Crown BevCan España completes heat recovery retrofit

In alignment with its commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, Crown BevCan España has successfully implemented a heat recovery retrofit on three large vacuum pumps at its Sevilla plant. Despite the complexity and cost of the upgrade, the system achieved full return on investment in just 15 months – significantly ahead of projections.

In 2020, Crown BevCan España installed three Pneumofore UV50 VS90 vacuum pumps – air-cooled units selected specifically for their suitability to the Spanish climate. These three pumps, with total 270kW installed power, replaced five screw pumps with total 375kW nominal power, reducing the nominal installed power by 28%. While this standard setup met the target of reduced electric power consumption, the company’s evolving sustainability objectives soon brought even better energy efficiency to the forefront.

Vacuum pumps and air compressors inherently dissipate most of their absorbed electrical energy as heat – a principle rooted in thermodynamics and fluid dynamics. While compressors typically generate more heat due to higher power consumption, vacuum pumps still represent a substantial opportunity for energy recovery. The retrofitting of existing vacuum systems to enable heat recovery thus offers a high-impact, cost-effective sustainability upgrade.

Recent years have seen a notable shift in can plant management, with increased presence of Sustainability Managers and engineering graduates trained in environmental efficiency. These professionals actively assess baseline consumption and identify opportunities for improvement based on metrics such as energy savings, emissions reduction, and return on investment (ROI) of new equipment or retrofitting, as shown here.

In this project, the retrofit was designed to recover waste heat by upgrading from the original oil/air cooling configuration to a combined oil/air and oil/water cooling system. The heat exchanger operated under the following conditions: incoming water at 26°C and outgoing water at 41°C. All retrofit kits were prepared by Pneumofore in advance and shipped ahead of the scheduled technician visit to minimise downtime and ensure seamless installation.

Installed in 2022, the retrofit included a comprehensive set of safety features to handle contingencies such as power failure, cooling water interruption, and system overheating. Despite the complexity, all three UV50 units – just two years old at the time – were retrofitted successfully, one at a time.

Initial ROI estimates suggested a two-year payback period, accounting for equipment, labour, and installation costs. However, post-installation evaluations conducted by the customer revealed that the investment was recouped in just 15 months – exceeding all expectations. The recovered thermal energy, generated through continuous 24/7 operation, provided measurable and ongoing cost savings while improving overall plant efficiency.