Distillery Inspection

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ETHANOL LEAK INSPECTION Inspectahire were tasked with carrying out a non-instrusive Gas Find Thermographic survey of Lagavulin and Caol Ila distilleries on Islay during May 2013.The aims of the survey was to check the external vents outside the distilleries buildings for venting Ethanol Alcohol that is a known loss from the production stream. Other subjects which form part of the of the process were also included in the survey. At the Lagavulin distillery access to the eternal vents was gained via a two staged scaffold platform, this was situated at the back wall of the Still house. A man riding platform was used to acces the vents on the gable and of the still house building.Access to the vents at Caol Ila was achieved via a rooftop door way onto the top of the buliding and normal access to other parts of the process. All work was carried out in accordance with site procedures and all GF survey work was carried out under direct supervision of Diageo staff. The camera & gas monitor was energised and tested prior to being taken onto site. The survey was commenced by using the HSM, (High Sen- sitivity Mode) the area to be inspected was as- sessed at a stand off distance to ensure no major leaks were seen. If an area appeared clear of major leaks then a more detailed inspection was carreid out with a view to getting closer to the plant / pipework. At the Lagavulin disitillery the survey relvealed some extensive vapour loss, seen during certain parts of the process. One serious va- pour leak from the fines tank dipstick was discov- ered in the Safe Room and was easily fixed. Caol Isla revleaved some extensive vapour loss during the sur- vey, this was observed from the roof top vents. Other vapour loss was observed in the SRWV transfer mainly from the wood- ed tank lid and hatch as well as the vent. Vapour loss was also recorded in the transfer to tanker from this vessel.The leak spot- ted at Lagavulin, from the Fines tank in the Sprit Safe room was easily fixed using a temporary wooded wedge to seal the hole where the dip stick had previously been located. This cut down the vapour loss immediately. The vents that vapor was seen emitting from were fuctioning correctly but further engineering will be required to reduce the volumes of Ethanol vent- ing into the atmosphere. There was gas monitors used during the surveys, however this did not ap- pear sensitive enough to detect the vapor emission, unless held directly in the vapor stream. A better gas monitoring process was recommended i.e. pump style monitors and or fixed gas detection systems. At Caol Ila, the main area looked at during the inspection was the roof top vents, these showed high volumes of vapor loss during transfers and production, again some engineering solution will be required to reduce these losses. Other losses were observed in the transfer from the IBC to the SRWV. On the SRWV the wood- ed hatch on the vessel was seen to be leaking extensively and loses from the tanker hatches was also noted during transfer. Again the Gas Monitors used during the work did not detect any gas in the atmosphere and in one event the monitor was placed directly on top of the hatch on the SRWV during transfer without it detecting any gas or going into alarm mode.Although a small volume leak was observed from the dip stick in the Sprit Safe area during the survey. I NSPECTAHIRE is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of specialist remote visual inspection technology and solutions to companies around the world. Inspectahire have become experts in carrying out distilleries inspections. They have a large amount of experience successfully carrying out this form of inspection. Often a Gas Find thermal imagaing cam- era is used to determine the condition site. If any gases are emitting from any form of subject, the camera will identify and locate them. Inspectahire have a large range of technology relevant to the distillery industry.An example of these inspection skills and technology are covered in this document. Find out more: T: 44 (0) 1224 789692 E: [email protected] W: www.Inspectahire.com Distillery Inspection Caol lla: Roof vents from wash back, clear emision shown. Image taken with GF320 thermal camera.

Transcript of Distillery Inspection

Page 1: Distillery Inspection

ETHANOL LEAK INSPECTION

Inspectahire were tasked with carrying out a non-instrusive Gas Find Thermographic survey of Lagavulin and Caol Ila distilleries on Islay during May 2013.The aims of the survey was to check the external vents outside the distilleries buildings for venting Ethanol Alcohol that is a known loss from the production stream. Other subjects which form part of the of the process were also included in the survey.

At the Lagavulin distillery access to the eternal vents was gained via a two staged scaffold platform, this was situated at the back wall of the Still house. A man riding platform was used to acces the vents on the gable and of the still house building.Access to the vents at Caol Ila was achieved via a rooftop door way onto the top of the buliding and normal access to other parts of the process.

All work was carried out in accordance with site procedures and all GF survey work was carried out under direct supervision of Diageo staff. The camera & gas monitor was energised and

tested prior to being taken onto site. The survey was commenced by using the HSM, (High Sen-

sitivity Mode) the area to be inspected was as-sessed at a stand off distance to ensure no

major leaks were seen. If an area appeared clear of major leaks then a more detailed inspection was carreid out with a view to getting closer to the plant / pipework.

At the Lagavulin disitillery the survey relvealed some extensive vapour

loss, seen during certain parts of the process. One serious va-

pour leak from the fines tank dipstick was discov-ered in the Safe Room and was easily fixed. Caol Isla

revleaved some extensive vapour loss during the sur-vey, this was observed from

the roof top vents. Other vapour loss was observed

in the SRWV transfer mainly from the wood-

ed tank lid and hatch as well as the vent. Vapour loss was also recorded in the transfer to tanker from this vessel.The leak spot-ted at Lagavulin, from the Fines tank in the Sprit Safe room was easily fixed using a temporary wooded wedge to seal the hole where the dip stick had previously been located. This cut down the vapour loss immediately. The vents that vapor was seen emitting from were fuctioning correctly but further engineering will

be required to reduce the volumes of Ethanol vent-ing into the atmosphere. There was gas monitors used during the surveys, however this did not ap-pear sensitive enough to detect the vapor emission, unless held directly in the vapor stream. A better gas monitoring process was recommended i.e. pump style monitors and or fixed gas detection systems.

