London Linen makes savings using GEM orifice traps

London Linen Supply is saving GBP40,000 per annum in energy costs and maintenance following the replacement of its mechanical steam traps with Thermal Energy International's GEM Venturi orifice traps.

GEM has installed 100 of its traps throughout the laundry, providing London Linen with a payback in less than 12 months on energy savings alone.

Steam is used extensively throughout the laundry in the operation of a range of equipment, including tunnel washing machines, tumble dryers and steam presses.

Prior to the installation of the GEM Venturi orifice steam traps, London Linen found that maintenance and replacement of failed traps was costing around GBP5,000 a year.

In particular, it was found that the mechanical traps on the tunnel washing machines, steam-heated battery-rotating cylindrical washing machines, malfunctioned as the machine went through its 360-degree cycle passing live steam.

The GEM Venturi orifice steam trap offered a solution as it has no moving parts to be affected by gravity.

Following the success of the GEM traps with the tunnel washing machines, Peter Bateson, London Linen's chief engineer, arranged for GEM's engineering team to carry out a full survey of the laundry.

Bateson said: 'As the laundry is in operation from 06:00 until 22:00 five days a week, it meant that the maintenance and replacement of traps had to be undertaken at weekends, which was inconvenient.

'Since we installed GEM traps throughout the site, not one has failed and maintenance and replacement costs are a thing of the past,' he added.

Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam, the GEM steam traps use the patented Venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam system.

As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, they ensure reliability, necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

Available in a range of sizes for a cross section of applications, the hard-wearing GEM steam traps are manufactured from corrosion-resistant stainless steel and are guaranteed for 10 years, obviating the need for repair or replacement.

The GEM steam traps provide a fast payback - on some processes within a matter of days - from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability.

In addition, they are said to improve product processing by enhancing the quality of steam, which, in turn, reduces equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.

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