Gas-fired humidifiers slash cost at R&D site
A 65% reduction in the cost of producing steam for humidification at British American Tobacco’s R&D facility in Southampton is being achieved following the installation of two gas-fired humidifiers from JS Humidifiers. These Condair GS gas-fired humidifiers replaced the existing 10-year-old live steam humidification system.
Each of the new humidifiers can deliver up to 240 kg/h of steam to two AHUs feeding a test area that needs to be kept at 22°C and 60% RH ±5%.
Tobacco leaves, cut tobacco and paper readily dry out if the air is too dry. Tobacco degrades — resulting in shrinkage, weight loss, brittleness and shrinking.
The humidifier has a 360° flame encircling the burner to maximise thermal transfer to the heat exchanger and achieve a thermal efficiency of over 90%. Steam output can be modulated down to 10 kg/h.
JS also supplied OptiSorp short-evaporation steam lances to carry the steam into the ducts. Made from stainless steel, the OptiSorp steam distribution manifold achieves evaporation distances up to four times shorter than standard steam pipes.
