Breweries and maltings : their arrangement, construction, machinery, and plant

Preface To First Edition

The author, during* his practical experience in the various departments connected with the erection of breweries and maltings, with their relative machinery and plant, acquired during an engagement extending over a period of some years in the engineering department of Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, & Co.’s brewery, and subsequently as brewers’ consulting engineer and architect, has frequently heard the desire expressed by persons interested in the erection and working of breweries for some treatise upon the various important points involved in their arrangement and construction. The following pages have been prepared to meet this desideratum. The information has been given in a general form, as without knowing the special circumstances under which the various appliances require to be arranged and the machines to work, it might only have misled had any particular arrangement or make been mentioned and recommended. But the author will always be happy to afford any further information upon receiving particulars of the circumstance under which the machinery will have to work.

The estimates given as to the cost of erecting have

IV

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.

been prepared from work upon which the author has been engaged in different parts of the kingdom.

The plans and sections given have been specially prepared for this work by the author, and have been designed with a view to secure economy as well as efficiency in working.

To render the work more complete, a few tables and memoranda have been given, some of which have been calculated expressly for its pages, and will be found useful for the gauging of vessels, &c.

The List of Patents has been carefully arranged, specially for this work, and the author would advise anyone to refer to it before taking out a patent in connection with the subjects to which it refers.

The author takes this opportunity of acknowledging his obligations to many of his friends for the valuable suggestions and assistance rendered during his professional connection with them in past years.

18, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W.

Preface To Second Edition

The first edition of this work having been so well received, and as it lias now been out of print some time, from the numerous inquiries that have been made it was determined to issue a second edition, and to enlarge and nearly re-write the whole matter, adding all the latest improvements in plant and construction up to the present time.

In undertaking the above, I have endeavoured to make the book acceptable not only to brewers, but to anyone requiring practical information as to the construction of this class of work.

I have carefully avoided mentioning any special kind of manufacture, following the original idea of the first edition ; at the same time, I believe all plant, machinery, and apparatus used either in a large or small brewery, &c, has been described in detail. The book being designed for practical men, a short, terse description is only given.

Chapters I., Ill, IV, VIII, IX, XIII, XVII, XVIII, &c, have been entirely re-written, and all the other chapters have been revised, and much new matter added.

Vi PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

The Patent List, has been revised and brought up to the present time ; the accuracy of this may be relied upon.

Nearly all the drawings in this edition are new, and are prepared from works that have been executed in various parts of the kingdom.

It is hoped the work in its present form will be as favourably received as the first edition ; no effort has been spared to render it equally acceptable.

All “ brewing ” questions have, as before, been omitted, the architectural and engineering features being only treated.

Since going to press, alterations have been proposed in the Excise duties which will modify to some extent the construction of malt houses, especially as far as the old restrictions are concerned.

As regards the brewery department, it being proposed to take the duty at the fermenting tuns, some alterations in the plant may be required to carry out the new system, but nothing definite has yet been settled.

Frederick Colyer, M. Inst. C.E., M.I.M.E.,

Brewers Consulting Engineer and Architect.

18, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W., June, 1880.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. — Site — General Principle for Arrangement of

Buildings 1

Chapter I. Site — General Principle For Arrangement

OF BUILDINGS.

In selecting a site for the erection of a brewery, several matters have to be taken into consideration, the first and most important being the water supply, both as to quantity and quality. If any doubt exists respecting this, it will be advisable to sink a trial bore-hole ; should the result prove unsatisfactory, the sum spent in boring will have been well expended, having prevented a larger outlay, which would have proved, if not altogether a dead loss, yet nearly unremunerative. Many breweries have, however, been erected, and are now being worked satisfactorily in towns brewing from water supplied by the water companies, using the well water, which may not be suitable for brewing purposes, for refrigerating and washing. In some few instances the water supplied by the companies is used for all purposes, ice-making machinery being employed in the summer months for refrigerating.

When the water supply is decided, the next con-

ji

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS.

sideration is the position with regard to other buildings, as it is very advantageous to place a brewery in an open and airy site, particular care being taken to avoid the immediate vicinity of any gas-works or other factories from which offensive odours are given olf. This is a most important consideration, as, according to our best authorities, such odours prove detrimental to the production of a good, sound, and well-flavoured article. The disposal of the drainage also requires consideration ; if a brewery is situated some distance from a town, it may be necessary to erect settling and filtering tanks, because, should the sewage be allowed to pass direct into a stream or ditch in the summer months, it is certain to create a nuisance. As a rule, a perfectly level site is not to be preferred, as might naturally be supposed, to a site on rising ground, as the slope can generally be taken advantage of by placing the section of the building which contains the various utensils so that one will command another, saving pumping and labour, without necessitating any part of the buildings being a great height. Another point to be considered with regard to the site is the means of conveying the raw materials to the brewery, and delivering the beer. Arrangements should be made, where possible, to have a railway siding alongside, or the brewery may be placed with advantage on the banks of a river or canal, whereby the expense of cartage may be saved.

