January 7, 2025

The A.G. Coombs Advisory team was approached by Port Phillip Estate Winery located on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula in mid-2021 to conduct a thorough review of its existing heating plant for heating hot water (HHW) and domestic hot water (DHW) systems.

The client had been experiencing issues associated with the plant operation and pump configuration that required a detailed engineering assessment to provide a more reliable system.

The process involved confirming load profile for heating and domestic hot water, reviewing compliance problems particularly relating to storage under 60° C and legionella, assessing new plant capacity with either a combined or separate HHW-DHW system and preparing the scope of works based on pricing.

Leveraging Advisory expertise to identify major operational challenges

The review identified a number of key operational and safety issues. Each boiler was operating on a stand-alone control with no communication between them.
One boiler had failed and was no longer operating while the remaining working boiler cycled on and off continuously and only ran for very short time periods before cutting out on temperature.

The domestic hot water tank had a setpoint of 60°C but was not reaching that temperature and the flow across primary and secondary circuits was not operating as intended. There were also no test points or balancing valves installed in the circuit to allow measurement and balance of water flow rates.

The pipework serving the washdown and domestic hot water tanks appeared undersized for the required flow rate and the boilers had not been correctly installed on stands or plinths.

Of concern was the fact that the boilers were fitted with short sections of stainless-steel flues which was a risk for acidic flue gas discharge within the plantroom.
This could be harmful to occupants and lead to corrosion of surfaces around the boilers.

A collaborative approach for optimal outcomes

The Advisory report identified several high-priority rectification works required to improve operational efficiency and maintain compliance with regulations, including proposing a new separate electric heat pump plant to provide hot water to a portion of the site.

A.G. Coombs Advisory provided the client with four options and introduced TES (Thermal Energy Solutions) to the project to provide detailed design and installation of the client’s preferred option which included additional solar initiatives.

“This project was a great example of how A.G. Coombs Advisory collaborates and works with like-minded organisations like TES to bring about positive and future-focused electrification and decarbonisation outcomes,” said Jamie Park, Senior Engineer, A.G. Coombs Advisory.

“The project was recognised as being an outstanding example of decarbonisation when it was nominated as ‘Project of the Year’ in the Engineers Australia 2024, Victoria Excellence Award,” he added.