27.05.2020
Saimaa, Marsalkka, Brewer’s Special, Kekkonen, Luostari and Crafty. Saimaan Juomatehdas Brewery’s range offers something for everyone.
The Saimaan Juomatehdas Brewery is one of the oldest microbreweries in Finland. Based in Mikkeli, the brewery was established in 1995, and its new production plant began operations in 2013. In that same year, Woikoski began delivering carbon dioxide required by the brewing process to the brewery.
‘As our capacity increased with the launch of the new facility, we needed to look for a new gas supplier. We initiated a bidding process and received an excellent offer from Woikoski. Our decision was also influenced by Woikoski being a local supplier, as using locally sourced materials is important to us,’ explains the brewery’s Production Manager Jenni Kehusmaa.
In connection with a semi-automated gas manifold, Woikoski offered the installation of a fixed gas pipeline to the brewery, which was designed by Woikoski in collaboration with MHplan at the bidding stage. The semi-automated gas manifold is designed for two cylinder bundles. The delivery included devices such as gas pre-heaters and pressure monitors, with the latter enabling the system to switch from one cylinder bundle to another when the pressure in the trunk line decreases below a set threshold value. After this, the empty bundle was replaced with a new one with a hydraulic stacker.
In the first part of this year, the cylinder bundles were replaced with a carbon dioxide container with a capacity of six cubic metres.
‘The bundle system offered an excellent solution to the needs we had at the time. In collaboration with Woikoski, we came to the conclusion that on the basis of our annual gas consumption, investing in a gas container would be a good next step. The investment helped us to reduce costs and to boost our productivity, as we no longer need to spend valuable working time changing cylinder bundles. Since the container is monitored remotely by Woikoski, we don’t have to order carbon dioxide separately. Woikoski’s container lorry drops by to fill up the container with liquid carbon dioxide when necessary. The cylinder bundles now serve as a back-up system in case supply from the container is disrupted,’ says Kehusmaa.
According to her, the collaboration with Woikoski has run smoothly. The installation and commissioning of the carbon dioxide container presented some challenges, but the company passed the test with flying colours.
‘We received expert assistance from Woikoski in the construction of the container, and over the years we have got together at other times to work out the best solutions for us. Woikoski is always easy to turn to, regardless of the size of the project,’ Kehusmaa explains.
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