PPI Epoxy Coatings, in partnership with industrial flooring specialist Flowcrete Americas, has played a critical role in the delivery of a state-of-the-art brewhouse for Florida Beer Company located in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The 60,000ft2 facility at the former site of Chrysler Corporation Ballistic Missile and Space Activities features the most efficient brewing equipment and technologies, including a CombiCube B brewhouse that offers a capacity of well over 90,000 barrels – tripling the number of brews per day compared with Florida Beer Company’s previous operations.
The new brewery mills, mashes, bottles and boxes 28 varieties of ales, lagers, pilsners, porters, stouts and ciders – all of which is visible to the viewing public from the company’s new visitor centre, which also includes modern flat screen TVs, a central bar tap, tasting lounge and gift shop.
Looking for a suitable flooring material that would stand up to the daily demands of the new brewhouse, Florida Beer Company's President Jim Massoni approached Flowcrete Americas, which with PPI Epoxy Coatings prepared various specialist resin flooring systems throughout the building.
For the central production hall and bottling plant, the company proposed 12,000ft2 of Flowfresh SRQ, a slurry broadcast cementitious urethane concrete system, in a customised red colour blend. This contains coloured quartz granules that create a positively textured profile to help prevent slip risks underfoot.
The phthalate-free material also contains a silver ion-based antimicrobial additive, Polygiene, which limits the spread of bacteria and other harmful pathogens. The material is also designed to withstand temperature swings and thermal shock up to 180°F and is highly resistant to chemical and solvent spillage.
Flowcoat SF41 HCS was recommended for use in 20,000ft2 of storage and packing halls, and a further 7,000ft2, in a safety yellow shade, was proposed for use in the brewery’s tank fermentation area.
Originally designed for the aviation industry, Flowcoat SF41 HCS is a non-porous, highly chemical resistant epoxy floor coating system that has a proven international track record within the industrial manufacturing and food and beverage production sectors.
Texas-based Flowcrete Americas, part of the global Flowcrete Group, is a manufacturer of seamless resin flooring materials, including epoxies, urethanes, and MMAs, which meet the needs of heavy industry, manufacturing plants and other processing facilities.
PPI Epoxy Coatings, based in Orlando, FL, specialises in the installation, repair, maintenance and protection of floor surfaces.
The company faced various challenges throughout the installation process at the brewery. Aside from there being no utilities on site, there were also no windows for the duration of the project. Plumbing contractors were also installing trenches during the substrate preparation phase, which had to be carefully worked around.
The substrate itself was heavily contaminated by oil due to the nature of Chrysler’s previous activities at the site.
Multiple methods of surface preparation were used, including shot blasting with Blastrac equipment, HTC planetary grinders, hand grinders, and saw cuts around the walls and drains to create a key way to anchor the floor.
James Cook, PPI's President, said: 'The entire project from substrate preparation to the installation of the final finishes took three weeks to complete.'
The end result provides a wear resistant, easy to maintain surface that is likely to last up to 15 years.
