SALM REMOTE MASH AND WORT HEATING SYSTEM:

The History: The classical heating of the brewkettle is either the direct firing of the bottom of the kettle or the direct steam heating of the double-walled kettle. Both technologies were designed for larger scale kettles, as the diameter was relatively wide and the available heating surface was also relatively large. The mostly limited space in restaurants required to enlarge the height of the brewkettles and the maximum standard transportation width of 2,30 meters (for containers) limited the diameter. By reducing the diameter, the bottom sided heating surface was also reduced and the initial heat supply remained the same. The result is an overheating and the mash and wort cannot transport this heat any more without burning and darkening.
Another problem is the boiler room regulation in Germany, Austria and many other European and Asian countries. This regulations stipulates from which boiler capacity the boiler has to be installed in a certified boiler room with separate air supply from outside, fire resistance (for example T60, T90 etc.), a separate air outtake, emergency shutdown switch outside the room and so on. With direct firing of the kettle and a heating capacity of for example 40 kW (would be required for a 5 hl brewhouse using decoction mash method), this system has to be installed in a certified boiler room, which is impossible with direct firing.

The solution was the design of an external heating system but not steam heating, because this requires a dual heat transfer and causes thermical losses. The SALM External Mash & Wort Heater heats mash and wort, which is continuously pumped by a special pump between kettle and boiler, directly by a atmospheric gas burner (5, 8 and 10 hl) or a fan burner. On request this can also be done by steam. The secret of this successful system is the smooth heating with a temperature difference of only 4.5°C between intake and outlet. In case of direct firing of the kettle the temperature difference would be far higher. This unique system is patented.

The Regulation (patents) is also very special: Most systems regulate the burner according to a set point capacity whereas the BREWMATIC brewhouse computer system regulates the burner according to a calculated time/temperature ramp and this signal is transferred as a three step incremented power setting to the burner or as a fully modulating smooth signal to the blow burners of the latest generation. At the big external heaters a burner of the company Weishaupt is converted accordingly for this special regulation task. The result is the most energy saving heating system for brewhouses in the entire world. With only 1.63 m³ natural gas/hl hot wort (brewed in single decoction mashing with a mashing temperature of 52°C, 12°B, 60 minutes wort pressure boiling) the energy costs are only a minor matter. By comparison, the energy consumption of traditional heating system is often 3 to 4 times higher.