I’m currently setting up a VTS-50 (Vortex Trichome Separator) originally made by Delta Separations. I reached out to the manufacturer for chiller specs, but since they were acquired (by Prospiant and now Fluxwerx), but I was told they have little knowledge of solventless extraction and couldn’t help me size the chiller.
I need to size a glycol chiller to jacket the vessel and maintain my ice water at optimal washing temps (around 1-2°C / 34-35°F) while the bottom-driven agitator is running to counter the friction heat.
According to the manual I have, here are the jacket specs:
Jacket connection: 1/2" NPT Female
Jacket pressure limits: -29" Hg to ATM (Atmospheric)
Jacket temperature limits: 20°F to 100°F
Since the jacket pressure limit is rated only up to ATM (0 PSIG) and has 1/2" ports, I’m concerned about over-pressurizing the jacket with a standard chiller pump.
For anyone who has run a VTS-50 (or a similar 50-gallon bottom-driven washer):
What Cooling Capacity (BTU/hr or kW) do you recommend to keep up with the agitation heat?
How did you handle the flow rate and pressure constraints (0 PSIG limit on the jacket)? Did you need a specific low-pressure pump or bypass loop?
Any specific brand or model recommendations that plug-and-play nicely with this unit?
Any help or insight from someone who has run this specific unit would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
It feels like a massive design paradox: the manual explicitly suggests circulating coolant to maintain process temperature, yet it sets a pressure limit at ATM (0 PSIG). This basically outlaws any standard pressurized chiller pump.
I suspect this “ATM” limit might be a strategic move by the manufacturer to avoid expensive ASME/CRN pressure vessel certifications, effectively pushing the responsibility of pressure management onto the end-user.
Yeah I would agree that’s possible, but I also think an argument could be made that a vacuum insulation sleeve might be more operationally cost effective than an active chiller running. As it seems in both concepts the ice is doing most of the work.
I think based off the specs I would see how it runs as a vac sleeve, and then if your not happy with it figure out the chiller setup.
@710Loup glad you brought this to the community! I’m interested in learning more about this specific application as well.
Since this system doesn’t have a broad peer-reviewed data set, we rely strictly on the engineering specs in the manual. Looking at the drawings, the jacket is joined with 1/8" welds. While a weld of that size is standard for assembly of a flat-walled vessel like this, the ‘pillowing’ or bulging threshold can be quite low, often in the 2-5 psi range for continuous operation.
As the OEM, I recommend following the pressure limits listed in the manual to ensure the integrity of the vessel…