family brewery Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu
Dinkelacker reduces energy consumption and gains many insights
Brewing beer is an energy-intensive process. To limit consumption, breweries use energy recovery. Energy management in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001 enables further significant savings, which also pays off in terms of tax relief. The Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu family brewery shows how this can be implemented and also used for performance assurance, process optimization and as support for investment decisions.
Dinkelacker is not only committed to 100% quality, but also 100% sustainability. In addition to a modern value-added system and short, environmentally friendly transportation routes, this also includes ecological production. To this end, the Stuttgart-based brewery had an energy concept in place for which over 200 meters were recorded by hand, the data entered into Excel lists and linked here to form evaluations. "It was a lot of work and the evaluations were very rough and laborious to create," explains Julian Bonn, Head of Maintenance and Energy at Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu. In addition, the concept was relatively rigid and difficult to adapt to changing circumstances. Dinkelacker therefore decided to use the "econ4" energy management system from econ solutions as part of the introduction of certified energy management in accordance with DIN EN ISO 50001.
Modular system for gradual expansion
Dinkelacker started small: In addition to the five electricity meters from econ, four meters for compressed air volume flows and four steam meters were integrated into the econ system from the area of energy generation and conversion in the machine and boiler house, i.e. the measurement data ran automatically into the software.
Further licenses and devices were quickly added: eight measuring points were used to monitor the climate in the automated warehouse, followed by meters for the gas volumes that Dinkelacker purchases. Today, all energy data (electricity, steam quantities, gas, water, hot water, caustic) from over 200 meters from various manufacturers is fed into the software for evaluation. "This gives us transparency about all consumption throughout the company," adds Julian Bonn.
Some of the meters automatically transmit the data to econ4, while the remaining meter readings are recorded using the "econ mobile" app and a tablet PC using QR code recognition. "This has been very well received by our machine operators! They no longer have to calculate values for every meter, perhaps recalculate because they have miscounted or miscalculated somewhere, then write everything down and enter it in huge lists," explains the energy manager. "And thanks to the econ4 software's plausibility check, there are no more incorrect entries or typing errors."
"Our technical controlling department has also become aware of econ. We provide our colleagues with our own key figures, such as electricity consumption per cubic meter of compressed air. Practically all the key figures you can think of can be easily generated in econ. Various performance reports can also be quickly compiled individually and sent to management positions in-house or to external service providers."
Julian Bonn, Head of Maintenance and Energy at Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu
Basis for investment decisions
Dinkelacker also uses the econ system as a basis for investment decisions: Julian Bonn has developed mathematical models from the characteristic curves of the compressors, which he can use to run through different scenarios for various new compressor models and evaluate them in monetary terms. "This would not be possible without econ," says Julian Bonn. "You can see that: We use the system practically in its entirety and far beyond energy management."