Problem: At Diageo’s Runcorn packaging plant an inspection and replacement of the steam traps was carried out each year to replace those which had failed open, thereby wasting expensive steam or jamming shut risking water hammer and system failure.
Steam plays a key role at every stage of the plant’s operation. A proportion of the steam traps on site were failing fully open, some had failed closed and some were partially worn open. Not only was this costing the plant thousands of pounds in lost energy and increased replacement and maintenance costs but also reducing production time and creating additional amounts of CO2 emissions.
Solution: The existing traps were replaced with 71 Venturi Orifice GEM traps from Thermal Energy International (TEI). This would prevent blockage and by efficiently returning condensate back to the boilers, make significant savings in energy, replacement costs and maintenance of the plant’s steam traps.
Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam for maximum energy and water conservation, condensate is drained from the system without losing precious steam.