It’s a double celebration for Fulton at Foodex 2016, as the company will be celebrating 50 years of UK manufacturing and using its stand to launch its latest heat transfer solution, the all-new, next-generation SRT Series.

Commenting for Fulton, sales and marketing manager Doug Howarth says: “This will be quite a year for Fulton. Not only are we celebrating 50 years of manufacturing in the UK, but we’re also launching a great new heat transfer solution that we believe to be the most radical change in steam boiler design since we pioneered the vertical tubeless boiler in 1949!”

By adopting a systems engineering approach to design and using its own ‘PURE’ technology, Fulton’s SRT Series challenges the heat transfer and mechanical design principles of traditional vertical steam boilers.

With over 30 worldwide patents pending, the new vertical boiler’s spiral-rib tubeless design is a world first that has enabled Fulton to create a compact boiler with the industry’s smallest footprint. In fact, compared to the equivalent 30hp model from the company’s renowned J Series, the SRT Series is an impressive 40% smaller.

Using a combination of in-house modelling with computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis, the ‘PURE Optimised’ design of the SRT Series makes the new boiler durable and reliable in operation; and with up to 6:1 turndown and featuring a fully-modulating burner, the SRT also boasts industry-leading performance with an 84.5% Gross (93.5% Net) thermal efficiency and 99.5% steam quality from a fully-water-backed design with no refractory.

The SRT Series features patented, self-compensating stress relief architecture that virtually removes longitudinal stress and deflection absorption. And, to comply with anticipated EU regulations, the boiler’s combustion technology has also been completely reconfigured, with the mesh burner and furnace designed as a single component, resulting in ultra-low NOx emissions of less than 40mg/kWh.

Fulton has further reason to celebrate at Foodex, as 2016 sees the company celebrate 50 years of UK manufacturing, with the Bristol-based facility now an important design and manufacturing base in Fulton’s global network, which includes production facilities in the USA and China.

As Doug Howarth explains, Fulton concentrated on steam boiler manufacturer for many years, but the company is now a major solutions-based provider specialising in fully-packaged, ready-to-ship steam, hot water and thermal fluid heat transfer systems.

“We put great emphasis on providing sales and application advice and a full commissioning and after sales service, to a growing customer base in numerous sectors including food processing, brewing and distilling, etc.” says Doug.

For further information on the SRT Series, call Fulton on 0117 972 3322, email sales@fulton.co.uk or visit Fulton’s new-look website at www.fulton.co.uk.

As part of a move to enhance its UK sales operations, heat transfer specialist Fulton has appointed Andrew Robinson as national business development manager and restructured its existing territories.

Andrew Robinson joins Fulton with significant experience in the industry, having worked for numerous steam specialists including Spirax Sarco, Byworth and, more recently, Torishima. He will be responsible for driving new sales of Fulton’s steam, hot water and thermal oil products and will take overall responsibility for many of the company’s larger heat transfer projects.

Commenting for Fulton, managing director Carl Knight says: “With new products being launched to the market imminently, Andrew joins the company at an exciting time and his experience and knowledge of heat transfer systems are of real value when advising Fulton customers.”

With the retirement of Keith Williams as area sales manager, Fulton has also taken the opportunity to restructure its existing sales territories in England, with Ruth Price taking responsibility for the North of England and North Wales, Andrew Elverd the South West and South Wales and Dean Jones the East Midlands and South East. Nicol Boilers, Energia Technologies and Concord Boiler Engineering will continue to represent Fulton in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively.

Andrew Robinson can be contacted via Fulton’s Bristol headquarters on 0117 972 3322, by email on andrew.robinson@fulton.co.uk, or via www.fulton.co.uk.

Established in Hammersmith in 2009, Sipsmith Distillery is a small, independent business that, using the first copper still to launch in London for almost 200 years, crafts truly artisanal gins and vodkas of uncompromising quality.

The distillery gives female names to each of its stills and the first, Prudence (designed and built by Carl Distilleries near Stuttgart, Germany), originally used electricity to power elements in the steam jacket surrounding it. But, as Sipsmith’s export market grew and production increased, the founders realised additional stills were required to meet demand. The company’s second still, named Patience, is another 300 litre still that also used electric elements to heat the steam jacket. But it wasn’t until a third and larger still – the 1,500 litre Constance – was required that the company decided to switch from an electrically-heated process to one using a steam boiler.

Commenting for Fulton, sales and marketing manager Doug Howarth says: “We visited Sipsmith Distillery when they were using German electrically-powered stills but wanted to install a gas-fired steam boiler for their new, larger premises. Our area manager discussed the specifications and options with them and an order was subsequently placed for a Fulton 20J vertical boiler and associated ancillaries. We continued to provide assistance and technical support throughout the installation and during commissioning.”

As Doug goes on to explain, many craft breweries and distilleries start off using electric but, as they reach the right size and output, quickly move to steam-based systems such as those from Fulton. “While electric systems can be quite efficient, they only heat the water required for the steam jacket, so are not as manageable or controllable as steam boiler based systems.” says Doug.

Felix James, Head of Operations at Sipsmith Distillery says: “For us, the difference is the same as cooking using electric or gas. Prudence and Patience both used electric elements initially but, to control the water temperature, you could only switch on or off the four elements in the steam jacket. And then there would be a delayed response as it would take time to transfer the energy through to the stills. With steam, once it’s turned down or off, the stills are very quick to shut down or respond to the temperature change.”

He goes on to say that unlike ‘big plant’ distillation processes that can produce a spirit in less than two hours, each Sipsmith gin or vodka distilling process takes up to eight or nine hours to complete.

