Brewery Huyghe in Melle, Belgium aims to be the most sustainable brewery. The focus is on water usage and, consequently, the energy consumption of the pumps. To meet these challenges, Brewery Huyghe chose speed-controlled E-pumps from Grundfos that regulate pressure and flow.
In 2022, the brewery produced 295 thousand hectoliters and achieved a turnover of EUR 54 million. This makes it the sixth largest brewery in Belgium. The Delirium brand accounts for 63% of the turnover. In total, 27 types of beers are brewed.
The situation
Water is paramount for the brewery: it is the raw material for brewing beer. For this, the brewery uses pumped groundwater. Sustainability is in the DNA of Brewery Huyghe. The brewery is the initiator of the Green Deal Brewers, an agreement between national and regional government, and the Flemish breweries, to reduce water consumption in the production process and pump less groundwater. Brewery Huyghe’s goal was 2.6 liters of water per liter of beer.
We now use 3 liters, in 2008 it was 8.5 liters per liter of beer. Much less than 2.6 liters will not be possible due to the large number of beer varieties we brew. In total, we now save 105,203 cubic meters of water per year with the current production compared to 2008.
The solution
The brewery chose Grundfos for the pumps for the water circuit in the brewery: pumping groundwater for brewing beer and the distribution network in the brewery. Brewery Huyghe left the choice of pump type and characteristics to Grundfos, resulting in the installation of CRE vertical, multistage centrifugal pumps. The CRE is an E-pump, meaning it comes with an IE5-rated MGE motor with an integrated variable frequency drive for pump speed control, which delivers the highest levels of energy efficiency.
The frequency controllers regulate the pressure and flow of the pumps, optimising energy consumption. And if the pump does not need to run, it stops automatically, and there is no electricity consumption.
“In particular, we are impressed by the integrated frequency controllers on the pump,” says Patrick Vansteenkiste, Technical Service, Brewery Huyghe. “We don’t need a separate, large control cabinet. This makes a big difference in costs. We did the necessary tests and the results were very good – when pump speed is halved, the power decreases to the third power.”
Brewery Huyghe periodically monitors energy and water consumption. Because the brewery is constantly expanding and new pipelines and pumps are being installed, the company does not yet have an integrated automation system where the pumps are connected. However, there is a long-term plan to extract more big data from the brewery, where the idea is to predict breakdowns before they happen.
Pieter Careel, Technical Service at Brewery Huyghe behind a row of CRE pumps.
The outcome
The biggest saving achieved by the brewery is through the reuse of treated wastewater from the brewery. This water, which meets drinking water quality standards, is stored in buffer tanks and used in the brewery for cleaning the production area, installations and tanks. The treatment of wastewater is done using a reverse osmosis membrane installation, including Grundfos DDA SMART Digital DosingTM pumps.
“Since 2019, we have had two installations with a total capacity of 16 cubic meters net per hour. The treated wastewater is not used for brewing beer – for that, we use groundwater,” emphasises Pieter Careel, Technical Service, Brewery Huyghe. “Thanks to the design of the reverse osmosis installation, the choice of efficient pumps and the right choice of membranes, energy consumption is kept as low as possible.”
Dries Van Acker, Sales Engineer at Grundfos (left) and Pieter Careel,Technical Service at Brewery Huyghe (right).
For Brewery Huyghe, the purchased electricity consumption was 27.5 kWh per hectoliter of beer in 2008, now it is 11 kWh, partly due to the frequency controllers. The installation of the pumps was outsourced by the brewery to an external partner.
“For us, it is of secondary importance where the pump is purchased. The user is also our customer, also where the purchase is through an external partner,” explains Dries Van Acker, Sales Engineer, Grundfos. “For this reason, it is important to keep in touch with Brewery Huyghe and provide them with the necessary service directly, or indirectly through the installer.”
Brewery Huyghe and sustainability
The Green Deal Brewers agreement is signed by the Flemish Government, Fevia Vlaanderen, de Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij, Vlakwa, and the Flemish breweries, and aims to reduce water consumption in the production process and pump less groundwater.
In addition, Brewery Huyghe also signed the VOKA Sustainability Charter (VCDO). The sustainability actions of the charter are linked to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN. Huyghe has already achieved a Pioneer and a Champion certificate. Now the brewery hopes to achieve the highest, the Ambassador certificate. Unitar, the UN Institute for Training and Research, awards the international certificates.
Brewery Huyghe has implemented a number of actions in support of SDG 6 ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’.
Cleaning the production area with treated wastewater from the RO installation.
CRE:
Vertical, multistage centrifugal pumps with integrated frequency converter. The CRE uses the IE5-rated MGE motor with an integrated variable frequency drive for variable pump speed control, which delivers the highest levels of energy-efficiency.
CRN:
Vertical, multistage centrifugal pumps with pump materials in contact with the liquid in high-grade stainless steel (EN 1.4401) for corrosion resistance.
DDA SMART Digital DosingTM:
Recognised as the highest performing and most accurate dosing pump available, the DDA offers accuracy and precision for complex and demanding applications.