Brewery taps new pump technology

Birmingham, UK -- Belhaven Brewery, based in Dunbar, near Edinburgh, has installed a self-priming scavenge pump to overcome a number of problems that had affected its brewing operation over recent years.

Belhaven had previously relied on a ‘Clean in Place’ (CIP) system that returned cleaning solution from bright beer holding tanks via a flow plate to the CIP feed tank during the routine cleaning process. The CIP system struggled with the furthest tanks, some 20m away with the pump becoming air locked and unable to empty the tank. The pump was also noisy and exerted a lot of vibration and stress of the pipe work installation, contributing to high maintenance and operating costs.

To tackle the problem, Belhaven engineers opted to install Grundfos Sipla single-stage, self-priming liquid ring pump based on its suction performance and ability to pump entrained air without air locking. As well as CIP scavenge, the pump is designed for applications with high volumes of air in pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries.

According to Ronnie Muir, engineering manager at Belhaven Brewery: “Since the Grundfos system has been installed, we have seen improvements in; scavenge ability, shorter CIP times, reduced cost, improved tank cleaning, lower noise levels, less vibration and pipe work stresses and lower life cycle cost.”