English Brewery Reduces Energy Cost Per Litre By More Than 80%
Babcock Wanson’s TPC 400B Thermal Fluid Heater has been installed into Freedom Brewery’s Abbots Bromley site in Staffordshire as part of its Wort Boiler system. Together with many other updates to the process, this has resulted in reducing the overall energy costs per litre brewed by more than 80%.
The UK’s original craft lager brewer, Freedom Brewery is dedicated to creating the highest-quality award winning lager in the most sustainable way possible. The company has undertaken a number of steps as part of its commitment to reducing its environmental impact, including moving from steam to thermal fluid heating.
Whilst thermal fluid heaters are used extensively in many industries, the brewery sector has traditionally used steam as the heating method of choice. With the upsurge of micro breweries, this is slowly changing as, unlike steam boilers, thermal fluid heating systems are compact, easy to use and offer substantial savings in total energy and maintenance costs.
The TPC 400B is a fully automatic coil type, multi-pass thermal fluid heater complete with integrated burner, control system and safety devices. It provides optimal distribution of the heat, high fluid velocity in the exchange tubes and continuous flow monitoring to ensure long thermal fluid and system life and the highest level of safety.
At Freedom Brewery the thermal fluid circulates through the external Wort Boiler which, due to the use of thermal fluid, does not require rating as a pressure vessel. Once at temperature, the wort thermosyphons through the heat exchanger without the need to use a copper casting pump thereby ensuring very simple operation and further reducing site electrical costs. A very precise heat transfer to the process is achieved through an integrated control system to enable Freedom to achieve the quality it is has become renown for whilst also reducing overall fuel costs.
Commenting on their decision to move away from steam, Andrew Taylor, Director at Freedom Brewery, says: “We chose thermal fluid because it was more cost-effective to install and run, has a smaller space requirement than steam and provides a greener solution.”
Since being installed, Andrew is extremely pleased with the TPC 400B Thermal Fluid Heater’s performance: “the heater has performed in excess of expectations. It is compact, much faster to bring into operation than a steam boiler and, because it does not use steam as the heat transfer medium, is much cheaper as there is no water treatment and no condensate return.”
But for Andrew ultimately the reduction in energy costs have really been the most outstanding factor: “Our energy costs per litre brewed are now a sixth than they were before!” That’s partly because the system precisely matches fuel input to plant energy requirements for highest practicable operating efficiency. With lower energy input demand also comes lower total exhaust emissions – another environmental benefit for Freedom Brewery. Substantial savings are readily achieved; Babcock Wanson claim between 20-50% energy savings can be made by using a TPC B thermal fluid heating system when compared to the transfer of the same amount of heat using traditional steam boilers.
Using thermal fluid as opposed to water has other key benefits including removing the problems caused by scaling if water treatment malfunctions or freezing due to low ambient temperatures, as well as improved safety.
Babcock Wanson offers a complete range of products and services for boiler houses and other process heating needs, from steam boilers, thermal fluid heaters, rapid steam generators and hot water boilers to VOC and odour treatment by thermal oxidation, water treatment or process air heating solutions. The company aims to help optimise customer’s energy production with high quality products and efficient service. For more information, contact Babcock Wanson on 020 8953 7111 or info@babcock-wanson.co.uk or go to www.babcock-wanson.co.uk.
