LuckyWinner
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Registered: 27-8-2018
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DIY Recirculating Chiller with Compressor?
the plan is to build a Recirculating Chiller for a 500ml jacketed reactor.
there are plently of DIY glycol chiller threads but they always
just bend a window AC unit into a tub.
Im talking about building an AC from scratch.
window AC units are way to big for my purpose.
this video shows start to finish construction of a circulating mini freezer:
Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Refrigerated Cooling Suit!
https://youtu.be/z_Ti4GP0ntE?t=1288
some indian doing the same
https://youtu.be/yuc46yXU1bA?t=140
looks very easy.
I know how to solder properly and getting that HVAC equipment and some R134a
is easy.
probably wont get that Aspen compressor, a regular fridge compressor should be good enough.
you could just use an ice bath but thats not the point of this thread.
I prefer a machine with a PID temperature controller .
anyone did this?
weld compressor to pipes as shown in video, pick some radiators, fill with R134a...
then connect a control board to your compressor and some temperature probes,
adjust temperature to exactly what you want for your reaction.
no peltier elements, they are way to inefficient.
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RogueRose
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Registered: 16-6-2014
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Well it depends on what temp you desire. Also, it seems you are worried about size or are you just trying to minimize size if you are building
something yourself - but open to something larger if there are less expensive alternatives.
The first thing I'll say is that you need to make sure you get the right compressor for the refrigerant. Some of them don't have the correct seals or
oil for various refrigerants and don't assume that all of them are R134a as there are a lot of others still out there such as R12, R22, R410a and some
others (especially if dealing with commercial).
The main thing I would suggest if you are building something yourself would be multi-stage! First would be to run the coolant through a radiator with
some good fans running on it, especially if the radiator is smaller. If you can run this outside while it's cold out, all the better! I'm making a
window baffle that has an input/output port for the fluid to pass the liquid outside to the radiator. This is great for cooling the fluid in the
winter or keeping hot air outside in the summer.
The next step could be the use of an icebath in a cooler or a refrigerator/freezer (using a heat exchanger/radiator in the bath). I put salty water
in bottles in my freezers and swap them out as they get to -10 to -5 F and will do a good job dropping the temps a lot more. I was considering using
a rubbermade tub in a chest freezer filled with salt water & using a baffle to allow the top to close.
Then you have the last stage, which if you've already extracted the heat down to this point, your compressor will need to be about 1/4-1/2 the size or
even less. Depending on what you are heating and how hot you need it, the compressor may produce plenty of heat to heat your reactions, especially if
you are doing it under vacuum.
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LuckyWinner
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Posts: 163
Registered: 27-8-2018
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I would get a new compressor labeled to be used for R134a.
the 500ml jacketed reactor probably wont overload a regular fridge/ac compressor.
you prefer using salted water, what about using some type of oil, usually
they use propylene glycol for homebrewing.
I want to find the best suited liquid/oil which can be used for cooling and heating
cause I will run the same line to the reactor.
have you tried this yourself, building your own chiller from scratch?
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