Process Equipment Update
4 Without valves, seals, or glands, peristaltic pumps are becoming the accepted low-maintenance solution for difficult pumping challenges in the process industries.
Process benefits drive interest in peristaltic pumping
W
Fig. 1. An SPX 25 was installed at the brewery following extensive trials.
hen conventional piston pumps were threatening quality at one of the most productive breweries in Europe, the solution arrived in the form
of an SPX25 direct-coupled peristaltic hose pump supplied by Watson-Marlow Pumps Group. The site in question is Anheuser-Busch InBev’s
Magor brewery in Monmouthshire, South Wales. Kieselguhr, a sedimentary rock/mineral,
is used by brewers as part of the critical beer filtration process. Here, a pump is deployed to dose kieselguhr in slurry form into the filter so it forms a ‘bed’ on a plate and frame filter. However, the unreliability of the piston pumps being used can lead to significant opportunity to introduce dissolved oxygen (DO) into the beer. “Even the slightest traces of DO in beer can
change its flavour, making it taste stale,” explains Paul Evans, tech services first line manager at the Magor brewery. “This can be catastrophic for both our reputation and sales.”
“It is critical for us to monitor the ingress of DO into our beers - we strive to achieve levels of less than 10 ppb (parts per billion), which is incredibly difficult over the entire brewing process where the potential for exposure to oxygen is high,” says Evans. Unfortunately the stainless steel non-return valves on the discharge side of our piston pumps began to stick due to the corrosive nature of the kieselghur slurry. As a result we would end up maintaining or replacing the pumps, which would inevitably expose the beer to the atmosphere.” With three filter mains on site at the Magor
brewery, InBev decided to trial an SPX25 peristaltic pump supplied by Watson-Marlow Pumps Group. “The peristaltic operating principle intrigued
us because it seemed there would be no way to introduce oxygen into our process,” says Evans. “However, the proof is in the pudding so we introduced an SPX25 model to one of our filter mains.” At the Magor brewery, extensive trials were completed with flying colours, an outcome that led
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