Fulton Limited has celebrated 50 years of manufacturing heat transfer solutions in the UK by hosting a ceremony and party at the M-Shed in Bristol for distributors, dignitaries and employees past and present.
Established in Bristol in 1966 and initially manufacturing a range of vertical tubeless steam boilers primarily for the laundry and dry cleaning market, Fulton Limited is today an important manufacturing base in the corporation’s global network that also includes production facilities in the USA, Canada and China.
Ronald and Bramley Palm (the son and grandson of Lewis Palm, Fulton’s founder) from Fulton’s parent company in the USA flew in to attend the celebrations and, amongst others, were joined by former managing director and co-founder of Fulton Boiler Works, Ian Davidson, and former sales and marketing director Gordon Bareham, who were both asked to take to the floor and give speeches.
Congratulating employees past and present on their achievements over the past 50 years, Fulton Limited’s managing director Carl Knight says the company’s Bristol-based manufacturing and design facility makes it possible to design, engineer and manufacture products more efficiently and assemble completed units for whenever and wherever they are needed for domestic and export customers.
The achievements were echoed by Bramley Palm, CEO of the Fulton Group, who added that, with a pride in workmanship that is second-to-none, Fulton’s UK facility has been responsible for designing and manufacturing some of the corporation’s highest quality steam boilers and heat transfer systems. “The company has a solid reputation with great products and many more on the way,” says Bramley “and we’re looking forward to our future with the UK facility!”
During his speech on the day, former sales and marketing director Gordon Bareham says: “I joined Fulton in the early 1990s as the company was going through major changes in every department and further centralising its operations in Bristol. This meant building a new office block and investing in plant, machinery and an extensive mezzanine floor for storage and production offices at the former Broomhill Road facility. This was real proof of the owners’ commitment to the future of Fulton in the UK; and was quickly followed by the adoption of the ISO9001 Quality Assurance standard, with the British Standards Institute rating Fulton as an excellent example of a specialist manufacturer following and meeting the standard.
“However, perhaps the most progressive change for Fulton at that time – and a first for any UK-based steam boiler manufacturer – was the company’s move from simply manufacturing steam boilers, to designing and building skid-mounted and pre-fabricated packaged plant room heat transfer solutions, some of which didn’t even feature a Fulton boiler! While a steep learning curve for every department, Fulton succeeded and I’m proud to have played a part in what was a very important transition for the company.” says Gordon
For the company’s dignitaries, distributors and former employees, the celebrations started with a tour of the current Bristol manufacturing facility which, on the day, housed Fulton Limited’s largest ever plant room build featuring two of the company’s fuel-fired FB horizontal boilers.
Summarising, Gordon Bareham goes on to say that ten years ago, he organised the 40th Anniversary celebrations at the old facility in Broomhill Road and has fond memories of that day. “Today, when I see the magnificent new facility and the ‘monster’ plant room in build, together with the lavish celebrations, it is clear that Fulton has made great progress in the last ten years!”
Opened in September 2015, the £81m Diamond building is the University of Sheffield’s largest ever investment in learning and teaching. It is home to students from its Faculty of Engineering and over its six floors, provides teaching facilities, library and IT services and state-of-the-art specialist engineering laboratories, including a clean room, a virtual reality suite and a project workshop.
The Diamond is a multi-disciplinary engineering teaching space, utilised by all seven departments and three interdisciplinary programme areas. Of the many disciplines taught at The Diamond – from materials science and aerospace to traditional mechanical engineering – the University’s bio-engineering degree is an innovative and technology-driven subject that uses engineering techniques to analyse and solve some of the most important questions in biology and medicine today.
For this undertaking, the bio-engineering department required a source of low- and high-pressure steam and, having looked at numerous solutions and manufacturers from the UK and Europe, approached Fulton for advice and a solution.
Low and high pressure steam is used by the department for process control in the laboratory-scale Solaris bio fermenters. These are used to produce a variety of single-cell organisms that are used to break down cells, extract DNA and look at protein extraction and expression. High pressure steam is used for vessel sterilisation to ensure that both the vessels are bacteria-free and ready for the next broth batch.
Commenting for the University of Sheffield, The Diamond’s technical operations manager, Dr Stephen Mason says: “A method of raising steam wasn’t considered as part of the building’s original specification so we started looking at laboratory steam generators, but couldn’t find a solution to provide the mass flow rate required for the faculty. It therefore became obvious that we needed some fairly serious steam-raising equipment and started looking at alternative boiler systems.”
Having dismissed steam generators, Stephen and his team looked at fuel-fired steam boilers but, with their requirement for ancillary equipment, these ‘traditional’ systems would have taken up too much of the laboratory’s valuable space and also weren’t deemed compatible with the building’s existing infrastructure. Additionally, with steam load only being required during teaching sessions, it was essential that a system could be powered-up and operational with 30 minutes and shut down again within just a few hours.
So, the University’s operations team started looking at numerous alternatives from manufacturers in the UK and Europe and eventually opted for a bespoke, skid-mounted EFS electric steam boiler system from Bristol-based Fulton Limited.
“With the search for a suitable source of steam for the bio-engineering laboratory having taken longer than we had hoped, our principal performance requirement had moved from output and size, to lead time.” says Stephen. “And having opened discussions with manufacturers in early December, Fulton was the only supplier able to survey, design, deliver and install a bespoke system within the three-month timescale required of the University.”
