Bottle washing machines are widely used in the brewery and beverage industry for efficient washing and sanitising of bottles before they are transferred to the filling machine to be filled with the product. The bottle rinse removes dust, debris and other contaminants such as residue from the creation of the container, simple dust from storage, and debris from transportation or any other source. The temperature of hot water required for washing new bottles is 72 deg. C, and for old bottles it is 84 deg.C.

In a beverage plant, the bottle washer needs to be operated continuously. It is started at the cold start-up of the plant itself to reduce peak steam demand. The rest of the equipment, like the pasteurizer and sugar syrup preparation unit, is started once the bottle washer reaches the desired temperature. Hence, start-up time of the bottle washer is critical in improving the overall productivity of the plant.

Optimum Steam and Condensate Network

The design of the steam and condensate network plays an important role in ensuring that the set temperature is achieved in the desired time without any temperature overshoot and without any manual intervention. In case of any deviation from the set parameters, the steam flow regulation and condensate evacuation system needs to be reviewed.

A well designed steam and condensate system ensures that the actual steam consumption is at the rated theoretical consumption.

Parameters to be Controlled

Steam Pressure : For the bottle washer, a low steam pressure is recommended. Maintaining steam pressure at 2 bar g can reduce steam consumption by 2%.

Process Temperature : A PID based temperature control system is recommended. It modulates the steam flow for achieving the required process temperature in the soaks of the bottle washer.

Condensate : For complete condensate evacuation, and to handle stall conditions inside the heat exchanger, a steam operated pump trap is recommended. Each soak tank needs to be fitted with an individual steam operated pump trap. Steam operated condensate return pumps are recommended to ensure that the condensate recovered from the steam operated pump traps is at maximum temperature.

Benefits of condensate evacuation with a steam operated pump trap

The right type and size of process trap ensures optimum energy consumption, process efficiency, productivity, product quality and safety. Positive differential pressure across the trap is essential for efficient condensate evacuation from process equipment. Conventional traps are not equipped with this feature and hence are unable to completely discharge the condensate from the equipment, resulting in stall conditions. In the event of stall, the system is unable to achieve the desired process temperatures.

A steam operated pumping trap ensures complete condensate removal during stall conditions, so desired process temperature are achieved without manual intervention. An optimally designed system, equipped with a steam operated pump trap to deal with stall conditions, yields steam savings of 8-10% as compared to a conventional system with on-off valves and float traps.

Visit this page to understand why stall occurs, its adverse effects and how it can be eliminated.

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