A still needs enough cooling to condense the vapor it produces. Cooling describes the heat removal the process requires; a chiller is one possible way to supply it. Choose the cooling arrangement from the equipment’s requirements, the site conditions and the jobs that run at the same time.
Start with the supply and the temperature
Find out what coolant the equipment requires, including inlet temperature, flow, pressure and water quality. Then establish what your site can provide during the warmest conditions in which you expect to operate.
A recirculating system still has to reject heat somewhere. A storage tank can absorb heat for a time, but its temperature rises as the run continues. A mains-water supply, cooling tower, dry cooler or refrigeration chiller has different operating conditions and infrastructure requirements. The appropriate arrangement depends on the site and process.
Keep cooling power and energy separate
Cooling capacity is a rate of heat removal, expressed in kilowatts (kW). Energy over a period is expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh). For an illustrative constant 15 kW heat load over eight hours, the total is 120 kWh.
That example does not mean you need a “120 kWh chiller.” You need a system capable of handling the relevant heat-removal rate at the actual operating conditions, with an appropriate design margin. Its electricity consumption is a separate question from its cooling capacity.
Include jobs that overlap
List the still, mash cooling and fermentation duties separately, then place them on a production schedule. A single cooling system may serve more than one duty, but the simultaneous demand can be different from the average over a week.
- Which equipment needs cooling during distillation?
- Does a hot mash need cooling at the same time?
- What fermentation temperature control is required?
- How does seasonal air or water temperature affect performance?
- What happens during a supply interruption?
Use current requirements for the selected model
The original 2019 article contained equipment figures and option prices from that period. For a new installation, use the requirements for the current model and configuration. Provide those conditions to the cooling-system supplier so the proposed system is evaluated at your site’s temperatures and operating pattern.
Connect the utilities to the distillery layout and complete equipment workflow. For the control principle, continue with liquid management: direct collection control still relies on adequate condensation.
