A Midwest chemical processing and distribution company had increased their chemical production capacity with the addition of larger heat exchangers. This increased capacity put a strain on the aging water system. Maintaining precise temperatures ensures that the chemical reaction yields the highest concentration of a product.
The inability of the water system to keep up resulted in inefficient temperatures, costly and frequent service that caused production downtime each time the pumps were stopped for maintenance. The existing pumps became inefficient, unreliable and costly to maintain.
The chemical company needed to upgrade to a reliable water system to accommodate growth in the company’s production needs.
SOLUTION:
CR95 BoosterpaQ Grundfos Pumps
The company was familiar with the advantages and reliability of a Grundfos booster system and considered changing from a suction lift to a booster system. Illinois Process Equipment, IPE, worked with this chemical processing plant to help choose four CR 95 vertical multistage pumps in a Hydro MPC BoosterpaQ system with panel mounted VFDs and a controller. Grundfos provided the complete plug and pump package and IPE completed the installation and testing.
The water source at the chemical producer’s plant was a quarry which experienced variations in temperature and intake demand based on production capacity. The CR95 BoosterpaQ system was optimized to operate automatically at varying levels of demand and eliminated the need to open a bypass valve during fluctuations in system demand. With the new system, sensors detect the system demand and automatically adjust flow and pressure to the changing environment including temperature changes. This automation ensures maximum efficiency and optimization. Production downtime was eliminated because one Grundfos pump can be taken out for service while the other three adjust automatically to handle the load.
RESULTS:
CR95 Pumps Increase Efficiency and Reduce Downtime
The installation of the CR95 plug-and-pump solution reduced downtime on the site. The BoosterpaQ system allows for flexibility depending on the temperature of the quarry water and the demand. The chemical producer is confident that their booster system is always optimized for their process. The automated system delivered real, immediate savings in maintenance time and expenses while consistently yielding a better-quality product.
The chemical plant supervisor estimates a savings of at least $30,000 annually and also eliminated a noise safety hazard that was caused from the old pumps. Hearing protection is no longer required with the quiet Grundfos pumps. According to the plant supervisor, “The Grundfos pumps have proven to be almost maintenance free and are very efficient. Today we use Grundfos pumps for 100 percent of our water needs, including boiler feed water, raw water and potable water.”
IPE offers this case study as one example of how we assist our clients in determining the best pump process equipment solutions to meet their needs and provide maximum value. Contact us with any questions on improving your pump.
