Our goal is always to help those across industry lines do more from day to day, and we love to hear about success stories from our customers. One of our best came from a Utah based energy company.
The company was using sulfuric acid at 98% to neutralize the demineralization waste stream coming from their plant. This is one of the biggest sources of waste water in many power plants because it results from the ion exchange that is used for demineralized the boiler feed water. Before it can leave the plant, acid must be added, and most regulators require it to have an almost neutral pH before it hits the sewer system.
Before we stepped in, they were using a fairly expensive neutralization tank complete with propeller mixer as well as a secondary tank with a mixer that was the smoothing tank, essentially. it helped to mix and dilute the sulfuric acid. The worst part was these two tanks alone were sucking up four hundreds square feet of floor space. The mixers themselves were using more than 65,000 kw-hr annually, creating a massive drain for the plant. Add that to a maintenance cost of more than $25,000 annually, and you had a real problem on your hands.
Enter Komax. We added 3″ Teflon lined static mixers to the equation with an injection port so they could directly add the sulfuric acid. We completely eliminated both tanks, placing the pH probe downstream from the mixer, and that meant a level of immediate feedback that hadn’t previously been possible.
The result was stunning. Energy costs went down dramatically, as did the maintenance labor. The space savings was nothing short of incredible in an already cramped facility, and the plant has managed to finally achieve consistent control over the neutralization process.
What can we do for you? Give us a call today to learn more.