Naturediet has selected Calor LPG to fuel its off mains gas grid manufacturing operations in Thetford, Norfolk, in a bid to significantly cut energy costs and improve the facility’s environmental impact. Calor supplied and installed six 4,000-litre tanks to provide gas to the steam and hot water boilers at the site, as well as a 2,000-litre tank to refuel the site’s forklift trucks.
A flue gas economiser on the facility’s steam boiler is also improving its thermal efficiency by 3.5 per cent.
Paul Clark, project engineer at Naturediet, explains: “We produce 6,000 tonnes of wet pet food every year and having a fuel supply that we can depend on is key to the success of our business. Having previously been fuelled by kerosene, we were considering alternative fuels that could help us realise vital cost savings, while lowering our carbon output too.
“We had looked into the cost of connecting to the mains gas grid but this has never been feasible, due simply to how expensive an undertaking this is.
“As the closest alternative to mains gas, LPG was the ideal solution. LPG is now used to power the steam and hot water for our manufacturing facilities, as well as to fuel our on-site forklift trucks. We depend on these to ensure our logistics operations run smoothly, and the new 2,000-litre bulk tank means we can quickly and easily refuel the trucks when required. It also removes the issue of having to manually replace the cylinders, making for a safer working environment for our employees too.
“Calor has assisted every step of the way, and ensured that our investment costs were minimised, by installing a gas package burner system to our existing boilers. This saved us considerable capital costs – as well as time – as there was no requirement to specify, purchase or install a new boiler system. We have been very impressed with the service we have received.
“With LPG estimated to reduce our CO2 emissions by 81 tonnes over a 12-month period, we have every confidence that we have made the right decision in switching to LPG.”
Kev Houlden, business development manager at Calor, adds: “For those based off the mains gas grid seeking an efficient, competitively-priced fuel, LPG continues to be the preferred choice for many rural businesses. Currently the lowest off-mains carbon emitting fuel available on the market, emitting 20 per cent less CO2 per kWh than oil, LPG makes a strong case for organisations looking to improve their environmental impact.
“All LPG tanks are fitted with our intelligent automatic top-up technology, alerting us when a tank is beginning to run low on fuel. We can make sure a delivery is arranged, and then distributed via the UK’s largest LPG delivery fleet. This ensures Naturediet is never short of LPG, and there’s no downtime to production due to a lack of fuel.”