28 April 2005

STOKVIS ENERGY OFFERING IMPROVED EFFICIENCY FOR SEME

The replacement of outdated and inefficient steam calorifiers at one of the country's largest army bases with plate heat exchangers from Stokvis Energy Systems has improved performance as well as living conditions.

Bordon Barracks near Alton in Hampshire, is home to the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (SEME), together with their logistical support, and covers such a large area that it is served by several different district heating schemes.

Serco is the main M&E consultancy overseeing the project for the MOD, while Pro-Weld  Marine Engineering Limited is the specialist package contractor carrying out the installation of all the Stokvis equipment and other mechanical services at the barracks.

Four Econoplate plate heat exchangers, together with buffer vessels, have been installed in three separate plant rooms, while ProWeld is currently undertaking the installation and commissioning of three Stokvis boilers. This comprises a pair of R300 Econoflame boilers together with an R30 unit.

Michael Quinlan, a partner at Pro-Weld, comments: "We have had excellent results with Stokvis at Bordon Barracks. We have been more than happy with the Stokvis equipment and the back up.”

Stokvis Area Manager Andy Russell added: "The old leaking calorifiers were on a 130 degree hot water circuit and have been replaced by Econoplate packaged plate heat exchangers. There are now separate systems supplying the domestic hot water and the heating with the work to date being very successful in terms of temperature and operating efficiency."

Aside from the performance premium offered by the Stokvis boilers and plate heat exchangers, the compactness of the new plant and its practical design has freed up valuable space in the boiler rooms. This makes them a safer and far easier place to carry out future maintenance work.

The Stokvis Econoplate packaged plate heat exchangers offer the further benefit of eliminating, the risk of Legionella contamination, which is very often the primary motivation for replacing outmoded calorifiers.