Its caramel wafers, teacakes and snowballs are in demand around the world – with some high profile celebrities among its fans – so when increasing demand required the installation of two additional wafer ovens, the question was how best to get them online with minimal disruption to production?
The company decided the Easter period provided the best opportunity for the required shut-down - so when leading gas design and metering services company Energy Assets was called in to undertake the project, they knew the pressure was on to deliver. There would be a two day window to complete all the work in readiness for production restarting on Easter Monday.
An SGN survey confirmed the gas supply was adequate for the increased load required to support the expanded range of eight ovens. However, the existing gas meter was undersized, so Energy Assets specified a higher capacity, low pressure single stream meter with bypass, replacing the emergency control valve (ECV) at the same time.
A rotary meter would usually be assembled on site, but the position of the replacement meter and its accessibility meant it could be built as a module, which would also speed up the connection process. When the meter was delivered to site, it was placed onto a skate frame and literally rolled into place.
Energy Assets Design Engineer, Maurice McKaig commented: “There were a number of challenges to overcome but getting the timing right for every element of the project was the biggest one.
“Tunnock’s shut down over Easter for two days and all the upgraded meter work, including the ECV swap, had to be completed in that time. Careful planning ensured that everyone arrived at the right time and worked well together to ensure that everything was ready in time for the restart of production. A sweet project you might say!”