Case Study
WADWORTH BREWERY
Company: Wadworth Brewery
Objective
solution
result
Spirax Sarco plate heat exchanger systems cut hot water costs at Wadworth Brewery
Two Spirax Sarco EasiHeat™ Engineered Systems are helping Wadworth Brewery use 8.2% less energy to heat its hot water.
Replacing shell-and-tube calorifiers, the new systems have also cut maintenance at the Wiltshire-based brewery, which suffers rapid equipment scaling because of the local hard water.
One Spirax Sarco EasiHeat steam-to-hot water heat exchanger unit supplies general-purpose hot water throughout the brewery, while the second heats the water further to supply the cask washers.
“The old calorifiers needed regular insurance inspections to comply with the Pressure Equipment Regulations and the insurance company told us we’d have to replace them within the next two years,” says the brewery’s Chief Engineer Mr. Bob Tyre. “The Spirax Sarco EasiHeat appealed to me more than replacing the calorifiers with new shell-and-tube units, because plate heat exchangers are more efficient.”
Controlling scale is also much easier. The calorifiers were stripped down and descaled twice a year, taking two men three days each time. The Spirax Sarco EasiHeat need descaling about every eight weeks, but it’s a much easier job, because engineers can take the plate heat exchangers apart by undoing just six bolts. The whole descaling procedure now takes one man less than half a day.
“Descaling used to take 12 man-days per year,” says Mr. Tyre. “So far it looks as though there’s going be substantially less descaling work overall.” He adds that the brewery is also saving money on the acid used for descaling, although it’s too early to put a figure on it.
Spirax Sarco fitted each EasiHeat with a differential pressure switch that warns Wadworth personnel when the exchangers are starting to furr up. This enables the systems to be kept at peak efficiency.
With the engineered systems supplied skid-mounted and ready to go, Mr. Tyre says the installation process was straightforward. “We did the installation ourselves. They are very easy things to work with. You just drop them in position and plumb them in.”
Wadworth makes a range of traditional beers at its site in Devizes, Wiltshire, including the 6X and Henry’s IPA brands.