Don Valley Engineering was asked to look at options for fuel savings on Fawcetts’ modern 60Te circular kiln. The vessel is indirectly heated with a gas fired medium pressure hot water system. The air off of grain bed for early parts of the cycle is saturated and not suitable for recirculation due to its high humidity.

DVE specified and installed, as a turnkey project, a special type of heat exchanger with glass tubes which is very efficient at recovering heat from the wet exhaust air off of the kiln grain bed. The heat exchanger has an annual average efficiency of over 80% with wet air and will give yearly fuel savings of around 25%.

The project included all the necessary ducting and support structure to integrate the heat exchanger and the facility to incorporate future further heat recovery from their adjacent malt roasting plant.

The project involved some complex interfaces with existing buildings and the requirement to provide safe access for maintenance and inspection. The project was completed on time, to budget and the plant is reliably bringing savings to our valued customer.