New ventilation system at Brauerei Gebr. Maisel
At breweries, the quality of the beer is no joke. For this reason, the technology used to produce high-quality beer is vitally important. The Brauerei Gebr. Maisel brewery has also recognized this fact and opted for a ventilation system from airinotec to modernize its production.
The traditional brewery from Bayreuth
Brauerei Gebr. Maisel in Bayreuth is probably one of the most well-known wheat beer breweries in Germany, having developed into one of the country's leading specialty breweries since it was founded in 1887. Under the leadership of Jeff Maisel, the development of family business in the fourth generation has gone so well in recent years with products such as Maisel's Weisse and Maisel & Friends that it has been able to invest in new plant technology. With the revival of the historic brewery site dating from 1887 in Bayreuth, including a hotel, restaurant, event rooms and coffee roastery, the brewery also has absolute cult status in the region.
Growth obliges... e.g. to be energy efficient
The Brauerei Gebr. Maisel brewery and Maisel's Bier-Erlebniswelt (Beer Adventure World) have grown in recent years, which is why more new plant technology has been installed. To meet today's hygiene standards, a low-germ production environment was mandatory, the new system components had to be easy to clean and VDI 6022 had to be observed. At the same time, energy efficiency had to be increased and employee working conditions improved. During the planning phase, special attention was paid to the production-related particularities of the beverage industry to achieve clearly defined room air conditions. The ventilation concept is based on the principle of layered ventilation, in which fresh air is blown in near the floor and exhaust air is extracted via load centers, such as bottle washing machines or other contaminated areas. The order comprised an entire ventilation system for the bottling hall, including automation technology. The total air volume is 75,000 m³/h with a room volume of about 25,000 m³.
The system can be controlled as required using automation software developed in-house. An intelligent solution to further increase the efficiency of the system.
A complex building situation
The project for Maisel's new bottling line installation took three years. Due to the tight timeframe for conversion work on the process technology, the air technology had to be installed in the existing building while bottling operations continued. The installation of the new ventilation system was sometimes only possible during non-production times, for example, on the weekend. Production always had priority. Another challenge was the existing roof construction, which could only support additional weight loads from the ventilation technology to a limited extent. The air distribution system therefore had to be adapted to the load-bearing capacity of the roof. The existing exhaust air duct made of prestressed concrete was integrated into the new system concept and adapted to the current hygiene requirements by means of special coating measures.
Ventilation concept with zone control
The entire bottling hall consists of three areas with different load characteristics. To take these different heat and humidity loads into account, the airinotec team developed a concept with zone control for the three areas. Demand-based control of the different load conditions means that the respective area is only supplied with the volume of air required to maintain the room conditions. As a result, energy will be able to be saved in the future in the form of electrical drive energy.
The ventilation system has a highly efficient heat recovery system in the form of a rotary heat exchanger. If necessary, heat recovery can be completely bypassed by means of additional bypass dampers in order to save drive energy for the fans.
Sustainability was also taken into consideration for the heating of the ventilation system. Hot water is generated from the waste heat of the bottle washing machine in order to conserve resources. If the waste heat no longer suffices for heating, additional primary energy can be supplied in the form of steam.
Another piece of the puzzle in airinotec's ventilation concept is the automation software developed in house based on Siemens Simatic S7 for ventilation systems in beverage bottling. With this software, the system can be controlled in a demand-based manner to minimize costs for electricity and heat – an intelligent solution that further increases the efficiency of the system. With the help of remote diagnostics, remote maintenance and service via VPN, airinotec can aid the customer at any time.
Successful project completion
Despite a challenging installation situation on site, the people responsible at Brauerei Gebr. Maisel and the team of engineers from airinotec were able to complete the project successfully. Thanks to close cooperation with the customer, the demanding installation could be carried out within the tight timeframe during the operation of the bottling plant. The team was met with new challenges time and again, as some sections of the building date back to the 1960s. Thanks to airinotec's structured project management and technical expertise, however, these challenges were overcome.
With the new bottling plant, Brauerei Gebr. Maisel has taken an important step towards climate neutrality. The energy savings resulting from the lower water and electricity consumption and the optimization of changeover times significantly increase production effectiveness.