In selecting a site, particular attention should be

NATURE OF FOUNDATIONS.

paid to the nature of the soil with a view to securing a good and sound foundation. This is essential, seeing the great weight which the foundations have to carry. Trial holes should be opened, especially at points where treacherous soils are expected. Wherever any doubt exists as to the soundness of the soil, a layer of concrete should be placed in the bottom of the foundation trench on which the footings of the superincumbent wall rest. In the use of concrete, care should be taken to make it of good quality, to lay it properly in the trench, and to see that the layer be of sufficient thickness.

When concrete is to be used, it should be done under competent advice, as well for securing it of good quality as for the laying it down in a proper way* Soils viewed as foundation soils may be divided into three classes, on the peculiar features of each of which a few words may here be usefully given. To the first class belong solid rock, compact stony soil, some tufas and hard clay which yield only to the pick. These are practically incompressible, or if compressible, only in a degree so slight as not to affect the stability of the heaviest mass of masonry or brickwork which may be laid upon them, as they do not yield in a lateral direction. In some foundation soils of this class, fissures of greater or less width are sometimes met with which require certain precautions in forming the bottom. Slaty or shaly rocks require the greatest care in preparing for the foundations, as although when opened up they

n 2

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS.

at first present a perfectly hard substance, they are apt to disintegrate or yield under the influence of the atmosphere and rain. In such cases the foundations should be formed as rapidly as possible after the soil is opened up, and concrete may require to be judiciously used. In soils of this description, in stony earth and hard clays, the foundation trenches should be made of such depths as will enable the compact soil to be reached beneath the zone influenced by hard frosts, which have a tendency to loosen or disintegrate the soil. To the second class of foundation soils belong gravel and sand. These are practically incompressible under a heavy weight, but require in some cases to be confined at the sides to prevent them spreading out laterally ; should they have this tendency to give way, special means must be taken to prevent it. In sand, water is often met with, in which case special precautions will have to be taken.

Although we have put these soils under two classes in the order of their value, a soil of the second class may, nevertheless, be really a first-class soil. Thus gravel may be, and often is, found in such a condition that it may be ranked as a first-class soil for foundations, while clay may, on the other hand, be anything but a first-class soil. Indeed, in some cases there is no description of soil so treacherous and uncertain as this.

These remarks point to the importance of the strictest attention being paid to the filling in of

DESIGNING A BREWERY.

good foundation trenches. To the third class of soils belong all the varieties which have a tendency to move laterally; such soils require peculiar care, and the methods by which a good foundation is secured vary with circumstances. When clay puddling is used, the most scrupulous attention should be given to the placing of the layers of puddle. The thinner these layers are, the more compact will be the puddle when well rammed ; it is a great mistake to use too thick layers.

Designing a Brewery.

In planning a brewery, there are a few general principles to be considered, which we will now briefly point out. In the first place, the various utensils should be so designed as to allow the extension of the plant at a future time without disturbing the general arrangement. As far as possible the brewery should be designed to work by gravitation, avoiding all pumping (except pumping the liquor into the tank) ; that is, the hot liquor back should command the mash tun, the mash tun the underback and copper, the copper the hop back, and from the hop back the wort should flow to the coolers or receiver, and through the refrigerator to the fermenting tuns, &c. This arrangement, however good and economical, can seldom be carried out in practice in large breweries, it being obvious that part at least of the buildings must be carried to a great height. The more usual

G

ARRANGEMENT OP BUILDINGS.

plan is to arrange the plant in such a way that the liquor gravitates to the hop hack, the wort is then pumped to the coolers; it is considered by most brewers better to pump the “ boiled ” than the “ raw wort.” Again, by this arrangement there is a considerable saving of expense in erecting the coppers; if erected at a level sufficiently high to command the coolers, it necessitates carrying up heavy brickwork or ironwork to support them, and there is the constant expense of hoisting coal for working, entailing an amount of extra labour. As a general principle it is desirable to have the boilers, coppers, and hop back in a distinct building, as it keeps the brewery free from steam. The boilers should be so placed as to allow of their being removed when worn out without cutting them to pieces, so that new boilers can be taken in whole, as the work is not so sound if a boiler has to be riveted up after delivery. For small plants, when boiling by steam and where space is confined, it is occasionally advantageous to pump the “ raw wort ” and place the copper at the top of the building. The mash tun and hop back should be so situated that the grains and spent hops may be easily got rid of.

