Joint project set to cut heating oil consumption by 60 per cent

Early in 2008, the first solar thermics system from Krones will go on line at the privately owned Hofmühl Brewery in Eichstätt

Following the completion of protracted planning permission procedures, Krones’ concept for using solar-generated process heat in the brewery is now scheduled for prompt implementation. This was announced by Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, and the privately owned Hofmühl Brewery in Eichstätt during the BRAU in Nuremberg. In the first stage, the project partners are installing a solar thermics system with a collector area of 1,000 m2, scheduled to go into operation early in 2008, with plans for subsequent upsizing to 3,000 m2. In all, the solar-thermic energy is set to replace about 60 per cent of the heating oil hitherto required for generating heat. Krones’ contribution covers the entire engineering work, the process control system and supplying the collectors. The project is being subsidised by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

The 1,000-m2 collector field at the facility in Eichstätt is able to produce around 500,000 kWh of heat a year. This solar-generated quantity of thermal energy will create annual savings equivalent to more than 55,000 l of heating oil. Simultaneously, CO2 emissions at the Hofmühl Brewery will be reduced by around 150 t/a compared to oil-fired heating even in the first phase of the project.

Operating a brewery with regenerative energies for technologically enhanced cost-efficiency

The high efficiency level of the Krones solar thermics system is assured by state-of-the-art CPC vacuum-tube collectors, which heat up the process water directly to at least 130°C, and achieve an output per unit area approximately twice as high as the types customarily used in residential construction.

The second crucial building block in Krones’ solar concept is energy/resource-economical production systems like Steinecker’s brewhouse innovations: Shakesbeer, Pegasus, Stromboli and Merlin, or the patented Krones washer heating system VarioTherm. Together with holistically conceived energy optimisation measures, this creates the system efficiency required for operating a brewery with regenerative energies for technologically enhanced cost-efficiency.

The solar heat can be used in the brewery to power the mash and wort boiling processes, for example, and to supply hot water to the bottle washer. Other potential applications include generating boiler feedwater, heating buildings, CIP cleaning or the flash pasteuriser and the crate washer. The heat consumers involved are integrated into the process water circuit of the solar thermics system using cascading modules.

After the initial investment, these solar thermics systems keep energy costs to a consistent and thus accurately calculable level, with concomitant long-term benefits for breweries, in particular, as fixed-location enterprises. Other advantages include options for governmental subsidies, reduced environmental costs, and corporate image enhancement in a context that is becoming progressively more influential in swaying consumer’s purchasing decisions. With Krones’ solar concept, the solar brewery is an up-to-the-future option.

Due to the special location of the privately owned Hofmühl Brewery, the planning permission procedures took more than two years, but the first Krones solar thermics system can now go ahead. Joining in a justified toast (from left to right) are: Uwe Bertz, Krones AG Steinecker Plant, Volker Baumgartner, Benno Emslander, Privatbrauerei Hofmühl GmbH, Cornelia Stumpe, Krones AG, Klaus Wasmuht, Krones AG Steinecker Plant, Stephan Emslander, Paul Kottmann, Privatbrauerei Hofmühl GmbH, Armin Ott, Krones AG Steinecker Plant, Matthias Pohl, Krones AG.