Steam from the Fulton 20J boiler is gradually introduced into the still’s steam jacket until the alcoholic wash inside the still reaches 78.3 degrees centigrade, the boiling point of alcohol. As the wash boils and turns to vapour, it rises through the still’s helmet and swan’s neck before returning to liquid form in the condenser. After the initial ‘heads’ cut (containing methanol) and the final ‘tails’ cut are disposed of, the 1,500-litre Constance produces approximately 950 litres at still strength (82% for the gin and 90% for the vodka). This distilled liquid is then cut with water to create a bottling strength product that produces up to 2,500 bottles. The smaller 300 litre stills Prudence and Patience can produce up to 500 bottles each per run, with Patience currently being used to produce predominantly new products or for product development.

Explaining the reasons for specifying Fulton, Felix mentioned the ties with nearby Fuller’s Brewery which uses Fulton’s boilers in the brewing process. “Fulton are very well respected and, being a UK manufacturer, are very easy to deal with. We undertake our own water analysis every month but do have a service contract with Fulton, which visits the site every three months to conduct its own analysis and check the condition of the boiler and the system. This proved invaluable on one occasion when, between Fulton visits, we had dosed too much chemical into the feed water tank. However, Fulton was on hand, its technician was very helpful and offered the correct procedure for a solution.”

An additional benefit for the distillery is that all condensate from the boiler’s steam raising process is returned to the feed tank to reduce energy and further improve the system’s efficiency.

Looking to the future, Felix says that with the Fulton boiler only being used to raise steam at 0.7 bar for the process, there is plenty of scope for expansion when the time comes to further increase production capacity.

The eight models in Fulton’s ‘J’ Series vertical boiler range can be supplied with gas, oil or dual-fuel burners, covers outputs from 96 to 960 kg/h and can raise its full steam output in just 20 minutes. Its simple design and robust construction makes them ideal for most brewing and distilling applications.

Following its recent appointment of Carl Knight as managing director, Fulton is continuing its restructuring with a further appointment. 

To ensure that the company has engineers specialising in all aspects of the heat transfer sector Fulton has, with immediate effect, announced the appointment of Ian Halliwell (pictured above) as its national thermal fluid specialist. Ian joins Fulton from Global Heat Transfer with more 13 years’ experience as a thermal fluid engineering support manager. 

Carl Knight says this is Fulton’s first dedicated thermal fluid appointment in the UK and means the company is now better placed to offer customers an unbiased review of their heat transfer requirements and can compare thermal systems to the conventional steam and electric alternatives.

Commenting on his appointment Ian says it is essential that Fulton’s new and existing customers are given the right advice, and he looks forward to ensuring that thermal fluid systems are recognised as a viable alternative to other heat transfer systems for many applications.

Fulton’s second appointment is Doug Howarth who, as sales manager, will take on the sales and marketing role from Carl. Doug joins Fulton from Wellman Robey, bringing with him over 14 years of sales, business development and account management experience in industrial/commercial boilers and burners. 

“Doug has considerable knowledge of industrial steam, thermal fluid, hot water and waste heat systems and his appointment will be a real benefit to Fulton.” says Carl. “He will also work closely with new and existing customers, advising them on the optimum boiler specification for their project.”

For further information from Fulton, call +44 (0)117 972 3322, email sales@fulton.co.uk or visit www.fulton.co.uk. 

Refood’s state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion plant in Widnes is a first-class recycling technology alternative. Diverting food waste from landfill, Refood is a trusted choice when converting commercial business food waste into green energy. In 2013, heat transfer specialist Fulton successfully tendered for the supply of a packaged hot water boiler system consisting of 12 FHE-250 modular hot water boilers for the Widnes site. 

Commenting on the decision making process, Shane Murray, group project manager for Saria (Refood’s parent company) says: “Fulton presented a solution to provide multiple small hot water boilers which, additionally, gave us spare capacity during scheduled maintenance or if one of the boilers malfunctioned. The Fulton design was also considerably better than anything we saw from their competitors."

Commercial food waste delivered to the Refood site is processed through an anaerobic digester, a natural method that – working in a similar way to a compost heap but on an industrial scale and in the absence of oxygen – biologically breaks down food material to produce biogas. Once the biogas is upgraded to the standard required, it is then injected back into the national grid.

Fulton’s boiler installation at Refood is providing multiple functions. Its two primary functions are to provide hot water for the cleaning of the site and hot water for washing and sterilisation of the food waste bins. The boiler system also provides heat to the pasteurisers prior to the anaerobic digesters. To comply with ABP regulations, legislation dictates that pasteurised food waste has to be maintained at 70 degrees centigrade for one hour. Heat from the boiler system is also used for the under floor heating system in the offices and other ancillary processes on site.

“We were so impressed with the design, installation and the fact that heat and hot water from Fulton’s boilers are used for so many functions, that we are also discussing maintenance packages with the company.” says Shane.

Fulton has an enviable reputation for manufacturing fully prefabricated, skid-mounted systems and plant rooms offering high levels of efficiency and reliability.

Fulton’s highly-efficient, low-temperature FHE-250 hot water boiler features a fully-condensing, stainless steel heat exchanger and its modular approach to design also means that additional boilers can be combined to suit any application and hot water requirement. With the complexity of control being a criticism of many hot water boilers available on the market today, the new FHE-250 uses a single control panel, which is capable of controlling a single unit or a modular installation.

Further information on the products and services available from Fulton can be found at www.fulton.co.uk by emailing sales@fulton.co.uk or by calling +44 (0)117 972 3322.