Heinz generates energy savings at Irish plant
10 Feb 2012
Dundalk, Republic of Ireland – The first steam generators to be used with the HJ Heinz Group have been installed at the company’s Dundalk facility as part of a strategy to reduce energy consumption.
Producing frozen ready meals primarily for the UK market, Heinz’s Dundalk plant is a large steam user, using steam in the cooking process and to heat water for wash down.
As part of a 12-month plan to improve energy efficiency, Heinz decided to replace an old firetube boiler with two Babcock Wanson ESM7000 sequence-controlled steam generators. The units, complete with high efficiency eonomisers, have been installed into the new boiler house.
The ESM coil-type generator is said to provide operating efficiencies of around 96-97% overall and low emissions. It utilises modern controls to maintain a close ratio between the burner firing rate and water input with inverter drive of both the combustion air and feed water pumps.
This ensures close control of both steam output and steam quality and lowest practicable consumption of electrical power, according to Babcock Wanson.
Heinz’s Dundalk plant has already recently achieved certification under the Energy Agreements Programme (EAP) to IS393:2005 and is expecting further efficiency improvements with the new steam generators in place.
The units will also better match the steam load than the previous system was able to accommodate, the equipment supplier added.
