During the period 1983 to 1985, Sinclair Knight Merz was process and utilities engineer and project manager for a $25 million expansion of the brewing facilities.
Participation in the initial feasibility study involved developing the brewery’s proposed concepts for capacity expansion (by one third to 300ML/a) and identification of the extent of additions and alterations to the plant, preliminary engineering and design, budgetary cost estimating and programming.
The detailed design and engineering covered the revision and updating of existing process and utilities piping flow diagrams, the assessment of flow characteristics and a hydraulic analysis to determine plant and equipment requirements, the development of plant layout and installation drawings, the preparation of piping valve schedules, the writing of specifications for plant procurement and installation and technical evaluation of tenders received.
The plant involved in the expansion included the bright beer header system; process pipework; process equipment, including plant evaporator plant; a new soda water plant; diatomaceous earth filter; carbon dioxide plant and storage vessel; CIP systems; a heating, ventilation and air conditioning package; and water treatment plant.
Sinclair Knight Merz also supervised the installation of the replacement of the existing production control system with five Modicon 584 PLCs and a new computer data acquisition system.