I homebrew beer which generally requires a boil of 60 to 120 minutes. It is difficult because of the heat to brew in the Summer. Someone has proposed using a food-grade plastic pail with a water heater coil so that with proper ventilation, beer may ne made indoors during the Summer. The issue is the rigidity of the plastic pail at the boiling point.
Where would I find a table or a formula to determine rigidity by type of food-grade plastic (HDPE, MDPE. etc.) based on its thickness at various temperatures?
I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you concerned because boiling in the summer will heat up the house too much? How would the heating coil help, as you would still have 5 gallons (?) of boiling wort for an hour or two.
Can't you just boil it outdoors during the summer? A turkey deep fryer kit would have just what you need. Just be sure to let it cool with a cover on it so as to prevent contamination from airborne yeasts (although it would be a neat experiment to try sometime just to see what you get - maybe your own version of a lambric?).
If you go with HDPE, you will be replacing the buckets regularly as PE doesn't hold up well with boiling water. Heck, even dishwashers are nasty on PE. Polypropylene would be a much better choice. (By the way, the higher the density of the PE, the better the mechanical properties. Higher density arises from higher levels of crystallinity.)
I'm sure that I could find the formulas you requested, but keep in mind that it would be a rather involved calculation since a) the rigidity of the PE is a function of temperature, b) the applied stress to the walls is a function of the depth of the wort and its density, and c) the applied stress to the bottom of the bucket is a function of the bucket diameter, the depth of the wort and its density.
John, a former zymurgist Aspen Research, -
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"Turning Questions into Answers"
Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.
I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you concerned because boiling in the summer will heat up the house too much? How would the heating coil help, as you would still have 5 gallons (?) of boiling wort for an hour or two.
Can't you just boil it outdoors during the summer? A turkey deep fryer kit would have just what you need. Just be sure to let it cool with a cover on it so as to prevent contamination from airborne yeasts (although it would be a neat experiment to try sometime just to see what you get - maybe your own version of a lambric?).
If you go with HDPE, you will be replacing the buckets regularly as PE doesn't hold up well with boiling water. Heck, even dishwashers are nasty on PE. Polypropylene would be a much better choice. (By the way, the higher the density of the PE, the better the mechanical properties. Higher density arises from higher levels of crystallinity.)
I'm sure that I could find the formulas you requested, but keep in mind that it would be a rather involved calculation since a) the rigidity of the PE is a function of temperature, b) the applied stress to the walls is a function of the depth of the wort and its density, and c) the applied stress to the bottom of the bucket is a function of the bucket diameter, the depth of the wort and its density.
John, a former zymurgist Aspen Research, -
formatting link
"Turning Questions into Answers"
Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.
Hi, Rolf. PET would have to be CPET. PET Tg, as I recall is about 75 deg. C and uncrystallized will not stand up to boiling water. PEN Tg is about 125 deg. C but might not be available. Frank
I am concerned that on days over 90F, it is too hot for me personally to bre outside. Brewing inside is not possible because the electric stove in my basement cannot boil five gallons of anything.
I do that in the fall (Oct-Dec) and in the spring (Mar-May).
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