Problem: Compressed air is an essential part of the plant control pneumatics involved in the bottling line filling operations at the Accolade Wines plant in Avonmouth. When choosing a compressed air system for the facility, production and energy efficiency were paramount.
Solution: Each of the two high-speed bottling lines at the plant is capable of producing over half a million bottles of wine a day running at the rate of 400 bottles per minute and totalling 200 million bottles per year. The needs of the bottling line filling operations are met by an Atlas Copco compressed air installation comprising two water-cooled ZR90 VSD oil-free rotary screw compressors together with a fixed-speed ZR75 machine.
The system offers an energy-saving bonus whereby hot water from the compression process, together with latent heat from the automated plant’s boilers and refrigeration units, is used to pre- heat the CIP water that is used to clean and sterilise the product lines and bulk storage tanks after they have been emptied during the bottling procedure. Hot water is supplied at 80°C.
Compressed air users, who, like Accolade Wines, integrate the flow of hot water into their plant processes, are able to recover up to 90-95% of the compressor’s electrical energy input as hot water.
Atlas Copco
T: 0800 181085