Multiple uses for heat exchangers in brewing

There are numerous uses for heat exchangers in breweries, from cooling, pasteurising and fermenting products, through to efficiently dealing with waste streams such as yeast slurry. Compared to other methods of heating, heat exchangers can be much more energy efficient, providing both environmental and economic benefits.

One of the first uses of heat exchangers in brewing is for rapidly cooling the wort following boiling (often from a temperature around 95°C to something around 12°C). Both plate and tubular heat exchangers can be used in this crucial process, with tubular heat exchangers often having a larger capacity and being able to chill the wort more quickly. The warmed water (or other cooling medium) which results can be up to 80°C in temperature and as a result has a number of other uses in the process, such as pre-heating the steeped wort before boiling, and this is one of the ways that heat exchangers can reduce energy use throughout the process (see below).