Birds Eye Lowestoft – GRP Cooling Tower Replacement | Vistech Case Study
Replacement Cooling Towers And Condensers With Virtually 100% Casing Corrosion Protection And 55% Reduction In Energy Consumption
Birds Eye's Lowestoft factory required replacement of ageing, heavily corroded evaporative condensers operating in a harsh coastal environment. Vistech delivered a turnkey GRP condenser installation that eliminated corrosion risk and reduced connected power by over 50%, making the new units the lead machines across the site.
The Challenge
Birds Eye’s Lowestoft factory faces the North Sea coastline and operates in a highly corrosive saline environment. The existing evaporative condensers were constructed from coated mild steel and had suffered from severe corrosion, driving up maintenance costs and threatening production reliability.
The factory operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so any replacement project had to be completed within a tight window between late winter and early spring, when colder temperatures reduce condensing demand. The old units had to be crane-lifted from the roof using a 350-tonne crane – dependent on favourable weather – with only millimetres of clearance from adjacent operational plant that could not be shut down.
Birds Eye identified six key requirements: high corrosion resistance, easy access for cleaning and maintenance, reduced energy consumption, low ongoing maintenance, a fully turnkey installation, and strict deadline compliance with zero production loss.
The Solution
Vistech introduced Birds Eye to GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) condensers from their EWK range – a concept the client had not previously considered. The GRP construction provides virtually 100% resistance to chloride attack found in biocides and the aggressive coastal environment, eliminating the corrosion issues that plagued the original mild steel units.
The new induced-draft condensers use a single 15kW fan and two 4.5kW pumps, compared to the original two 18kW fans plus a 1.5kW pump. This cut the installed connected power by over 50%, delivering significant ongoing energy savings for a 24/7 operation.
Vistech managed the complete project as a turnkey installation: enabling works during the Christmas shutdown, removal of existing condensers, installation of replacement GRP units including cranage, refrigeration pipework modifications, support steelwork, electrical installation, and new GRP access platforms. Both units were installed and operational within the schedule set by Birds Eye, despite weather interruptions.
The new condensers became the lead machines on site, with the older units retained for peak supplementary cooling only. During delivery, Birds Eye placed a further order with Vistech for a similar project at their Hull plant.
Scope of Works
Enabling Works
Preparatory works completed during the Christmas shutdown period ahead of the main installation.
Removal & Cranage
Removal of existing corroded evaporative condensers from the roof using a 350-tonne crane, working around adjacent live plant with millimetre tolerances.
GRP Condenser Installation
Supply and installation of two new EWK GRP evaporative condensers with induced-draft fan arrangement.
Mechanical & Electrical
Refrigeration pipework modifications, support steelwork, and full electrical installation for the new units.
Access Platforms
New GRP access platforms installed for safe maintenance access to the rooftop condensers.
Programme
Christmas Shutdown
Enabling works and site preparation carried out during the factory Christmas shutdown period.
February
Removal of first existing condenser and installation of first replacement GRP unit.
March
Removal of second existing condenser and installation of second replacement GRP unit. Final commissioning and handover.
“I would say they are very professional in what they do and they are very structured and organised. Technically, from a sales point of view they know what they are selling. They didn't try and sell us anything; they asked 'what are you looking to achieve' and they knew what they were talking about. They understand cooling towers and evaporative condensers very, very well. Absolutely we'd use them again, in fact we're now looking to use them to carry out a lot of refurbishment work on some of our other condensers. I would say that they are now our preferred first point of call for anything to do with cooling towers and condensers.”
— Colin Newson, Technical Services Manager, Birds Eye