FOOD & DRINK WHEN TROUBLE BREWS


When a London-based microbrewery’s chiller arrangement abruptly broke down, it was vital for the beer’s quality that a temporary cooling package was installed. Here, Andrews Air Conditioning explains how their new unit provided an immediate solution.


The food and beverage industry contributed almost £30bn to the UK economy last year, with its annual growth directly responsible for the employment of 400,000 people in this country alone. Upward population trends and increased levels of competition within the market mean that getting things right has never been so important, and this puts added pressure on facilities management companies operating on behalf of clients in this sector.


A critical component of food and beverage production is to ensure that process cooling amenities are maintained at all times. Modern regulations demand efficient, qualitative and sustainable methods which cannot be achieved without the presence of a reliable air conditioning system. Failure to source an appropriate cooling solution at either the manufacturing or storage phase can have devastating implications for your client and be equally damaging to your own reputation as a facilities manager.


This was the situation a popular London microbrewery found themselves in after their chiller arrangement broke down unexpectedly. A lack of functional climate control equipment on site caused production to immediately cease and this could not be restored until alternative units were sourced and deployed.


Beer fermentation is the metabolic process in which yeast converts glucose to alcohol and carbon dioxide, ultimately giving the beer its alcohol content, flavour and fizzy qualities. Before fermentation can occur, the cooled wort – the liquid extracted during the original brewing stage – is transferred into a separate vessel where yeast is already present. Depending on the product, the wort will be maintained for several weeks at temperatures generally ranging between 9°C and 20°C.


And because fermentation produces a significant amount of heat, the tanks in which the product are contained must be constantly cooled to ensure the beer’s quality. It was therefore absolutely vital that the microbrewery installed a temporary cooling package, prompting their facilities manager to turn to Andrews Air Conditioning.


A technician visited the brewery to ascertain the best course of action while the faulty chiller was repaired off site. The dimensions of the application combined with access issues posed a potential problem because there was limited space for manoeuvring and locating heavy duty equipment within the premises.


“Modern regulations demand


efficient and sustainable methods which cannot be achieved without the presence of a reliable air conditioning system.”


After calculating the required cooling capacity, Andrews’ engineer proposed the deployment of their new HPAC30 high performance air conditioning unit. This product was recently unveiled following the popularity of their HPAC range and was manufactured for the specific intention of providing tight areas with large volumes of air conditioning.


One of the HPAC30’s unique selling points is its ability to easily fit through doorways due to its slender frame, which proved extremely convenient in this particular situation. Despite being just 73cm wide, the HPAC30’s impressive nominal cooling duty meant that it could easily provide the cooling capacities that were needed on site.


The unit is compatible with a standard 32 Amp 3-phase power supply and was quickly installed as soon as it was wheeled into position. Once commissioned, the portable air conditioning unit proved a very effective replacement and helped the brewery circumvent a potentially crippling problem.


By reacting quickly, the facilities manager was able to avoid a costly reduction in output and actually completely restore production within a matter of hours. A quick solution was certainly the desired outcome from the brewery’s perspective and this was seamlessly implemented.


Initial concerns about the fermentation process were instantly alleviated, preserving the beer’s quality to keep the brewery’s customers happy.


www.andrews-sykes.com/air-conditioning 44 | TOMORROW’S FM twitter.com/TomorrowsFM


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