drain it through the chiller and directly into your fermentor. that is assuming you have no way to filter the wort between the drain & your chiller..
in any case, you want to let the whirlpool settle for 15-20 minutes before draining. you would whirlpool until you hit your target temp, stop the flow to your whirlpool arm, let it sit, then drain. the cone it creates will not spread out as long as you do not disturb it after it has settled.
if you use an immersion chiller specifically, you'd probably want to remove it after you hit your target chill temp, then continue to whirlpool for another 5 minutes or so at a wide open flow rate, then cut the flow to your whirlpool and let it settle. leaving the chiller in will cause some turbulence in the whirlpool, plus it has the potential to be knocked around, disrupting your sludge cone.
