Block Diagram Review Help

[GParkins]

Hello,

I have started planning an advanced homebrew/pilot brewery. I'm looking to up my process control game by a bunch, and I've given some hard looks to both PID and Arduino/R-Pi controlled systems. Still not sure how much automation I want to use.

I've visually debugged the attached block diagram as best I can, but extra eyes always help. The 3-way valves could be either manual swing arm, or if I wanted more automation, electrically controlled. My target batch size is in the 15-20 gallon range.

Also...Has anyone had any experience renting out their brewery? With a layout like this, I'm wondering if the local pros would be willing to pay for recipe development time.

Thanks in advance for your input/advice.

 

[RTL]

Safe to assume your glycol setup has an integrated pump? Will beer never go from brite tank to keg fill? Seems like a pump or pressure transfer system would need to be involved. Labeling source and drain for each valve would help tremendously for me personally. Is each fermentor for 5G for experimenting with different yeasts? Or will each receive a full batch?

 

[GParkins]

Yes, the glycol chiller I'm looking at has its own pump. What I don't know is if the flow rate/BTU-eating capability is enough to use with the counterflow chiller. Nice catch on the brite tank-keg fill gap, but I'm pretty sure I can both serve and fill kegs directly from the brite tank. I'm not real clear on the "5G" reference in your response, but I was thinking of a full batch in each fermentor. I do like your idea of dividing the batch and experimenting with different yeasts.

All of the valves in the diagram are 3-way valves, which, if electrically actuated and automated, means I will need a lot of control outputs. I plan to use the base diagram to lay out control and monitoring. For example, I can count an easy 10-15 temperature monitoring points. I'll do a completely different drawing when it comes to an electrical schematic. This is more of a 1-line, to get the logic straight in my head.

 

[RTL]

Sorry "5G" is how I shorthand 5 gallons in my notes. When I did mine I went through and colored the lines in for how the valves pumps and hoses would be configured for each stage of the brew. This allows you to determine if you have any overlaps. For instance I recirculate my HLT water during the mash because my elements are a little closer to my HERMS coil than I would like. Looks like you will be electric, so you might want to think about clearance from coil to heater, and what temperature stratification affects to expect. Right now it appears you can't recirculate the HLT while mashing. Not that it makes it wrong, just saying make an image for each step, ie. strike heating, mashing, sparging, chilling etc. where the lines that will have wort are one color and the lines that will have water are another. Them make diagrams for flushing and cleaning. Next step for me would be to determine how you will get all of the cleaner and sanitizer out of the system at the end of a brew day.

How many BTUs are the heating/cooling units in the glycol system? How many gallons of wort do you expect to typically have in each fermentor?

My reference to splitting batches is because I do no-chill of 20+ gallon batches which means I have 4 - 5 cubes of wort that I can split with different yeasts/hops etc.

If you do end up making those diagrams you should post them, I wouldn't mind geeking out over them a bit. Hope this has helped at least a little.

 

[GParkins]

The equipment I'm looking at is scaled for 15-gallon batches. Your suggestion about dividing a full batch of the same wort into multiple fermenters is intriguing, at least from a recipe development perspective.

Once I have the basic drawing nailed down as best I can, I intend to copy it off and use it as a template for a red-lined version for each configuration I think I would use (Filling HLT, Mash recirc., xfer to boil kettle, etc)