Removal of grist and char from whisky
Glen Moray Distillery is a Speyside distillery producing single malt Scotch whisky. Situated on the banks of the River Lossie in Elgin, Moray the distillery started production in September 1897. The distillery expanded in 2012 to produce 3,300,000 litres annually from three wash stills and three spirit stills. 2016 saw further expansion and development of the site with a growth in production to around 6,000,000 litres annually predicted.
Production Manager Graham Spence first contacted Fileder as he was having issues with the plate heat exchanger, which cools the wort down prior to fermentation after the mash tun. The plates were blocking with grist that was not being removed by the initial strainer within the mash tun. In addition, he wanted to remove the majority of the char, following disgorging the whisky from the casks into the tankers that take the finished whisky to Edinburgh for bottling.
Fileder advised that bag filtration would be suitable for solving all of the issues highlighted by Graham. On the production side, Fileder supplied two of the SPECTRUM standard bag housings (SBH-SPC-1-2-2-GPML) and the SPECTRUM Economic size two nylon bags at 800 micron (EBEN-800-2). The first is used to prevent the residual grist in the wort from blocking up the heat exchanger plates. The second filter housing is used for removing the grist from the third water that is added to the mash tun, which is then sent to the mashing tank to be used as the first water for the next batch. For the vatting side, Fileder supplied two of the SPECTRUM standard bag housings (SBH-SPC-1-2-2-GPML) to be fitted in series. The first of which, taking out the larger char particles using a SPECTRUM Economic size two 200 micron bag (EBPP-200-2) and the second removing the smaller char particles using a SPECTRUM Economic size two 50 micron bag (EBPP-50-2).
Graham said, “I am really pleased with the quality of the housings and the bags which do their job well and are long lasting. The plate heat exchanger no longer blocks and clean downs of the mash tun are now easier and quicker. Filtering the whisky before the tankers means the tankers do not get clogged up with char.”
Fileder Filter Systems is one of the largest independent process filtration and water treatment supplier in the UK. A wide range of filtration and water treatment products are available to order for next day delivery, including carbon blocks, pleated and depth cartridges, housings and RO systems.
