The cooling systems at the Great Northern Distillery in Dundalk, Co. Louth, have undergone efficiency and sustainability focussed enhancements, which were carried out by temperature control solutions for manufacturing process and facilities applications company ICS Cool Energy.
The project involved a tailored approach with temporary cooling installations preceding the permanent, high efficiency and low global warming potential (GWP) system.
Great Northern Distillery Manager Statement
Great Northern Distillery's distillery manager, Brian Watts, stated, "Quality of our products and sustainability of our operations is very important to us. Producing high quality single malt whiskey requires precise temperature control throughout the entire process. We were looking for a partner that could help us modernise the existing cooling of our distillery fermenters. We wanted to make sure the new system is tuned to our requirements and would also allow us to increase production. ICS Cool Energy proved to be experts for the job."
Project Details
Following an onsite inspection and calculations for the system's requirements, ICS Cool Energy installed a hire Chiller 375 with pump and tank, connecting it to an incumbent heat exchanger installed in the common flow from the cooling tower to the fermenters. The hire installation gave the Great Northern Distillery the chance to diagnose and adapt the system to their requirements.
Great Northern Distillery Maintenance Manager Statement
Great Northern Distillery's maintenance manager, Anthony Duff, stated, "Throughout the following months, we made several modifications to the pumps on both the chilled water and product sides of the fermenters, adjusting the chilled water setpoint until we finally achieved the required result. The temporary hire system from ICS Cool Energy gave us the flexibility to keep our production running, while monitoring and adjusting all the system's parameters to determine the most efficient option for a permanent solution."
Additional Project Details
Following the hire period, Great Northern Distillery decided to install a permanent Imperium air cooled chiller designed specifically for process applications. The Imperium chiller delivers high performance and reliability thanks to the inverter screw compressor technology and works with low GWP R1234ze refrigerant for reduced environmental footprint.
ICS Energy Operations Manager Statement
ICS Energy's operations manager, Craig Hodgson, stated, "To each of the projects, ICS Cool Energy brings the experience from designing and delivering thousands of solutions for distilleries and beverage manufacturing applications of all sizes. We’re proud that we had the opportunity to leverage that expertise and help the Great Northern Distillery create the operational environment they needed to make the best quality product."
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