Blue Projects Optimized Brewery Refrigeration Design with Hexagon’s CAESAR II
Blue Projects is a global engineering and project management firm with offices across 26 locations and projects in over 50 countries. It offers complete lifecycle services, from design to commissioning, across civil, process, packaging, utilities and automation.
Its utilities division, Blue Projects Utilities (BPU), specializes in mechanical systems for refrigeration, heating and process fluids, mainly serving the food and beverage industry and selected mining projects. Being independent from equipment vendors, BPU can recommend the best technical solutions for each client, ensuring efficiency, flexibility and long-term value.
For a new greenfield brewery in Mozambique, the company was tasked with designing a comprehensive refrigeration system that could meet current needs while accommodating future expansion.
The client requested that all condensers be aligned in a straight line for visual reasons. This created a design challenge because the main header pipe had to follow the layout while keeping mechanical loads on the compressor and condenser nozzles within safe limits. To meet code requirements and manage complex stresses, BPU decided to adopt Hexagon’s CAESAR II solution, with implementation support from Chempute Software, Hexagon’s partner.
CAESAR II enabled engineers to model, test and document the structural integrity of the system in accordance with international piping codes. The team received quick training and integrated the tool seamlessly into its design process, requiring no extra customization. By using a shared software license, each engineer could independently carry out modeling, which enabled the utilities team to handle more projects simultaneously.
The switch from manual calculations to a code-compliant model resulted in a reduction by approximately 50% in engineering time. Original Equipment Manufacturers also gained better visibility into nozzle load data, which reduced redesign risk and improved installation reliability. The tool’s ability to model bending and thermal expansion stresses gave the team confidence that the system would perform safely and efficiently.
The final refrigeration system met all the client’s layout and performance expectations. It was delivered on time and designed to support a phased increase in capacity. “We were able to meet the client’s needs while keeping energy efficiency at the core of the solution,” said Jaco Kirstein, Technical Director at Blue Projects Utilities. “The plant can now handle a ramp-up program over several years.”
Today, BPU uses CAESAR II as its standard for piping stress analysis.
Chempute hosts training, provides license updates and offers professional, responsive support that helps engineers apply CAESAR II effectively on projects and ensures projects run smoothly and meet requirements. To know more about how Hexagon's solutions helped Blue Projects, read the full case study.