Trap and condensate optimization saves water and energy for West Coast brewery
In the beer-making process, the brewery uses steam-to-water, plate and frame heat exchangers to heat water. A condensate recovery system collects condensate from the exchangers and sends it to a pressurized receiver on the floor below, where it is emptied by four pressure-powered pumps. Prior to this effort, the brewery had 155 steam traps, about a third of which were orifice devices and working steam flow meters.
Miller Coors’ Irwindale brewery worked with Spirax Sarco, Inc. to perform a detailed review of its systems to identify opportunities to improve the water and energy usage efficiency.