Freedom Brewery has installed a new TPC 400B thermal fluid heater from Babcock Wanson at its facility in the UK, helping to realise a reduction in overall energy costs per litre brewed by more than 80%.
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. Unlike steam boilers, thermal fluid heating systems are compact, easy to use and offer substantial savings in total energy and maintenance costs, Babcock Wanson said.
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.
Commenting on their decision to move away from steam, Andrew Taylor, director of Freedom Brewery, said: “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.
“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. Our energy costs per litre brewed are now a sixth than they were before.”
The cost savings have been possible because the system precisely matches fuel input to plant energy requirements for the 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 claimed 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.
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