Finalists head to national awards
The 32 finalists representing 11 regions in the 2022 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards have been found.
Hot water cylinder maker Superheat Ltd, Christchurch, says its stainless steel barrels are less likely to corrode.
It makes cylinders of 180-1500L capacity, ideal for replacement or new water heating in dairy sheds. It can make large high pressure cylinders for automated milking.
The company’s cylinders are made with either copper or stainless steel barrels; the exterior cases are plastic, stainless steel or galvanised steel.
“Each material has different characteristics, e.g. stainless steel is more resistant to corrosion caused by nitrates in water. Copper better resists corrosion caused by high chloride concentrations in water; it has higher resistance than stainless steel so is better for some applications,” says managine director, Trevor Edwards.
Plastic and stainless steel are more resistant to corrosion and are often preferred to galvanised casings.
The company says dairy hot water cylinders are often used where water does not conform to New Zealand drinking water standards.
“Some regions may have water safe to drink but ‘plumbosolvent’ which means it can corrode plumbing fittings, particularly electrical elements and copper and stainless steel in hot water cylinders.
“Hard waters with high calcium levels can be aggressive to the cylinder elements.
“Superheat uses a low watt-density incoloy grade element suitable for most water conditions, but for very hard water the company offers a higher grade element with much larger-diameter legs to further reduce the watt density and prolong the element life.
“Other factors that can affect element and cylinder life are the pH and electrical conductivity of the water and contaminants such as nitrates and chlorides.”
The cylinders can be specified with solar, heat pump and gas power to reduce operating costs and connected load.
Semi automated dairy sheds require smarter equipment so Superheat can make dairy cylinders with automatic filling systems, comprising a level sensor and solenoid valve.
These can be integrated into a system to control cylinder filling.
Superheat also makes domestic hot water cylinders including includes solar and mains pressure wetback cylinders.
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