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10/06/2010
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Steam engineering firm TLV has is to provide regular steam trap surveys for all 13 BOCM Pauls animal feed processing plants throughout the UK, using its TrapMan TM5 testing equipment.
 Most of the plants' steam generation is used on direct steam injection for sterilisation, while the rest acts as a lubricant for extrusion processes or maintains temperatures in storage tanks that pre-heat liquids for meal processing.
Environmental Steering Group member Graham Reith, BOCM Pauls' Carmarthen site manager, explains that, as part of the company's accreditation under the ISO 14001 environmental standard, each plant has to monitor energy usage, with a goal of improving efficiency and reducing consumption.
Reith says he was aware that some of the steam traps on his site were passing steam, but without test equipment it wasn't possible to identify which ones were faulty. With steam a big energy consumer, he asked TLV to carry out a survey using its Lloyds Registry verified TrapMan TM5 equipment, which also quantifies steam losses in leaking traps.
Since the figures showed significant potential for energy loss, BOCM Pauls took the decision to extend the survey to all sites, and now says it is making "considerable savings" – although actual numbers vary according to the meal produced at each plant and the temperatures used in processing.
Reith says the total number of traps tested was 552, of which 89 (16%) were found to be leaking. TLV's survey estimated the cost of these leaks at £95,000 and the environmental damage at 435 tonnes of CO2.
Commenting on the results Reith says the survey has prompted a programme to address leaks across all plants. "The financial and environmental costs have certainly encouraged the committee to continue surveying the 552 traps at six-month intervals," he says.
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Author
Brian Tinham
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