Some things in black and white make sense

Diageo's 18-acre Runcorn facility is making significant savings in energy, replacement costs and maintenance of its steam traps following the installation of Thermal Energy International's Venturi Orifice GEM traps. Thermal Energy International has installed a total of 71 steam traps through the plant, which has provided Diageo with a payback in less than 12-months.

The Diageo Runcorn packaging plant is home to the only Guinness bottling and canning site in the UK.

It packages and distributes some three million hectolitres of beer every year to outlets in the UK and to 180 other markets around the world. As in most brewery processes in Dublin, steam plays a key role at every stage of the plant's operation.

Prior to the installation of the GEM steam traps, each year a certain percentage of the plant's steam traps failed open thereby wasting expensive steam, or jamming shut risking water hammer and system failure. Instead of using a valve mechanism to close off steam, the GEM steam traps use the venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam system.

As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, it provides high reliability.