Posted to News on 11th Jan 2007, 21:58
High-tech bearings rescue traditional brewing process
Revolvo came to the rescue recently, manufacturing a special bearing assembly for a sparger arm, which is critical to the brewing process at Bathams brewery.
Revolvo's special bearing service was recently called upon to help safeguard nearly five generations of brewing excellence at Bathams, a renowned Black Country brewer in the West Midlands. At extremely short notice between brewing cycles, Revolvo manufactured a special assembly for a sparger arm, which is critical to the brewing process. The assembly comprises a stainless steel threaded pipe with a special thrust bearing at one end. The bearing features a hybrid design that utilises silicon nitride balls - of the type used on Formula 1 cars - to handle hot water contamination without suffering from corrosion.
The sparger arm is used in the mashing process, which is the most important of the brewing processes, as it is largely in the mash-tun that the character of the beer is determined. The mash-tun is a large metal vessel fitted with a false bottom composed of plates perforated with numerous small holes or slits. This arrangement is necessary in order to obtain a proper separation of the wort (the liquid portion of the finished mash) from the spent grains. The mash-tun is also provided with stirring apparatus so that the grist and liquor may be intimately mixed, and an automatic sprinkler, the sparger arm.
This sparger arm removes sugar from the malt through washing. It is essentially an inverted 'T' with a bearing assembly at its junction that enables the arms to rotate through 360degrees under the driving action of extremely hot water at 82degC (180degF), which is then distributed evenly across the malt.
60-year-old design
At Bathams brewery, the sparger arm is made of bronze and dates back 60 years. As a result, when its central bearing failed due to contamination from hot water, it was not obvious who could offer the facilities to repair it. Luckily for Bathams, one of its operatives had heard of Revolvo; even more fortunate was that Revolvo was situated just three miles down the road.
The Sparger arm was removed and taken to Revolvo's manufacturing base in Dudley. There it was dismantled, and consideration was given to the best method of repair. Given the difficult conditions under which the arm operates, Revolvo's engineers were keen to provide a design that was inherently reliable and would provide longer life. Both of these objectives have been achieved with a unique device comprising a stainless steel threaded pipe with a ceramic-balled thrust bearing.
Adrian Menzies, Sales and Marketing Director for Revolvo, comments: "The special bearing assembly for the sparger arm illustrates very effectively the versatility that Revolvo deploys to provide innovative solutions to specific bearing problems. The solution we have provided mixes the old with the new in the best possible way; enlisting the aid of technology used in the latest generation F1 cars to help maintain a brewing tradition that goes back 130 years."
