Case History Vacuum pumps

www.treatwater.comCompany: Alier PapelCountry: Rosselló, SpainSector: Paper MillSOLVING A DIFFICULT PROBLEM IN THE PAPER MILLAlier Papel is a very old paper manufacturing company in Spain.established in 1833 it manufactures 170,000 tonnes of paper each yearThe Problem:Alier Papel is reusing treated w ater from the existing Waste Water Treatment Plant tofeed the liquid seals of sixteen vacuum pumps, divided in tw o groups one of seven andone of nine units, w hich are applied in drying pulp drumsWater is very hard due to the chemicals used in process. The main parameters are:Parameter Units ValuepH WWTP exit 7,3pH after CO2 treatment 6,5Temperature ºC 25Conductivity µS/cm 2100Total hardness as CaCO3 mg/L 690Calcium hardness as CaCO3 mg/L 590COD mg/L 30Chloride mg/L 210Alkalinity mg/L 780Flow m3/h 180In order to avoid scale, 3000 kg of CO2 w ere dosed into the water on a daily basisDespite this there w ere still pump break dow nsThe Solution:Alier paper approached the Spanish distributor of Fluid Dynamics -Vitalfluitech to provide a solutionDue to the hardness of the water to be treated, It w as decided that a MagCAT 150, 6”diameter, should be installed in the main feed pipe carrying the recycled w ater treatingthe w hole flow of 180 m3/h. MagCAT is a new ly patented pow erful antiscale treatmentwhich combines both magnetic and catalytic treatments methods.MagCAT uses no chemicals, no electricity and has no moving parts . it is maintenancefreePicture of 150mm MagCAT Installed at Alier PapelResults:When the MagCA T 150 w as installed CO2 dosing w as gradually decreased. After threeweeks the CO2 addition w as completely eliminated. Six months later there have beenno break dow ns. The visual inspection inside the pump bleed pipes (one of the mostcritical scale points) shows no scale formation w hatsoever.Saving:The cost saving from eliminating daily CO2 dosing allow ed a pay-back period of lessthan five months and this is w ithout taking into account saved maintenance costs andof course savings due to the fact that there w as no lost production and finally no Co2going into the atmosphereThe engineering management at Alier Papel have approved the issue of this case history