Sixteen years of nonmetallic success

In 1986, the Abita Brewing Company produced 1500 barrels of beer at its brewery 30 miles north of New Orleans. Today, the company produces more than 125,000 barrels of beer and 8000 barrels of root beer each year in its state-of-the-art facility.

As the company has grown, it has added and updated equipment. All of the new equipment must be powered and controlled and meet the many food-processing regulations in place in the United States.

“All enclosures used in the facility are of NEMA 4X construction because of water and a variety of cleaning agents that are regularly used during the sanitisation process,” said James Franklin, Abita’s Plant Engineer. “In addition, everything in the plant is constantly being exposed to many of these elements through the nature of the process.

“Abrupt localised atmospheric changes within certain areas can result in hygroscopic cycling on nearby surfaces. The residuals of deposited agents result in ferrous metal products corroding at a very high rate. This is the reason we now have a plant-wide specification requiring the use of nonmetallic enclosures in all areas.”

As a result, Abita has developed a wide variety of smart solutions to protect electrical components and controls throughout the plant. The company started off by first selecting Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures about 16 years ago.

Ten years ago, Abita replaced a NEMA 4 painted steel enclosure that had developed finger-sized holes as a result of the harsh, corrosive environment of the Abita facility. The original replacement Stahlin Enclosure is still performing well and continues to provide the necessary protection for the electrical controls for one of the bottling line labellers.

The 10-year-old Stahlin N series enclosure.

The Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures are all moulded with Stahlin’s patented formula, SolarGuard, which provides superior moulded-in UV resistance. In extensive comparison testing, SolarGuard reportedly outperformed other available SMC formulations by as much as 60% in its ability to retain gloss and colour after exposure to concentrated UV light.

A wide range of Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures protect Abita’s chiller controls. They have survived for years on the outside of the plant, exposed to heat from the chiller combined with New Orleans’ humid summer weather, which often exceeds 37°F.

Abita's chiller controls are protected by Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures.

Abita’s new cellar fermenter temperature control panel is protected by Stahlin’s N Series Enclosure. An acrylic windowed cover provides a clear view of controllers mounted to the dead front panel. Additional controls are mounted at an additional back panel.

Stahlin’s N Series Enclosure protects the cellar fermenter control panel.

The facility’s fan controls are housed in a Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosure with door-mounted LED illuminated selector switches drilled and knocked out into the protective face. Abita finds nonmetallic enclosures are much easier to work to accommodate control device mountings through the use of standard-grade knockout and common drills.

Fan controls are housed in a Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosure.

The Abita facility houses one of the largest Stahlin Control Tower Enclosures ever built by the company. The Control Tower Series has been designed for use in larger industrial control systems and machine tool control panels.

James Franklin, who is six feet tall, stands next to the Stahlin Control Tower Enclosure to give perspective of the enclosure’s size.