This feasibility study report outlines potential opportunities to upgrade refrigeration and thermal systems at Plant 2 (P2) of George Weston Foods’ (GWF) DON KRC facility in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Report extract
The study resulted in the following findings:
- Steam substitution through waste heat usage is feasible for nearly all the P2 process loads
- The scale of the energy rejected from the refrigeration systems on the site is in line with the total steam demand for the site
- Ammonia use in the P2 can be reduced by 80% with implementation of glycol cooling distribution
- Consolidation of refrigeration to one location can provide operational benefits and reduce operational impact during construction but produces challenges for siting on the space constrained site
- Heat pumps are an effective means of utilising waste heat from refrigeration systems to provide useful heat for steam substitution
- The expected budgetary capital cost of the refrigeration and heating systems upgrade in P2 is $27.6m
- The cost of consolidation and modernisation of the refrigeration plant alone has been previously estimated at $11m
- The project will save over $600k per annum in operating cost and reduce site natural gas use by 24%