The tun-room windows should face the north, and if of large size the walls should be built hollow, so that the temperature of the room may remain at an equal degree all the year round. The roofs of tun room and over cooler should be tiled, as they resist heat better than slates, and in the case of the cooler

DRAINAGE.

the vapour from the wort is absorbed by the tiles, and is not condensed to drop back into the wort ; where slates are used over tun rooms the ceilings should be plastered.

The malt and hop lofts should be kept as close and as air-tight as possible ; but in all other parts there should be thorough ventilation. It is generally considered that malt keeps best in deep bins. These should be lined throughout with boards ; if the malt comes in contact with any external walls it is liable to become slack. These boards should be movable, in order to facilitate the removal of vermin ; divisions between the bins, if made of iron plates, do not form a harbour for weevils. Separate rooms must be provided for roasted malt and sugar, according to the Excise regulations.

Drains.— In arranging these, the following points should be considered. They should be laid out in straight lines and in as true gradients as possible; there should be cesspools at intervals for cleaning out, as on account of the quantity of spent hops, grains, &c., which get washed down, especially from the cooperage, the drains in a brewery are very liable to get choked. All inlets should be properly protected and fitted with traps. If the rain-water pipes are connected to the drains they can act as ventilating pipes ; in this case the joints must be made tight with lead. The best drains are constructed of earthenware pipes jointed with cement; where junctions occur they should not join at right angles, but should have easy bends. A

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS.

good fall, not less than 1 inch in 10 feet, should be given.

Floors, as far as possible, should be constructed fireproof, either brick, or concrete arches carried on iron girders and covered with asphalte, the small additional expense above wood floors being more than balanced by the advantages gained in the ease with which the buildings may be kept sweet by flushing the floors with an abundance of cold water, asphalte being impervious to damp, &c.

For the floors of cellars, and for the ground floors, the best materials in use are concrete and asphalte. Stone flags, stone blocks, tiles, or bricks, however good in some respects, do not give surfaces which are so easily kept clean as those formed of either the above-named materials. One advantage presented by asphalte and concrete should alone decide the point in their favour against any other material, and that is that floors formed of them present a perfectly uniform surface, having no joints or cracks into which dirt or water can get or lodge. In the formation of asphalte floors the greatest care is required ; unless this is exercised, “ faults ” will prevail in the form of cracks and hollow places worse than in the case of floors formed of stone, brick, or tiles. To ensure good work, a first-class foundation of concrete in Portland cement is absolutely necessary. This must be most carefully made, so as to have the whole surface uniform, hard, and unyielding throughout its whole extent. It is

CONSTRUCTION OF FLOORS.

scarcely necessary to say that the asphalte used must be of first-rate quality. Some asphalte is so poor, very little better than coal-tar mixed with sand or other hard substance, that it is not deserving the name, and assuredly is not worthy of being used where good work is deemed, as it ought to be, essential. We have found the Seyssel Asphalte (Claridge’s Patent) stand the heavy wear better than any other description.

But after considerable experience of its use, and having seen it applied under a wide variety of trying circumstances, we would strongly recommend Portland cement concrete to be used for the foundations of cellar and other floors where solid floors are admissible. This material, if the work he properly executed, makes a floor quite equal to the best stone : it forms a beautiful surface, easily kept clean, impervious to wet, and is, therefore, a good means of preventing damp rising from the ground, and by consequence water used in cleaning the brewery from soaking into it. (butters can be made in it with the greatest ease while laying the concrete, by simply using long pieces of timber, the edge of which is half-rounded, so as to give the desired width and depth to the groove. The whole operation of concrete floor-making is so simple that we have employed mere labourers, under a good foreman, to lay large surfaces, although they had no previous experience. Doubtless, some care is requisite to ensure a flat surface, and to give the

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS.

