High spirits

Situated on the banks of the River Isla in Speyside, the Chivas Brothers’ Glen Keith Scotch whisky distillery opened its doors once again in June 2013, having been silent since 1999.

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, and the company produces and exports some of the world’s best-known malt and blended whiskies.

It has 12 operating malt distilleries, a grain distillery and over 300 bonded warehouses that contain an extensive aged inventory of more than six million casks.

We believed we could have a better solution at a lower cost by having one unit that measures both flow and density

Chivas Brothers’ Craig Ogston

Increased demand for Scotch whisky, from both mature and emerging markets, meant the company was looking for a more efficient way of measuring flow and density at the reopened Glen Keith distillery.

These are key parameters in calculating the alcohol concentration level of the final product.

The challenge Before the Glen Keith distillery was mothballed in 1999, an Endress+Hauser electromagnetic flowmeter was used in combination with a density measurement system from a third party.

However its experience at other distilleries taught Chivas Brothers to seek a better solution.

“We believed that we could have a better solution at a lower cost by having one unit combined that measures both flow and density,” says Craig Ogston, Chivas Brothers’ electrical and control engineer.

The solution It selected Endress+Hauser’s Promass 83F Coriolis flowmeter, which is an alcohol concentration measurement device designed to offer accuracy and extended transmitter functionality under a variety of process conditions.

With combined transmitter technology and touch control, it also features four line display and extended functionality such as software options for filling and dosing, concentration measurement or advanced diagnostics, which all help to boost accuracy while measuring liquids and gases.

The mass and volume flow measurement also includes density and temperature variables, which means the alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage can also be calculated. “We initially used the Promass 83 for density and alcohol concentration measurement at our Tormore distillery, so we knew what the meter was capable of,” says Ogston. “We then did some trials so we could prove it was going to work on our application at Glen Keith.”

Using the Promass 83 in conjunction with Profibus PA digital communications technology also ensures a highly accurate transmission of the process value, he says. The benefits An accurate and reliable alcohol by volume measurement not only helps whisky producers to maintain product quality but also helps to optimise production and reduce overheads, says Ogston.

“The ABV measurement is pretty key for both the spirit quality and for energy efficiency,” he says.

“You don’t want your still to be running too long and just producing water so it’s extremely important that you’ve got an accurate measurement from an energy saving point of view.”

Alongside helpful after-sales service, another main benefit of using the Promass 83 over two separate devices was financial, he adds.

“It is a cost saving, primarily. It’s giving us the same performance that we’ve had with previous systems at a reduced cost.

“Our account manager has a real understanding of the whisky industry. Any time I’ve got a question or I need some information I can call him and nine times out of ten he knows the answer immediately – or he knows who to speak to and comes back to me quickly.”