To make The Diamond an integral part of the city centre and allow visitors to watch students studying, a large proportion of the building façade is glass and the plant room (pilot plant) within it also surrounded by a glass partition. Because the Fulton EFS electric flash steam boiler was placed within the laboratory and therefore on display to students and visitors alike, the system was skid-mounted with a blowdown vessel that was housed in an identical cabinet to the boiler. The system was then delivered to site and installed within the self-contained, glass-fronted pilot plant, which also housed the Solaris fermenter.
With the boiler system installed on the ground floor and located almost at the point-of-use for the laboratory, all safety and planning aspects were discussed with, and solved by Fulton, with excess steam from the system being vented to roof-level via convoluted risers.
Having successfully resolved the planning and health and safety aspects of the installation, Fulton was also tasked with discussing the fermenter’s requirements for process steam with Solaris, the Italian manufacturer.
“Having no first-hand knowledge of fermenters or steam raising equipment, the University was delighted when Fulton took the lead on discussing its conceptual and detailed designs with Solaris, as the two companies were able to ensure that its systems worked seamlessly together.” says Stephen.
Fulton’s four-model EFS range has been designed specifically to deliver the short period/high demand steam loads that are typical of laboratory applications. The fully-automatic and self-contained steam boiler range incorporates an integrated feed water tank and feed water pump and provides short duration steam pulses at steady pressures. The EFS is able to meet fluctuations in steam loads and meets short-term peak flow rates of a typical steriliser cycle.
EFS boilers are designed to reduce entrainment of water droplets to a minimum and, as a result, produce high quality, contaminant-free steam. They are also quiet, clean and efficient and are protected with a fail-safe control system to ensure trouble-free operation in medical environments.
Working from a 400V 3ph 50Hz electrical supply, the University of Sheffield’s boiler system was designed by Fulton to BS1894 Class 2 and PED EC/97/23/EC and included an EFS54 automatic carbon steel electric flash steam boiler, rated at 86kg/h (F&A 100°C). This was skid-mounted with a Fulton model BDV2 blowdown vessel was constructed and certified to BS5500 Cat. 3.
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.
Set in 700 acres of glorious, unspoilt Hertfordshire countryside, Tewin Bury Farm Hotel features a series of barns and 17th Century outbuildings converted to a bar, restaurant and bedrooms and providing a venue for residents, non-residents, weddings and corporate hospitality events.
In 2012, and with a laundry bill that was approaching £80,000 a year, owner/operator Vaughan Williams decided it was time to take control and began to investigate operating his own on-site laundry. He quickly found himself being directed to heat transfer specialist Fulton and discussing his requirements for steam.
Commenting on the decision-making process, Vaughan Williams says: “We don’t have a suitable electricity supply at the site to run an all-electric laundry system, so opted for an oil-fired solution. I did a lot of research into similar hotel laundries, visited numerous sites and discussed the options with several laundry-based installers – and everything pointed towards specifying steam, provided by a Fulton boiler.”
The steam system installed at the hotel is based on a Fulton J Series boiler, which operates the laundry’s dry cleaning section and its larger steam laundry driers, washers and ironers. The J Series is also used for the laundry’s backup dryer and smaller roller ironer.
“The service and support from Fulton’s sales engineer during the planning stages was second-to-none,” says Vaughan: “and the Fulton customers I spoke to were enthusiastic about their experience of the company and its products. It certainly reassured me and I was happy to give Fulton my order.”
In fact, Vaughan was so impressed with Fulton that he signed an on-going servicing and maintenance contract with the company as part of a plan to maximise its potential.
With the comprehensive £200,000 laundry facility now fully operational, it is being used five days a week having secured laundry contracts from other local businesses including a golf club and hotel; and Vaughan is well on his way to meeting or bettering his five-year investment plan.
Additionally, looking to further diversify his offering from the farm’s 700-acres of arable land, Vaughan is looking to introduce malting barley to the crops grown and, with the spare steam capacity in the Fulton-based boiler system, feels that he is already half way to setting up his own microbrewery and using steam throughout the process.
“A microbrewery seems the perfect fit.” says Vaughan. “We have the capacity in the farm’s land to grow the right crop and capacity in the steam system for the brewing process. What’s more, we will also have the hotel’s guests who will be potential customers for the beer!”
Fulton’s renowned ‘J’ Series vertical gas- and oil-fired steam boiler range includes eight models with outputs from 96 to 960 kg/h. The simple design and robust construction from quality materials makes the boilers ideal for arduous applications in a wide range of industries. The tubeless design, invented by Fulton, eliminates coils and tubes traditionally used in steam raising plant and also enable the J Series to raise its full steam output in just 20 minutes.
Fulton also has an enviable reputation for manufacturing fully prefabricated, skid-mounted systems and plant rooms offering high levels of efficiency and reliability. Systems are manufactured in Britain to BS2790 1992 Class 1 and are available for electric-, gas-, oil- and dual-fuel firing, with steam duties from 14 kg/h to 4787 kg/h F&A 100ºC. All systems are designed to be delivered to site and installed on a prepared concrete base. Final installation is made easier by connecting to termination points pre-installed by the customer; and to ensure that new boiler plant matches existing site services, single or multiple skid-mounted systems based on Fulton’s vertical boilers are available complete with all necessary ancillary plant for a range of applications.
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.
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