Fast tank cleaner with more impact goes down well with the brewers of Swift One and Wallops Wood
04/04/2012 Spraying Systems Ltd
By switching to a more efficient cleaning system, an award-winning UK microbrewery has significantly reduced the volume and costs of clean water used in the cleaning of fermentation tanks.Since replacing fixed spray balls with a Spraying Systems TankJet 75 fluid-driven tank cleaner, Bowman Ales is saving an estimated 80% on water and effluent costs related to tank wash, while cutting by two-thirds the time needed for an effective wash operation.
This independent brewery, based at Droxford in rural Hampshire, has been a success story from its start in December 2006. Owner-founders Martin Roberts and Ray Page are co- workers in a 7-strong 'family' team, turning their hands to any job in the plant from cleaning tanks to brewing the real ales now sold in pubs, clubs and restaurants across a broad swathe of south-east England. Seven regular beers are currently offered, with characteristic real ale names such as Swift One, Wallops Wood and Quiver.
The first of many awards came in 2007, soon after start-up. As sales grew, new beers were launched, more awards won and more production capacity installed to meet growing demand. In 2011 the installation of a fourth fermentation tank brought capacity up to 80 brewers barrels per week. (I barrel = 163.65 litres.)
Depending on the beer, fermentation takes from 3 to 6 days. After each brew, the tank must be thoroughly cleaned to wash away yeast deposits and maintain hygiene. The operation uses clean water - a caustic solution followed by rinse - and the time it takes can be critical. Cleaning a tank using a spray ball and cold water took not less than 1½ hours. Heated water helped by softening deposits but was not always available, being needed elsewhere.
"In a peak sales period," says Ray Page, "that could give us a real problem. In the worst case, with all tanks in use or dirty, slow cleaning could keep a fermenter out of use at a critical time - even lose us a day's production. And we were using a lot of water."
Working at 3.5 bar pressure, a spray ball similar to those at Bowmans Ales giving all-round coverage would have a flow rate of 170 l/min. Each 90 minute cold water wash would need 15,300 litres of water. Carrying out an average 3-4 washes in a typical week would have used close to 50,000 litres of clean water.
Spray balls produce little impact, relying on wetting and flooding for cleaning effect. The TankJet 75 employs (twin or quadruple) solid stream jets indexing mechanically to give 360° surface coverage over a 45-revolution cleaning cycle. Encrusted deposits are penetrated and shifted by the force of the water.
Operating at 7 bar, the TankJet 75 at Bowman Ales uses only 700 litres of heated water to clean a fermentation tank thoroughly in 10 minutes. Even with cold water it can clean a tank in under 30 minutes. In that time span a spray ball could barely clean the tank with twice the volume of heated water.
The brewery's investment included the cost of a new pump. But according to Ray Page, "Already the outlay is being well justified by reduced water and effluent cost, faster and more effective cleaning and more flexible working."
For further information, please contact:
Spraying Systems Ltd
Tel. +44 (0) 1252 727200
Fax. +44 (0) 1252 712211
Email. info.uk@spray.com
Web: www.uk.spray.com
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