Bates Laundry on course to save 14% in fuel cots following Gem Trap Installation

Steam is used extensively throughout the laundry in the operation of a wide range of equipment including its water fed boiler, tumble dryers and steam presses. Re-branded from Royal Jersey Laundry to the Bates Group in 2007 to honour the company’s founder, Martha Bates, who began the laundry in 1886, the 30,000 sq. ft site employs a workforce of 219 handling over 600,000 pieces per week.

Prior to the installation of the GEM Venturi orifice steam traps, Bates Laundry found that maintenance and replacement of failed traps was costing around £5,000 a year in addition to lost energy. This was particularly evident from a large plume of steam that used to be emitted from the laundry’s condenser tank.

“Not only are GEM traps saving us a substantial cost saving in energy, maintenance and replacement we are also enjoying an increase in production due to the increased temperatures”, said Matthew Pantlin, Managing Director of Bates Laundry. “We are so delighted with the amount of money we are saving that we have asked GEM to convert our other site in Enfield as well”.

Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam, the highly efficient GEM steam traps use the patented Venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam system. As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or fail, it provides the ultimate in reliability necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

Available in a wide range of sizes for a full cross section of applications, the hardwearing GEM steam traps are manufactured from corrosion resistant stainless steel and are guaranteed for 10 years, obviating the need for repair or replacement. The GEM steam traps provide a fast payback - on some processes within a matter of days - from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability due to a reduction in damaging steam within the condensate system. In addition it improves product processing by enhancing the quality of steam which in turn reduces equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.

“Over a ten year period the laundry will save over a million pounds on gas alone based on present costs”, said Matthew Pantlin. “In addition, as the GEM traps do not fail we will save money on downtime and replacement costs. A further added bonus is that the traps only have to be cleaned once a year which is brilliant,” he concluded.