GEA has a reputation for fulfilling the high hygienic demands made by the food and beverages industry with its production machinery. The companyâs Ahaus site produces not only milk and juice processing systems, but also heat exchangers for heating and cooling in aseptic procedures. The fitted tubes inside the pressure vessels coming into contact with the products are supplied by Schoeller Werk in Hellenthal, Germany. The specialist for longitudinally welded stainless steel tubes has also convinced the managers at GEA with a refined logistics concept.
The brewery and beverage industries are typical applications for GEA heat exchangers, where they are used for wort cooling/heating, flash pasteurization of beer and yeast, and the heating and cooling of wine. Users can choose from a large number of different heat exchanger designs, depending on the required production capacity and the physical properties of the product. GEA also develops customised designs on request to suit each specific application.
Regardless of the individual application, all heat exchangers function according to the same principle: the product flows through several straight inner tubes with a heat transfer medium flowing around them in a jacket tube. This structure equalises the differing heat expansion rates between the inner tube package and the jacket caused by high differences in temperature.
All heat exchangers have to fulfil the strict conditions imposed by the Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC. GEA was therefore looking for a reliable supplier of top quality longitudinally welded stainless steel tubes for use as product-conveying inner tubes fitted inside the heat exchangers. âWe know exactly what we need in terms of the tubes used in our aseptic systemsâ?, explains Christoph Oberrecht, purchaser PSC EMEA Central Procurement at GEA. âIn addition to high quality and the right value for money, it was also important for us to find an appropriate concept for the logistics. Schoeller Werk is the right partner to meet both of these requirements.
