Automatic pump traps

Automatic pump traps (APTs) from Spirax Sarco have proved so effective at improving temperature control and solving maintenance problems on three of the company’s ovens that Piramal plans to install them on the site’s two remaining units.

"The temperature control on the ovens was previously ±5˚C, but now it’s accurate to ±0.5˚C,” says mechanical engineer, Paul Lunn. "We don’t know exactly how much we’re saving, but we know that the improved control must be saving energy because it’s reducing the drying time.”

The APTs act like steam traps to drain the condensate normally as long as there is positive pressure in the steam coils. But if the pressure in the system drops below the condensate back pressure, the steam-driven APTs actively pump the condensate away.