required fall to the gutters, but a very little experience will give the workmen confidence in laying this kind of floor, which is in every respect the best for all working-rooms. The following is a brief description of the mode of making concrete, and preparing the “ bottoming ” of stones for the concrete to rest upon, which should be large enough to pass through a 2-inch or 1^-inch ring. The best material to use for making the concrete is crushed or ground brick or small clinkers (not of coke) ; if these cannot be obtained, good sharp sand, sea or river, will do (we have used both with success). The broken brick, clinkers, or sand, are well mixed with Portland cement in the proportion of three parts of material to one of the cement, water being added to bring the whole to such a consistency as to be easily spread upon the floor. Not much should be mixed at a time, as it “ sets ” rapidly. The spreading should be begun at one end of the space, and gradually brought down to the other end, so that what is done he not trampled upon. Where parts must be passed over before the concrete is “ set,” plank hoards should he laid down. In forty-eight hours the surface will be quite hard enough to be walked over without injury, and in a week it will be as hard as stone, and will present the appearance of a floor of that material, solid, without a crack or flaw throughout its whole extent. Raised “ flags ” or stepping-stones may also he formed outside the door

MATERIALS FOR FLOORS.

of concrete. The concrete is made two inches in thickness, and is laid upon the rough surface of the “ bottoming,” which is formed of broken bricks, or road metal, of size sufficient to pass through a 2-inch or lf-inch ring. The depth of this bottoming is four inches, and the upper surface should be carefully levelled before beginning to lay the concrete on the top of it ; the full depth of the floor is, therefore, six inches.

“Portland cement” is made by mixing definite proportions of chalk and carbonate of lime with the argillaceous deposit of certain rivers, the waters of which flow over clay and chalk. In this country the Medway, or rather the bays and creeks on the sides of it, afford the best material. The cohesive strength of the cement made from these materials is very great — four times as much as that of the best hydraulic lime. When mixed with broken bricks it forms a concrete which is stronger than Portland stone in the proportion of 2*28 to 1*48. In purchasing Portland cement it is well to specify the weight per bushel. A good quality is that which weighs 110 lb. and upwards; some authorities prefer a lighter cement, as 100 to 105 lb., but experimental evidence is in favour of the heavier cement.

Iron being so generally used in construction, the following tables may be useful for reference. The first gives the safe load in tons that a cast-iron

ARRANGEMENT OF BUILDINGS.

hollow column is calculated to bear ; thickness of metal 1 inch : —

Length

Outside Diameter in Inches.

in

Feet.

tons

tons

tons

tons

tons

For general work rolled iron joists are the most convenient girders to use, and they can now be obtained 16 inches deep, and up to 30 feet in length. The next table gives the safe load in cwts., the weight being distributed equally over the whole length of the girder : —

Depth.

Width

of

Flanges.

Bearing in Feet.

in.

in.

cwts.

cwts.

cwts.

cwts.

cwts.

cwts.

H

5'

In certain cases where it is important that the ironwork should be perfectly rigid — such as the supports for slate vessels — cast iron is to be preferred for girders. The next table has been calculated,

IRON GIRDERS giving the safe load in tons, equally distributed over the girder : —

Depth

of

Width,

Bottom

Thickness of

Length of Bearing in Feet.

Girder.

Flange.

Metal.

in.

in.

in.

tons

tons

tons

tons

tons

7-0

5-8

4-5

9-5

8-0

6-6

5-0

• • if

14-0

11-7

9-0

8-0

7-0 if

17-5

14-5

11-7

10-0

8-7 if

26-0

22-0

18-0

15-0

13-0 if

31-5

26-0

21-0

18-0

15-7

Chapter II. Wells And Water

The position of the well being decided upon, the next consideration is the way in which it should be constructed. If the water obtained from the well is to be used for brewing, it is necessary to construct the wall to keep out all surface water, which, as a rule, is contaminated, and charged with organic matter. Generally, for wells of a moderate depth, and sunk through clay or similar strata, it is sufficient to have a lining or steining of brickwork, which, for wells of small diameter, may be inches thick, and larger sizes 9 inches thick. The upper part of the steining should be executed in cement, or in mortar made with hydraulic lime or Portland cement concrete ; if ordinary lime he used, the water will soon wash it out. In the remaining portion of the work the bricks should be laid dry, with occasional rings in cement or concrete. The method formerly employed for putting in the steining was to commence with a wooden curb upon which the bricks were placed. The earth was then removed below the curb, so as to allow the steining to settle; additional brickwork was added, and the excavation continued, this process being carried on till, from the swelling oi

SINKING WELLS.

