Volac International Limited

Volac – the fast-growing, ambitious international dairy nutrition business – asked Kemtile to reunite with Whitland Engineering to put a hygienic flooring solution into a new dryer tower to increase capacity at its modern dairy production facility in Ceredigion, West Wales.

Customer Name

Volac International

Business Sector

Dairy

Products

Stonhard epoxy resin flooring, Kagetec ceramic tiling systems and stainless steel drainage from Wiedemann-Technik

Challenge

Using the latest membrane filtration and drying technologies, the West Wales plant produces Volac’s high-performance whey protein isolates for the sports and active nutrition markets, lactose for use in a range of food applications and base powders for young animal milk formulas. The site is also powered by a low-emission biomass CHP energy centre, helping to deliver a minimal carbon footprint.

Osmosis problem sorted

The flooring system design needed to take into account the possibility of problems with osmosis in the existing structural concrete so Stonhard’s, Stonfil OP2, an osmotic pressure-resistant grout was installed first before the final Stonhard finishes.

Kemtile’s flooring solution

Kemtile specified 1576m2 Stonhard Stonclad GS over four floors. This high-performance epoxy system cures to an extremely hard, impact-resistant mortar and offers the benefits of abrasion, wear and chemical resistance. The Stonclad GS epoxy resin was then finished with Stonkote HT4 – a chemically resistant and hardwearing epoxy topcoat with a texture 2 surface profile for slip resistance, which makes it particularly suitable for this processing environment. Its addition further improves cleanability and aesthetics as it hardens to an attractive gloss finish and increases resistance to damage from abrasion and chemical spillages.

Cost-effective hygienic tiles

These specifications were complemented with 834msq of Kagetec GFK – a cost-effective, hygienic tiled floor system with the benefits of quick installation and high mechanical, load-bearing properties, resistant to thermal shock. Kemtile’s co-polymer screed provided the base for the project and a stainless-steel gulley system and drainage channels – manufactured by from Wiedemann-Technik – were also specified for the project.

What our customer had to say

Elgan Jones, Chief Engineer at Volac, said: “As a company, we enjoy a longstanding and successful relationship with Kemtile and we’ve brought them onboard to design and install a number of our flooring systems over the years. We are consistently impressed with the solution and installation they provide.”