Black Sheep Brewery boosts efficiency

Compressed air is used at various stages in the brewing process, with the largest volume used on the racking plant and BOGE's screw compressor solution installed at the brewery four years ago is ensuring fast production. More recently, a BOGE Air Leak Detection Survey has recorded a series of air leaks that are being addressed to further increase efficiency.

The relationship with BOGE began when the Black Sheep Brewery installed a BOGE SD15 screw compressor for all its machine and valve actuation. Impressed with the efficiency and reliability of the compressor, Alan Dunn, head brewer, specified a BOGE compressor to compress foam and speed cask filling when plans were put in place to expand production in 2010.

The brewery invested in a BOGE SD40 screw compressor with a built in refrigerant dryer to power the cask filling process. An integral refrigerant dryer ensures a small footprint and means that there are no additional assembly or installation costs required for a stand-alone dryer.

The BOGE Air Leak Detection Survey identified that the main area of leakage was on the racking plant. As this is also the area with the most air usage this represents a major cost-saving opportunity for Black Sheep Brewery. All leaks were detected using an ultrasonic leak detector and have been tagged with a yellow BOGE ‘Leak Detected’ tag, each one individually numbered by hand. The numbers on the tags correspond to the record numbers on the spreadsheet report. The majority of records on the spreadsheet relate to general air leakage, mostly from fittings that either need to be resealed with a suitable sealant (i.e PTFE Tape) or have become worn and need to be replaced (mainly push in type fittings). Some leakage is the result of valve seals becoming worn, particularly directional control valves and solenoid valves where the seals are passing or a valve is venting/exhausting when it is not required to do so.