Thermowave plate heat exchangers used for world”s first cruise ship to operate its own on-board brewery

The 252-meter AIDAblu from Aida Cruises is the world”s first cruise ship to operate its own on-board brewery. The brewery was built by Munich-based Joh. Albrecht Brautechnik. Since February 2010, three varieties of beer can be brewed around the clock right on the ship.

Building a floating brewery presented a host of challenges due to the stringent requirements shipbuilding imposes on technical infrastructure – space-saving design, ship-specific fittings and compliance with standards established by American health authorities (USPH standard). The TL 90 plate heat exchanger from thermowave”s thermoClean series was installed in the brewery. Its compact design, low weight and high flexibility with respect to future performance adaptations make it ideally suited to this application.

All plate heat exchangers in the thermoClean series are designed and manufactured according to hygienic design principles with special consideration for the exacting demands of the food industry. The unit installed on the AIDAblu is used to cool the wort from 90 °C to approximately 20 °C. Plate heat exchangers from thermowave can also be used in the brewing process to cool brewing water and beer and also for pasteurisation.

Following the successful commissioning of the brewery on the AIDAblu, there are now three further cruise ships from AIDA Cruises (AIDAsol, AIDAmar, AIDAstella) with breweries on board. Here, too, thermowave plate heat exchangers have been employed successfully.