GEM steam traps cut Weetabix energy needs

A GEM product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Jul 29, 2008

Weetabix will make significant energy savings following the installation of Gardner Energy Management's GEM Venturi orifice steam traps throughout its facility at Burton Latimer in Northants.

Sixty-five percent of the steam traps on the 80-acre site have now been converted to GEM traps, providing Weetabix with a payback of just six months.

Britain's favourite breakfast cereal for more than 70-years, Weetabix employs more than 2,500 people worldwide and produces more than 3 billion Weetabix breakfast biscuits every year.

In addition to Weetabix, the Burton Latimer facility also produces a number of other brands including Alpen, Weetaflakes and Weetabix Minis.

Steam is used extensively throughout the site for a variety of applications including heating, cooking and cleaning.

For a number of years Weetabix had been experiencing sporadic problems with steam trap reliability, which appeared to be caused by the traps becoming corroded.

Having considered a number of options, Andy Cooper, a Business Unit Engineering Manager at Weetabix invited Gardner Energy Manager to look at one area of the site to see if it could be improved.

After completing a review of the system, Gardner Energy Management's engineers found that the condensate return temperature in certain areas was up to 140degC.

Following these findings, the original steam traps were converted to GEM traps and the condensate return temperature quickly dropped to below 100degC.

Subsequent to the successful trial, Weetabix proofed the system for a further six-month period to assess the reliability of the GEM traps to perform without any changes to the steam raising and distribution network.

"There were no issues with the traps and our process control systems never missed a beat", said Andy Cooper.

"This lead us to consider other areas that would benefit from conversion to GEM traps." During these investigations, Gardner Energy Management identified that an Ogden pump, used to return condensate, was no longer necessary and could be bypassed.

"Since this conversion, Weetabix has seen a marked improvement in the volume of condensate being returned to the energy centre and has not needed to replace any further traps in the areas converted to GEM Venturi orifice traps", concluded Andy Cooper.

The GEM steam traps work by using the difference in density between steam and condensate.

Steam is 1000 times less dense than condensate, so at the entrance of the trap's orifice, the low-density steam is literally squeezed out of the condensate.

The high density, low moving condensate is then preferentially discharged through the orifice, trapping the low-density steam behind it.

What makes the GEM trap different is its venturi orifice configuration, which works well over varying loads by using the 'flash' steam that comes out of condensate as it passes from high to low pressure to give a self-regulating, varying capacity.

As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, it provides the ultimate in reliability necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

Available in a wide range of sizes for a full cross section of applications, the hardwearing GEM steam traps are manufactured from corrosion resistant stainless steel and are guaranteed for 10 years, obviating the need for repair or replacement.

The GEM steam traps provide a fast payback - on some processes within a matter of days - from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability due to a reduction in damaging condensate in steam systems.

In addition it improves product processing by enhancing the quality of steam and also reducing equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.