Owens Corning

    Boortmalt

    FOAMGLAS® Insulation Helps World’s Leading Malting Company Boortmalt With Protection and Heat Conservation for Their Malt Towers in the Port of Antwerp.

    Boortmalt is the world’s leading malting company with 3 million tons production capacity. The group is present on 5 continents with 27 malting plants. They produce and globally market barley malts to brewing and distilling companies, craft brewers and distillers.

    Their global headquarters is located in Antwerp, Belgium alongside their biggest malt production site, with construction of a fourth malting tower, increasing its capacity by 110,000 tons to 470,000 tons per year, making it the largest malt production site in the world.

    The Antwerp plant benefits from the very latest technology, together with the company’s expertise in energy and water management, in line with Boortmalt’s CSR policy and ISO 50001 certification.

    An exterior tank at Boortmalt

    Boortmalt had already relied upon the performance of FOAMGLAS® insulation for their malt tower’s walls and ceilings during previous expansions.

    The outstanding performance of the previously installed system motivated them to again make use of a FOAMGLAS® insulation system for the insulation of their new malt tower during this fourth expansion. FOAMGLAS® insulation was used for 1.800 m² of wall insulation and 1.300 m² of ceiling insulation.

    An important stage in the malting process is the kilning process that requires large amounts of energy wherefore they rely upon a cogeneration plant. The cogeneration plant conserves energy by capturing heat which is then used in the kilning process. FOAMGLAS® insulation was chosen as the material to help to conserve this heat based on its good thermal properties.

    Exterior of Boortmalt facility

    FOAMGLAS® insulation was also selected because its impermeability to water and water vapor. It consists of hermetically sealed cells and is non-absorptive. A final reason was that FOAMGLAS® insulation cannot rot and is vermin resistant due to its inorganic nature - a very important requirement in a food processing environment.

    The tank’s outer walls were covered with 150 mm thick FOAMGLAS® ONE slabs. These were glued to the concrete wall with PC® 56 Adhesive. The metal façade cladding was mounted on support profiles that were attached to the insulation with the help of our PC® SP serrated plates. This system helps prevent the occurrence of thermal bridges as the construction is supported directly by the FOAMGLAS® insulation slabs.

    Because of the high humidity and relatively high temperatures inside the malt tower, a system consisting of FOAMGLAS® insulation slabs with a thickness of 100 mm was chosen for the interior walls. The ceilings were done with 150 mm thick slabs that were glued with our PC® 88 high performance adhesive.

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