Water cooled Co2 generators

[Funkadelic]

I'm looking at the newest Sunlight Supply catalog and seeing "HydroGEN Pro Water Cooled CO2 Generator"

Says it needs a pressurized water line but can remove 86% of heat from burning propane.

Thoughts or experiences?

 

[ttystikk]

It's a repainted and repurposed tankless water heater, and they want too much for it. Dig around online for tankless water heaters and you'll get better pricing.

Yes, you want water that is pressurized enough to flow well enough to carry away the heat generated by the gas jets. If the water doesn't flow through the unit, the burners have to shut off to prevent overheating. The part needed to do this is called a flow/no flow sensor, which shuts off the gas if there isn't enough water flowing through the unit.

Use the resulting HOT WATER in any way you would normally use it, but it is a total waste to attempt to actively cool it. I've seen the hot water drained into a disused hot tub, and then pumped back to recirculate. As long as the heat dissipates, it will work fine.

 

[Funkadelic]

My property has a hot tub and a hot water tank. Could I plumb into those?

 

[Funkadelic]

Ty Stick. I kept digging til I found the Marey units mentioned in a thread. Totally unfamiliar with these.

Better to use than Co2 burners? I'm always battling the heat in my current project....

 

[ttystikk]

My property has a hot tub and a hot water tank. Could I plumb into those?

Of course! As long as the water is acceptable for use in those applications, it's just hot water. And, you've paid for it. Get all the use you can from it!

 

[ttystikk]

Ty Stick. I kept digging til I found the Marey units mentioned in a thread. Totally unfamiliar with these.

Better to use than Co2 burners? I'm always battling the heat in my current project....

This IS a CO² burner, it just uses water to cool the exhaust.

I have a million heat reducing strategies, tips, tricks and hacks up my sleeves- so many, it takes both of them!

What do ya got?

 

[Funkadelic]

Is this an optimal way to generate Co2 for rooms?

I'm looking at an 8 or 10k setup. Im Very intrigued but curious if this equipment is well used / received.

Hot water is good. I can almost envision a large radiator outside the building to cool the water. Or coil it through tubing in a large outdoor rain barrel. Not sure if that'd be enough.

I'm building reef tanks again soon and have a hot tub but that sounds like a LOT of hot water to process. Seems like guys with these Marey setups are happy with them though....

 

[Funkadelic]

A big outdoor ran barrel with hundreds of feet of garden tubing would cool the hot water quite a bit potentially. Since I don't live in AZ.

 

[ttystikk]

A big outdoor ran barrel with hundreds of feet of garden tubing would cool the hot water quite a bit potentially. Since I don't live in AZ.

Remember that you're cooling a process, an activity that continually generates excess heat. An inactive heat sink like a rain barrel will only cool until it warms up, too. What you need is a way to shed a continuous heat buildup, like a chiller, a stream or a lake.

 

[Funkadelic]

TRUE. But the 120f water, trying to cool water sitting in 40f ambient, means the hot water is being cooled by the winter itself. To a degree. Yes?

 

[Funkadelic]

An open rain barrel in winter night doesn't want to stay 120f, right?

 

[Funkadelic]

(thanks for helping me think this through)

 

[ttystikk]

What you need to think about is the RATE OF HEAT TRANSFER. In other words, yes- the heat will dissipate into the cold night. But how fast? A wooden or even plastic rain barrel would actually be a pretty good insulator, not desirable. Even in a metal barrel, how fast will the heat soak through and then transfer into the air? Not fast, because it's just one flat surface between the two.

If it's windy, that would help, by making the rain barrel come into contact with more air. Now, what if you add surface area to that breeze? In other words, a radiator with a fan sucking cold ambient air through it, right? Now THIS will be able to move enough heat, FAST ENOUGH, to allow for a big temperature drop in a continuous stream of hot water.

That's the worst case scenario. If you have a large stock tank, hot tub shell or some such open topped container- and importantly, if your CO² burner is only running occasionally and not constantly on- then the natural action of water evaporation and heat transfer in such a container could well suffice, especially over winter! The rate of cooling could be accelerated by doing tricks as simple as pouring the inlet water into it from a few feet high, creating a cooling waterfall, splash and circulation.

 

[Funkadelic]

Ahhh! Excellent points. Earlier it occurred to me that thin walled Plato aquarium tubing of sufficient diameter would be better than coiling through garden hose.

Also, how about geothermal by coiling tubing through a small Koi pond? Seems the Koi would appreciate it, it'd have a massive surface area, and can be done discreetly.

Alternatively, a rubber maid trough inside a thin metal shed attached go the back of the building. That could also be easily extra ventilated and a protected water chiller could assist the cooling. In winter this could be effective.

Tough part is summers are hot here.
=(

 

[ttystikk]

Ahhh! Excellent points. Earlier it occurred to me that thin walled Plato aquarium tubing of sufficient diameter would be better than coiling through garden hose.

Also, how about geothermal by coiling tubing through a small Koi pond? Seems the Koi would appreciate it, it'd have a massive surface area, and can be done discreetly.

Alternatively, a rubber maid trough inside a thin metal shed attached go the back of the building. That could also be easily extra ventilated and a protected water chiller could assist the cooling. In winter this could be effective.

Tough part is summers are hot here.
=(

All of these are good possibilities, just beware you don't cook your poor koi, lol. Saving money in winter us better than not saving it, right?

 

[Funkadelic]

What do other Marey owners do?

 

[ttystikk]

That matters less than the size of your grow and how well sealed your room is.

What do other Marey owners do?

Oops, not sure why that was up there. Anyway, a badly sealed room will make your generator run a lot and thus generate a ton of heat. Smaller, better sealed spaces can be effectively cooled with smaller heat sinks, and it is this variable that matters most.

 

[Funkadelic]

I'm on board with the new Pro unit.
You've sold me. Hope you have stock in the company.

Heat is a b1tch. A mean one. Leads to all kinds of other problems. Hard to control heat while running a room with the sun inside it AND a co2 burner at 1500ppm~!

Thinking a water chiller and a barrel for now, inside the flower room, or on the other side of a lightweight pandafilm + pvc "wall"....
This will at least minimize or reduce the drastic heat coming off the Co2 generator and reduce dependence on the 3 ton mini-split currently planned as a starting point.

 

[Sailor Jerry]

I have been pondering getting a marey unit and attempting to run a liquid cooled co2 generator. but the cost of a co2 controller has been setting me back. I cant swing the cash at the moment.

I already have a 375 gallon reservoir that I use to with my 3kw fresca sol cooled flower room. the reservoir stays around 90*f daily. I pump that water through a 6" x 6" x 10ft long aluminum heat exchanger. in the garage. It keeps a 2 car garage area about 50* in winter in northern MI.

I have another heat exchanger that is 6" x 24" x 10 ft long that I could use to heat the car section as well or use it in my workshop. it would work nicely with a co2 generator and a 50 gallon drum.