Steam System Survey Helps Busy Bee Win Funding

A Spirax Sarco steam system survey has helped Busy Bee Laundry in Larne, Northern Ireland, win a 100 per cent, interest-free loan from the local development agency.

A Spirax Sarco steam system survey has helped Busy Bee Laundry in Larne, Northern Ireland, win a 100 per cent, interest-free loan from the local development agency to implement a programme of energy saving changes to its steam and hot water system.

Family-run Busy Bee is the only laundry in Larne and serves both commercial and domestic customers.

The site's 320kg/h boiler provides steam for dryers and presses and heats water for the washing machines.

"The old steam system wasn't right and we'd been wondering if we could decrease our costs, "says Mr George Kirby, a member of the family that owns Busy Bee.

"We contacted our local Spirax Sarco representative and the development agency Invest Northern Ireland to see what they would suggest.

"Spirax Sarco and Invest NI visited the site independently to look for potential energy savings.

The Spirax Sarco survey identified several key areas for improvement.

The uninsulated hot water storage tank was losing heat and the survey proposed replacing it with a packaged Spirax Sarco EasiHeat system that heats hot water on demand.

In addition the survey found that revamping the steam distribution system would save more energy because the old pipework was wrongly sized and arranged, as well as poorly insulated.

Spirax Sarco also recommended changing the controls on the steam to the tumble dryers as they were being heated continuously, whether they were operating or not.

Invest NI verified that the recommended changes would save sufficient energy to qualify for financial help and the agency awarded Busy Bee an interest-free loan to go ahead with the work.

The Action Energy loan scheme offers interest-free loans of between £5,000 and £50,000 for small and medium-sized enterprises to install energy saving equipment.

Mr Kirby relied heavily on Spirax Sarco for advice throughout the project.

"I was able to go and pick their brains and it was brilliant to have the expertise on hand, "he says.

"I wasn 't just looking to buy equipment, I wanted the help.

"A smooth transition was ensured by the decision to replace the hot water tank with the EasiHeat package.

The pre-assembled heat exchange packages are tested before delivery and require minimal installation time.

By heating water on demand, EasiHeat installations do not suffer from the heat losses associated with storage tanks.

The steam distribution pipework was revamped and fitted with 10 new steam traps.

Most of the work was carried out in the evenings and the laundry continued to run as normal throughout the project.

The problem with the tumble dryers was solved by fitting automatic shut off valves that interlock with the door mechanisms, so that the steam only flows when the doors are shut.

According to Mr Kirby, it's too soon to say exactly how much the resulting savings will add up to.

"The steam we use varies so much day to day depending on how busy the launderette is, "he says.

"> But we're very happy with the changes and we can tell that the boiler isn't kicking in as often." For more information about energy efficiency or interest free loans for energy saving projects: Action Energy Helpline: 0800 585794.

Energy Section of Invest NI: 028 9262 3029.

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