At Caol Ila, the main area looked at during the inspection was the roof top vents, these showed high volumes of vapor loss during transfers and production, again some engineering solution will be required to reduce these losses. Other losses were observed in the transfer from the IBC to the SRWV. On the SRWV the wood-ed hatch on the vessel was seen to be leaking extensively and loses from the tanker hatches was also noted during transfer. Again the Gas Monitors used during the work did not detect any gas in the atmosphere and in one event the monitor was placed directly on top of the hatch on the SRWV during transfer without it detecting any gas or going into alarm mode.Although a small volume leak was observed from the dip stick in the Sprit Safe area during the survey.

INSPECTAHIRE is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of specialist remote visual inspection technology and solutions to companies around the world. Inspectahire have become experts in carrying out distilleries inspections. They have a

large amount of experience successfully carrying out this form of inspection. Often a Gas Find thermal imagaing cam-era is used to determine the condition site. If any gases are emitting from any form of subject, the camera will identify and locate them. Inspectahire have a large range of technology relevant to the distillery industry.An example of these inspection skills and technology are covered in this document.

Find out more:T: 44 (0) 1224 789692

E: [email protected]: www.Inspectahire.com

Distillery Inspection

Caol lla: Roof vents from wash back, clear emision shown. Image taken with GF320 thermal camera.

Page 2: Distillery Inspection

WASH CONDENSER- IRIS INSPECTIONInspectahire were contacted to carry out a IRIS Inspection of No3 WASH Condenser at Clynelish Distillery, Brora, Sutherland. The inspection was carried in the Still room of Clynelish Distillery. This was also open to the public for tours. Distillery staff kept the tours away from the worksite.

The purpose of this inspection was to determine the general con-dition of the tubes and detect the presence of any wall loss due to internal or external tube defects. The tubes had not been cleaned prior to inspection but internal dirt was present in a small amount of the tubes that were examined. The Inspection was carried out using Iris Inspection Equipment .

Internal rotary inspection system (IRIS) is an ultrasonic method for the nondestructive testing of pipes and tubes. The IRIS probe is inserted into a tube that is flooded with water, and the probe is pulled out slowly as the data is displayed and recorded. The ultrasonic beam allows detection of metal loss from the inside and outside of the tube wall.

The bundles were of a straight tube type, with access to one end.The length of the condenser was broken down into 4 sections for measuring, these are as follows.

Area 1- 3200mm - 2400mmArea 2- 2400mm- 1600mmArea 3- 1600mm- 800mmArea 4 - 800mm- Top Sheet

The Condenser tubes were numbered in rows, with row 1 facing the windows in the Still House. All numbering of the tubes was done from left to right. All of the tubes that were examined showed some signs of all round external erosion this, was from moderate to severe in all tubes in the condenser.

A very small amount of the tubes were dirty internally, this did not affect the detecting of the defects as these were easily identified.No 3 Wash Condenser contained 171 Tubes, 17 of these were plugged.154 tubes were inspected.All of the tubes inspected were found to suffer to some degree from all round external ero-sion.84% of the 154 Tubes that were examined had wall loss of 2mm or greater.

IRIS Results: As shown on screen

THERMOGRAPHIC SURVEY

Inspectahire carried out a GasFind Thermographic survey of Glen Ord Maltings at Muir of Ord. The aim of the survey was to check for Sulphur Dioxide leaks when Sulphur Dioxide pellets were burnt. The inspection was carried out on Kiln No. 1 from a mobile scaffold platform within the Kiln area of the Maltings plant.

The kiln and surrounding area was surveyed with the FLIR camera, any unusual indication were noted and investigated with the SO2 detector. The SO2 found high readings of 55ppm in the top corner of the mezzanine landing. It was then noted that high readings were discovered higher up the Roof space of the kiln. There was a crack from which dissipated heat from the fan penetration into the roof/floor, also there was a heat leak noted from the bottom of the kiln door but no SO2 was detected. An area was detected over the kiln door where heat loss was clear. The top of the kiln was also emitting heat. There was an area on the kiln wall beside the control panel where heat loss was detected. During the inspection two separate loads of SO2 was burnt to aid detection of SO2.

From the findings it was deduced that the leak was coming from the fan roof/floor penetration, this was backed up from the findings from the other kilns. This could not be backed up with gas readings as there had already been two SO2 loads burnt in the Kiln. It was recommended that the roof/floor penetration needed to be sealed, also some of the Klins refractory needed to be repaired.

THE FLIR GF320

Inspectahire are a frim beleiver in the technology which goes into the thermal imaging cameras, the fact that in this inspection the gas monitors on site did not detect any leaks shows there worth. It is often the case that in similar inspections the cameras will identfiy emissions previously missed by other technolgoies. The FLIR GF320 is a revolutionary infrared camera capable of finding methane emissions or other volatile organic compounds (VOC). It really is unbeatable when detecting even the smallest gas leaks.