Maximising steam Efficiency
The use of venturi orifice steam traps for Crespel & Deiters has increased the production availability of their critically important drum dryers
On a production site of 67000 square meters Crespel & Deiters processes 920 tons of grain into wheat starch and wheat proteins every day . To manufacture their range of products the company uses natural gas and produces around 84000 tons of steam annually . Saving energy is therefore a primary goal .
Historically , mechanical steam traps had caused problems , particularly with the critically important drum dryers . Having a negative impact on steam and energy consumption . Reported Jan-Oliver Hense , site Energy Manager .
According to Mr Hense , there was repeated water hammer during start-up and shutdown conditions . The drum dryer was often saturated , with condensate collecting in the drum . The water hammer put a strain on the mechanical steam traps , which consequently had to be replaced every two years .
Mr Hense ; “ The problems associated with the mechanical steam traps had
28 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk a particularly big impact on the drum dryers . If there were problems with one of the dryers this also affected all the others . The end result was a decrease in system availability and increased energy consumption .”
“ In 2019 , Nigel Egginton from EBE Engineering contacted us and told me about the ECOFLOW venturi orifice steam traps . To begin with I was sceptical and wanted first to test the technology ” reported Mr Hense . For this reason , initially only two ECOFLOW venturi orifice
steam traps were installed on one of the drum dryers .
Today , Hense smiles at his initial uncertainty : “ I am glad that Mr . Egginton convinced me to test the technology “. The use of the ECOFLOW venturi orifice steam traps showed significant advantages compared to the mechanical traps used previously . “ Since wheat starch is dried in different product compositions , the performance ranges and pressure differences in the drying processes differ accordingly . The new ECOFLOW venturi orifice steam traps master these requirements without any problems , as they cover large performance ranges and , thanks to having no sealing faces , can control the start-up and production processes much better . Saturated running of the drum dryer is now a thing of the past due to the improved discharge of condensate .”
After the successfully completed test phase , more steam traps were ordered . Thanks to the efficiency of the ECOFLOW venturi orifice steam traps , a payback for Crespel & Deiters was achieved in less than 1.5 years .
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