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Molson Brewery

CROSS-FLO Sieve Becomes Method of Choice for Bottle Washing

Handling wastewater from bottle washing operations requires equipment that can withstand attack from caustic solutions, broken glass, and so on. Only well-designed processing equipment survives. The 5% caustic solution generally used has a pH of between 8 and 14, and abrasive sand, ashes and debris of all types that come in contact with the bottles.

After Molson took over operation of a brewery in Lethbridge, Alberta, more than 15 years ago, it soon installed two Kason CROSS-FLO Static Dewatering Sieves to prepare washdown wastewater and bottle washing wastewater for discharge to the municipal treatment plant and curtail surcharges. These units have given years of trouble-free service requiring only routine maintenance to swab the decks weekly with a special solution to dissolve scale that otherwise accumulates on the profile wires.

A 5-foot-wide unit handles the corrosive and abrasive flow. The stainless steel screens have a 0.020" gap to remove all the solids coarser than 0.010". These screens have triangular profile bars arranged to take advantage of the "Coanda" effect — the tendency of a flowing stream to cling to the downstream edge of the preceding surface thus peeling thicker slices off the stream to pass through the slots enhancing the overall drain rate. Oversize particles slide down and discharge from the lower end of the screen panel.

A few years prior, Molson had acquired a 60" diameter Kason VIBROSCREEN to clarify caustic bottle wash when they took over a brewery in Barrie, Ontario. Recently, Barrie decided to retire the VIBROSCREEN and increase the flow rate by installing a CROSS-FLO similar to (but smaller than) the Lethbridge units that had demonstrated not only serviceability, but a much higher screening capacity than originally required.

The new Kason CROSS-FLO Dewatering Sieve is performing the task formerly handled by the VIBROSCREEN.

Apart from the increased flow, this has freed Barrier maintenance people of even the small amount of time the old VIBROSCREEN required for greasing, screen replacement, vibrator service and re-painting since the CROSS-FLO has no moving parts whatsoever, and is made entirely of stainless steel.

CROSS-FLO units are available in widths from 24 to 72 inches to accommodate differing flows. For greater flows, several units are frequently placed in parallel.

Screen Tips - Volume 4, Number 2 Summer 1989