the ground, the steining would be so tightly held that it could no longer settle. A second curb was then arranged inside the first, and the same process commenced again, the second excavation being as much smaller than the first as the thickness of the steining. The method now usually adopted, however, is to excavate as far as practically safe, depending upon the strata pierced, and to execute the steining of that portion, commencing with a ring in cement; a second portion is then excavated below the first, of the same diameter; and the steining is carried up to the under side of the first portion. Where, however, a well is to be constructed of a great depth, or through a sandy soil, or where it is necessary to sink through strong sand springs, although it may not be altogether impossible to execute the work as above described, yet it would be attended with an enormous amount of trouble. Under such circumstances, the modern practice is to line the well with iron cylinders instead of brickwork. The cylinders are made either of wrought or cast iron, cast iron being most usual in practice. The lower edge of the bottom or lowest cylinder is cast with a comparatively sharp or knife edge. The cylinder is placed in position, and the earth is excavated beneath it, allowing the cylinder to sink. A second cylinder is then placed on the top of the first and bolted to it, and additional earth is excavated, allowing the two cylinders to sink still further. This process is continued until the required depth has

WELLS AND WATER.

been obtained ; care must be taken that the cylinders sink vertically. It is generally advisable to ascertain, by means of a bore-hole, the nature of the strata through which the well is to be sunk, as in the event of a strong spring being met with, it is often sufficient to bore a 6-inch to 10-inch hole, lining the same with a copper pipe, perforated at the lower end, and thus save the expense of cast-iron cylinders ; it is also an advantage to have a good firm bed for the cylinders to rest on. The operation of boring is very simple in theory. The boring tools consist of a great variety of chisels used for cutting through rock and other hard substances ; augers used in clayey or similar soils, and also for clearing the bore-hole. The boring rods are usually made of wrought iron from 10 to 20 feet long and from 1 to 1J inch square, with a screw at one end and a socket at the other to connect them together, the first or top rod having a link for suspending the rods from, and immediately below this link are one or more holes for inserting the levers by which the boring tool is worked. If the well is of small diameter, as there would not be space for bringing sufficient leverage to bear upon the tools, it is necessary to work the tools from the surface. Where, however, the well is of large diameter, the tools are worked from a stage erected down the well. The mode of operation is as follows : — The selected tool is screwed to the lower rod, and a sufficient number of rods are connected, according to the depth of sinking through clay. It

MODE OF BORING.

is sufficient to give a rotary motion to the rods, by means of levers inserted in the top rod, as before mentioned. Where, however, the strata to be pierced is of a hard nature, a cutting chisel is attached to the rods, which are lifted a short distance by any convenient method, and allowed to drop, until, by this percussive action, a certain depth is obtained, after which the rods are withdrawn, and the fragments are removed by an auger. Where the borings are continued to a great depth, there is necessarily a great strain upon the rods, which, in consequence, occasionally give way. To meet these cases, there are certain tools constructed for the purpose of extracting broken rods. Where the spring of water met with in the boring is not strong, it is often desirable to enlarge the bottom of the well considerably to collect the water, and form a good reservoir for the pumps to draw from. An instance of this occurs at Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, & Co.’s, the well at that establishment being excavated some way into the chalk. At this level two tunnels are constructed about 7' 0" x 3' 0", running north and south for about 100 feet each way.

In place of lining the wells with bricks, Portland cement concrete is now being used with great success. The operation is very easily carried out in soils of ordinary tenacity and firmness; greater difficulty is of course met with in the case of loose soil or running sand. Where the well is of no great depth and the soil firm, so that an excavation

c

WELLS AND WATER.

can be made at once, a drum is constructed, the external diameter of which is equal to the internal diameter of the well, the excavation being made so much greater in diameter than the drum, as the thickness of the concrete and lining of the well is intended to be, — 9 inches is a thickness which will do in ordinary soil ; the space left between the internal diameter of the excavation and the external diameter of the drum is filled or packed in with concrete, the depth of which packing is of course equal to the depth of the drum, which may be 18 inches or 2 feet — the top of packing should be level with the top of drum. The drum is then raised and supported by uprights and braces, another packing of concrete is made, the drum is again raised, and so on till the whole depth of excavation is lined with concrete. The bottom of the excavation should be lined with a layer of concrete 9 inches thick, and the top may be arched over, leaving a manhole door in centre, and a hole for the pump barrel to pass down. If the soil is not very sound, a drum had better be sunk from the top, filling in the concrete, excavating below the drum, lowering this, and again filling in the concrete lining.