Venturi orifice traps save energy costs

A Gem product story

Edited by the Processingtalk editorial team Jul 2, 2009

Bates Laundry in Leyton, London, is predicting savings of GBP104,000 per annum on its annual gas bill following the replacement of its mechanical steam traps with GEM Venturi orifice traps.

GEM has installed 85 traps throughout the laundry, providing Bates Laundry with a payback in less than seven months on energy savings alone.

Steam is used extensively throughout the laundry in the operation of a wide range of equipment including its water-fed boiler, tumble dryers and steam presses.

Re-branded from Royal Jersey Laundry to the Bates Group in 2007, the 30,000ft2 site employs a workforce of 219 handling more than 600,000 pieces per week.

Prior to the installation of the GEM Venturi orifice steam traps, Bates Laundry found that maintenance and replacement of failed traps was costing around GBP5,000 a year in addition to lost energy.

This was particularly evident from a large plume of steam that used to be emitted from the laundry's condenser tank.

'Not only are GEM traps saving us a substantial amount in energy costs, maintenance and replacement, we are also enjoying an increase in production due to the increased temperatures,' said Matthew Pantlin, managing director of Bates Laundry.

'We have also asked GEM to convert our other site in Enfield,' he added.

Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam, the GEM steam traps use the 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, it provides reliability, necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

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

The GEM steam traps provide a fast payback - on some processes within a matter of days - from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability due to a reduction in damaging steam within the condensate system.

In addition, it improves product processing by enhancing the quality of steam, which in turn reduces equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.