How to choose suitable steam generator for brewery
- Dec 25, 2021
- 72
- tiantai
Steam generator purchase is one of the most important investments for a micro brewery. Brewery relies on steam heating for a number of reasons — primarily for the kettle and to produce hot water for sanitization. Steam is also required to keep solutions at the right temperatures and is used in pasteurization heating for bottling. Choosing suitable steam generator is crucial to ensuring that you can meet production demands without wasting time or energy.
As for the criteria you should concern when purchasing a steam generator, the following are important:
1. Ability to meet steam demand at production.
Steam demand in breweries can vary widely based on the exact need in that moment. Traditionally, a large single steam generator is used so that it will be ready with steam at any moment. However, it is expensive to keep a large oversized steam generator ready at all times.
“We have irregular needs for hot water for cleaning our tanks and our lines,” explained Jaime Jurado, director of brewing operations at The Gambrinus Company Breweries, owner of Spoetzl and BridgePort Brewing Co. “However, with the two modular, on-demand steam generators we installed from Miura, we can choose between having them both fully fired or having one off and completely cold to the touch — instead of being on all the time, like our old fire-tube steam generator. That tells you right there that we’re saving about half the natural gas we were using before. We can get full steam from our second Miura steam generator in about five minutes, whereas the old steam generator would take hours before it could provide steam.”
2. Ability to do multiple processes at the same time.
Those processes can include brewing (hot liquor and mash tun), CIP, sanitization, sterilization, kegging, canning and bottling. Again, applications and processes can vary from brewery to brewery. A precisely designed steam system, particularly utilizing a modular steam generator approach, will help ensure that the right amount of steam is ready at any time — not too much and not too little.
3. Ability to adjust steam supply to fluctuations on demand.
Brewery steam requirements can double or triple in as little as a few seconds. Large fire tube steam generators need a long time to react to these demand swings. To overcome that problem, firetube steam generators will remain hot. The costs to do this are tremendous. Modular, on-demand steam generators can generate steam within seconds when in standby mode. This saves an average of 20 percent in fuel costs.
A recent bulletin on commercial steam generators from the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) states, “If building loads are highly variable, as is common in commercial buildings, designers should consider installing multiple small (modular) steam generators … Modular systems are more efficient because they allow each steam generator to operate at or close to full rated load most of the time, with reduced standby losses.”
As for the criteria you should concern when purchasing a steam generator, the following are important:
1. Ability to meet steam demand at production.
Steam demand in breweries can vary widely based on the exact need in that moment. Traditionally, a large single steam generator is used so that it will be ready with steam at any moment. However, it is expensive to keep a large oversized steam generator ready at all times.
“We have irregular needs for hot water for cleaning our tanks and our lines,” explained Jaime Jurado, director of brewing operations at The Gambrinus Company Breweries, owner of Spoetzl and BridgePort Brewing Co. “However, with the two modular, on-demand steam generators we installed from Miura, we can choose between having them both fully fired or having one off and completely cold to the touch — instead of being on all the time, like our old fire-tube steam generator. That tells you right there that we’re saving about half the natural gas we were using before. We can get full steam from our second Miura steam generator in about five minutes, whereas the old steam generator would take hours before it could provide steam.”
2. Ability to do multiple processes at the same time.
Those processes can include brewing (hot liquor and mash tun), CIP, sanitization, sterilization, kegging, canning and bottling. Again, applications and processes can vary from brewery to brewery. A precisely designed steam system, particularly utilizing a modular steam generator approach, will help ensure that the right amount of steam is ready at any time — not too much and not too little.
3. Ability to adjust steam supply to fluctuations on demand.
Brewery steam requirements can double or triple in as little as a few seconds. Large fire tube steam generators need a long time to react to these demand swings. To overcome that problem, firetube steam generators will remain hot. The costs to do this are tremendous. Modular, on-demand steam generators can generate steam within seconds when in standby mode. This saves an average of 20 percent in fuel costs.
A recent bulletin on commercial steam generators from the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) states, “If building loads are highly variable, as is common in commercial buildings, designers should consider installing multiple small (modular) steam generators … Modular systems are more efficient because they allow each steam generator to operate at or close to full rated load most of the time, with reduced standby losses.”
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