Cooling tower enjoys second life at Hawaiian rum processor
To begin, the father and son team, Paul and Brian Case, had to make a substantial investment that would meet the federal code governing building facilities. These were stringent, applying to stainless steel tanks, boilers and other distillation equipment. Also, the regulations require an elaborate fire containment system, one that could make 3,500 gallons of water per minute available with a flow that could be sustained for three hours. And, finally, they needed a reliable cooling tower that could remove the heat from the alcohol condenser system regardless of weather conditions.
Paul Case explains that the cooling tower was integral to the operation of the distillery’s alcohol condensation process. “After vaporous alcohol leaves our stills, it runs through a condenser, which condenses the alcohol back to a liquid form so we can process it. The condensers are cooled by water. So, we have to take that water, which becomes heated while cooling the alcohol, and send it to the cooling tower to reduce the water temperature, and then back through the continuous condenser loop.”