Babcock Wanson ESM steam generators – the first to be used with HJ Heinz – have been installed at the company's Dundalk plant in Ireland as part of a move to reduce energy consumption.
Producing frozen ready meals primarily for the UK, the Dundalk plant is a large steam consumer, using steam in its cooking processes and to heat water for wash down.
The two Babcock Wanson ESM7000 sequence-controlled, coil-type steam generators, complete with high efficiency economisers, have replaced a large old firetube boiler in a new custom built boiler house.
Heinz's Dundalk plant has already achieved certification under the Energy Agreements Programme (EAP) to IS393:2005 and is now expecting further efficiency improvements with the ESM steam generators. In part, those will come from the better matching of steam load to demand than was previously possible.
Babcock Wanson's ESM boilers are claimed to provide operating efficiencies of around 96—97% overall and are known for their low emissions. They use modern controls to maintain a close ratio between the burner firing rate and water input, with inverter drive for both the combustion air and feed water pumps.
The point is to ensure close control of both steam output and steam quality, with lowest practicable consumption of electrical power.
