Grundfos Case Story: New Belgium Brewery Intelligent speed-controlled pumping solution helps Amercian brewery improve efficiency, reliability and sustainability INTRODUCTION To meet growing demand while maintaining its commitment to sustainability, New Belgium Brewery, a Colorado-based US craft brewery, faced significant challenges with its aging infrastructure. They reached out to a local Grundfos distribution partner, Denver Industrial Pumps, for advice on upgrading their cooling system to increase efficiency and reliability. Denver Industrial worked with Grundfos to select a solution with an integrated Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) and industry-leading energy efficiency. New Belgium Brewery, headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, is one of the largest craft breweries in the United States, renowned for its flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale. A Certified B Corporation*, New Belgium Brewery is highly committed to sustainability, upholding strong environmental and social standards, minimising waste, conserving water and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. THE SITUATION Although the brewery continually invested in cutting-edge technologies, their ammonia and evaporative cooling systems – essential for regulating temperatures during brewing – relied on outdated, inefficient and difficult to maintain pumps. With their original pumps discontinued and production demands at an all- time high – New Belgium Brewery needed a reliable solution to modernise its systems and minimise disruptions. Denver Industrial recommended Grundfos NBSE end-suction pumps powered by a Grundfos MLE motor with an integrated VFD, as it was an intelligent solution that adapts pump speed according to demand to achieve significant energy savings. However, New Belgium was unaware of the capabilities of VFD solutions and was just seeking a reliable upgrade to improve system efficiency and uptime. They were sceptical about the ability of MLE to manage controls without the support of a dedicated PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), which is usually required to provide insight about what is always going on in the plant. To address these concerns, the Grundfos team demonstrated the cascade function and multi-master control for redundant backup with the Grundfos MLE, an integrated VFD and permanent magnet IE5 motor, which is more energy efficient than regular motors. The demonstration convinced New Belgium Brewery’s IT team, and the maintenance manager was impressed by the simplicity of the MLE motor intelligence, insights and controllability, as well as the ease of maintenance offered by the NBSE pumps, where seals can be changed quickly on-site.
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