Thermal energy international’s gem traps provide 9.4% energy savings at Servizi Ospedalieri, Italy
Leading industrial laundry, Servizi Ospedalieri, is fulfilling its environmental pledge of reducing energy usage by installing the award winning GEM venturi orifice traps from Thermal Energy International. Trialled through Thermal Energy International’s Italian agent, Nuova Folati, at Servizi Ospedalieri’s plant in Porto Garibaldi, the laundry’s independent, technical assessors, IMAT S.r.l. of Rome, was able to verify that GEM steam traps have provided close to a 10% saving in energy consumption compared to newly installed mechanical traps.
Steam is used extensively throughout the laundry in the operation of tumble dryers, steam presses, dryers, ironing, wrapping and sterilisation. Prior to the installation of the GEM venturi orifice steam traps, Servizi Ospedalieri found its mechanical traps were failing open, closed and partially open.
As the traps were not regularly inspected, it was often sometime before it was found that the mechanical traps was not working, by which time the failed open steam traps were impacting on steam production by not returning condensate back to the boiler. This was costing the company 250 euros a month for each failed steam trap.
Looking for a solution to the problem, Mr. Bensi, Purchasing Manager, and Mr. De Marco, Technical and Production Manager at Servizi Ospedalieri, who had read about the GEM steam traps, decided to conduct a trial to evaluate the efficiency of the GEM trap against new mechanical traps using identical monitoring times and conditions. This was undertaken by NUOVA FOLATI/IMAT using a Vortex steam meter to measure the steam consumption of one of the main laundry’s steam processes.
The steam metering results were crucial in this exercise and confirmed that the laundry achieved almost 10% reduction in steam. These savings will provide the laundry with a very short-term payback and in addition it will have the added bonus of almost zero maintenance and a 10-year guarantee on the traps.
Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam, the highly efficient 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, it provides the ultimate in 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 hardwearing 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 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.
About Nuova Folati
The Company has been the exclusive distributor for the GEM venturi orifice steam trap in Italy since 2001 and now also for Spain. A specialist in the industrial laundry market, the Company has successfully installed GEM steam traps in laundries throughout Italy as well as in Spain. For more information visit www.nuovafolati.it
About Servizi Ospedalieri
Specialising in the health facility market, the company provides a range of services that include flat laundry; packaged workwear, including white coats and hospital staff uniforms as well as mattresses and pillows. The company also offers steam sterilisation treatment for laundry used in operating theatres.
About Thermal Energy International Inc.
Thermal Energy International Inc. is an innovative cleantech company providing a variety of proprietary and proven energy efficiency, emission reduction, water efficiency, and bioenergy products and solutions to the industrial, commercial and institutional markets worldwide. Thermal Energy is also a fully accredited professional engineering firm, and can offer advanced process and applications engineering services. By providing a unique mix of proprietary products together with process, energy, environmental, and financial expertise Thermal Energy is able to deliver significant financial and environmental benefits to our customers. Thermal Energy’s products include; GEM - Steam traps and condensate return systems, FLU-ACE - Direct contact condensing heat recovery, and Dry RexTM - Low temperature biomass drying systems. These award winning products have an excellent track record of longevity, proven reliability and performance and have been shown to provide significant energy savings, reduced GHG emissions, improved water efficiency, lower maintenance costs, improved product quality and increased production efficiency. Thermal Energy International Inc. has offices in Ottawa, Canada, Bristol, UK and Guangzhou, China. To find out more about Thermal Energy International Inc. (TSX-V: TMG), visit our website at http://www.thermalenergy.com.
Customer comments
No comments were found for Thermal energy international’s gem traps provide 9.4% energy savings at Servizi Ospedalieri, Italy. Be the first to comment!