Boil off rate

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bluenose
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Boil off rate

Post by bluenose » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:00 am

I'm reconfiguring my setup so I decided to finally try to calculate my boil off rate.

Does ~10L/hr sound right?
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by Hobbitfu » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:02 am

Wow! 10L per hour?! That's at least double what I experience.

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Re: Boil off rate

Post by CorneliusAlphonse » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:09 am

5500W * 1 hr = 19800 kJ

Enthalpy of vaporization of water = 2257 kJ kg−1

19800/2257 = 8.77 kg = 8.77 L

My chemistry/thermodynamics are pretty rusty, but it seems like the maximum from a physics standpoint is 8.77 litres. And that doesn't account for any other sources of heat loss (i.e. wasted heat out the sides and bottom of your pot). I'd guess something like 7-8 L/hr would be the more reasonable range of possibility.
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by bluenose » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:17 am

We'll, I was standing next to it for most of the time... Maybe my hotness helped accelerate it.

More experimenting required it seems
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by jacinthebox » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:29 am

my 20gal pot and darkstar burner boils off 10L an hour.
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by RubberToe » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:33 am

You need to take into account the surface area I think. Wider pot will boil off more then a slim one IIRC.
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by LeafMan66_67 » Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:19 pm

My 19G pot with Blichman burner evaporates 6.67L per hour ...
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by GAM » Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:31 pm

Measure it. I know we should be able to calculate but experience is better IMHO.

S

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Re: Boil off rate

Post by bluenose » Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:13 pm

GAM wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:31 pm
Measure it. I know we should be able to calculate but experience is better IMHO.

S
Werd Dawg... I did, but I noticed that 10 litres from my garden flow meter rose to the 14 litre line on my bucket. So I called it 14 units and converted it back at a rate of 14 units being = 10 liters

All that to say I need to remeasure
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by Broob » Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:26 pm

Can't remember how much water changes its volume with temperature but the most accurate way to measure the evaporation rate should be by weight. Weigh the pot and water. Boil and then re-measure.
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by bluenose » Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:44 pm

Broob wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:26 pm
Can't remember how much water changes its volume with temperature but the most accurate way to measure the evaporation rate should be by weight. Weigh the pot and water. Boil and then re-measure.
I allowed it to cool back to room temperature
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by jacinthebox » Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:33 pm

Broob wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:26 pm
Can't remember how much water changes its volume with temperature but the most accurate way to measure the evaporation rate should be by weight. Weigh the pot and water. Boil and then re-measure.
I believe it expands by 4%
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Re: Boil off rate

Post by Bizlair » Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:53 pm

bluenose wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:44 pm
Broob wrote:
Tue Apr 11, 2017 2:26 pm
Can't remember how much water changes its volume with temperature but the most accurate way to measure the evaporation rate should be by weight. Weigh the pot and water. Boil and then re-measure.
I allowed it to cool back to room temperature
Did you chill it quickly, or just let it rest? There would be more evaporation if it sat for hours to reach room temp vs using an immersion/counter-flow chiller. I assume you'll be using a chiller with a real batch.

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Re: Boil off rate

Post by CorneliusAlphonse » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:32 am

weighing your pot + water is definitely the most accurate way to measure it. it would give you a sanity check on the output from your flow meter too. :)
planning: beer for my cousin's wedding
Fermenting: black ipa
Conditioning:
Kegged: barrel barleywine from 2014 - i think i still have this somewhere

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