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As a natural progression of Don Valley’s activities in the supply of process
plant, the Malting Division of Qualter Hall (formerly Redler Maltings) was
acquired in 1998. All technical and intellectual properties were transferred in
the acquisition which has put Don Valley in a position to supply state of art
malting plant and equipment to the industry. With Don Valley’s experience in the
handling of bulk materials and managing large design and build projects, the
company is now in a position to offer customers cost effective and technically
credible solutions to their requirements. We can offer design and supply of
equipment for all elements and the process from barley intake and screening
through steeping, germination, kilning to malt storage and outloading.
System Design
At Don Valley we have all the ‘in house’ capabilities to design
plants to perform to our clients’ process and technical requirements. The
company has engineers fully versed in the process, structural, civil, control
and sitework
elements required to execute a successful contract. Aside from the full turnkey
supply of plants, Don Valley are happy to look at any element of the process
from individual items of plant, consultancy, sub contract engineering and project
management services to collaborative development work. Don Valley
can undertake work in any of the following areas: -
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Intake and Storage |
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Steeping |
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Germination |
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Kilning and Barley Drying |
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Despatch |
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Controls |
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Effluent Treatment |
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Engineering and Project
Management Services |
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Floor Malting Equipment |
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Maintenance and Site
Services |
Intake and Storage
To ensure that consistently high standards of malt are
produced it is vitally important that the intake of barley is correctly handled
and stored. Don Valley can offer systems incorporating: -
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Transfer Systems |
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Laboratory Sampling |
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Weighing |
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Rough Screening |
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Artificial Drying |
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Gentle Transfer to Bulk
Storage |
Steeping
During the steeping process there are a number of important factors
to consider: -
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Suitable design for the
required process parameters.
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Uniform treatment of the barley by close process control.
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Efficient use of water and power.
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Hygienic vessel design
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Don Valley can offer a variety
of vessels and ancillary equipment to suit all customer requirements from small
conical steeps to very large ventilated flat bottom steeps. With moves in the
industry towards barley washing and pre-steeping vessels Don Valley are actively
pursuing alternative designs to overcome the problems with the existing
equipment available.
Germination
As with steeping there are a
number of factors to ensure the production of an efficiently produced high
quality product: -
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Maintaining a constant
environment
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Gentle and efficient turning to
prevent matting and generate uniform airflow through the grain
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Efficient vessel design and CIP
equipment to maintain high standards of hygiene within the vessel.
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Gentle, efficient and hygienic
transfers to/from vessels.
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Don Valley can offer: -
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Circular Vessels
- The modern stainless steel
circular vessel has a number of advantages to the customer. The circular design,
using either fixed or rotating floor, allow for a simpler design, more efficient
airflow and where required larger batch size. With modern control equipment and
materials a consistent product standard can be maintained.
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Rectangular Boxes
- Although rectangular boxes
have been largely superseded by circular vessels, where the client still
requires this option this can be still be accommodated. To increase the
efficiency of existing vessels Don Valley can retrofit new plant from fans,
refrigeration plant and new machines to new control systems.
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Kilning
Kilning is a particularly
important stage in the malting process. Close control is required to obtain the
correct properties. As energy use is very high it is important that good design
is employed.
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Rectangular Kilns
- This traditional design of
vessel has been successfully employed for many years. Don Valley possesses
considerable experience in automating existing vessels including
stripper/loaders, modifying floors and heating systems.
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Circular Kilns
- The circular kiln has a number of advantages in terms of even air
distribution and the ability to obtain a flat bed. Don Valley kilns achieve
maximum efficiency by the use of modern technology. Heat recovery and
recirculation, high performance insulation, variable speed fans and microprocessor
control and monitoring ensure efficient reliable performance
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Double
Deck Kilns - Don Valley can offer double
deck kilning technology where required bringing the benefits of maximum
efficiency. By offset phasing of kiln batches, maximum reuse of heated air can
be achieved, optimising energy use.
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Combined
Germination/Kilning Vessels - In the drive to constantly
improve hygiene within the industry Don Valley can offer combined vessels. These
can provide advantages in terms of flexibility of vessel usage and can improve
cleanliness in that germination vessel experience kilning temperatures.
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Despatch
After malting it is important the product is properly
handled, screened and stored prior to despatch. Don Valley Engineering can supply individually designed systems
including: -
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Screens
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Sieves
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Conveying Systems
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Storage Bins and Silos
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Pelletising Equipment (to make waste material into cattle feed)
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Controls
Don Valley can offer a full range of control options from
basic ‘relay logic’ systems to full PLC/SCADA systems. Our knowledge and
experience of the process allows us to offer effective solutions to suit
individual customers.
Active process
control is at the heart of Don Valley control systems. Process
variables can be fed into standard programmes to give individual ‘recipes’ for
different malt types. Trends can be monitored and collected data can be archived
as required.
 Example Photographs
of Maltings
      
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Don
Valley Engineering Co. Ltd
