Boiling indoors

[west1m]

I too had had problems with moisture. I recently took over a room in the basement for brewing. I tiled the floor, painted, added a sink and build some counters.
My first attempt at brewing down there was wet one . The one small window even with a fan in front did not stop the moisture from running down the walls or the large AC duct that is in the room, it pretty much was raining in there.
So I tried the way out the complicated method. I built a condensing heat exchanger. Made from 4" PVC pipe (see the top pic where I flattened some pipe and glued together for thick pieces) added the 1/2" tubes and sealed the ends with mold making rubber. An old fan found in the garage pulls the steam and some cooling air from the kettle through exchanger. (the end TEE is open on top)
I tried it out yesterday with My 220V anvil 10.5 kettle. I boiled two gallons for one hour. I recovered about 3 quarts of water. I was expecting a full gallon but when I measured the water left in the kettle I found exactly one gallon left. I used sink water to cool, I am on a well and used quite a bit of cooling water during that hour. I need to find a smart engineering type to tell me how much ice it would take to condense one gallon of water and stay cool then I could use a circulating pump and a mash tun with ice and save a bunch of water.

 

[56 Firedome]

Humm, well I'm no smart engineering type but I am an old hot rodder. If it doesn't go fast enough, put in a bigger motor.
Fill the Mash Tun with ice & water & circulate that. If that doesn't condense enough steam, put in more ice.

 

[J A]

Seems like a pretty ambitious solution for a relatively simple problem. It's not a huge boil pot. Is there a reason you can't move more air? Couldn't you just get a stronger fan and make sure you have a source of sufficient make-up air? A simple vent hood with 4" pipe leading out the window with with an in-line fan should pull plenty to keep it moving in the right direction.
If you're trying to keep the room AC'd while you're boiling, you're going to fight it to a draw at best.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

West, I love your dedication. That is some what complicated, but very cool. As Firedome suggested, the trial and error method works well for me. Try 10 pounds of ice and go from there.

I have seen pro setups that simply sprayed a mist on the downward side of a vent tube, that way the water mist comes in direct contact with the vent steam. Spike makes something similar, but I thought it could be improved upon by using a high pressure mist, lowering the amount of water needed to condense the steam.

Here’s Spike’s version.

https://spikebrewing.com/collections/npt-kettle-accessories/products/steam-condenser-lid

 

[thunderwagn]

Yeah, I think it's pretty creative and badass. I don't think you need to get to scientific with the cooling water. As long as it's chilled and cooler than your 'condenser coil' you should be good. I'm impressed really.

 

[west1m]

Seems like a pretty ambitious solution for a relatively simple problem. It's not a huge boil pot. Is there a reason you can't move more air? Couldn't you just get a stronger fan and make sure you have a source of sufficient make-up air? A simple vent hood with 4" pipe leading out the window with with an in-line fan should pull plenty to keep it moving in the right direction.
If you're trying to keep the room AC'd while you're boiling, you're going to fight it to a draw at best.

Trust me the vent hood was an option but there really is no room , it would be a head banger and another hole through the siding (not that would stop me) Just too much in the way of things.. This really worked well in the test run, I will probably mount it on the wall above the sink. I plan to put it too work this week on an American Amber Ale , my new found favorite...

 

[west1m]

Humm, well I'm no smart engineering type but I am an old hot rodder. If it doesn't go fast enough, put in a bigger motor.
Fill the Mash Tun with ice & water & circulate that. If that doesn't condense enough steam, put in more ice.

no replacement for displacement!

 

[James_sweden]

*cough* Turbo. Bonus point for Fast & Furious reference though!

On the subject of the condenser, could you use air in to coll and also throw more air out of your window? Some sort of cold air in pipe that expands over the cooling tubes and then draws the steam out of the same window? Or just use a bigger fan to drag steam out of the window?

 

[west1m]

The window is what started the problem, it on the wrong side of the room from water and power.

 

[J A]

But you're directing all your steam through your apparatus...couldn't you just lengthen your pipe, lose the condenser and direct it out the window?