Heinz is said to be saving 6% of its
average steam load per year at its
baked bean factory in Wigan by
recovering energy from effluent
using a system by Spirax Sarco.

Before the new system, purged hot
water used to blanch the raw beans
was disposed of, but the new system
now intercepts it and uses it to help
heat the blanching process. The
filtered effluent is passed to one of
two heat exchangers, which use its
energy to pre-heat the blanching
make-up water, cooling the effluent
in the process. The make-up water
then passes through another
exchanger, which uses steam to raise
its temperature before entering the
blanching vessel.