CURE Chemicals in Industrial Manufacturing
A CEMENT MANUFACTURER BECOMES A 'COOL OPERATOR'
An African cement manufacturing plant could not adequately address inferior cooling water chemistry, precipitating unacceptable scaling throughout the system that drove inconsistent manufacturing performance and unsustainable maintenance costs. Gradiant formulated and deployed a custom CURE Chemicals program that mitigated all concerns and transformed performance and maintenance metrics.
Fast Facts
Location: Africa
Application: Cooling Systems
End User: Power Generator
Solution: Cooling Water System Treatment
Industry: Cement Manufacturing
Feedwater Source: Quarry Water (High Mineral Content)
CURE Chemical: Scale Inhibitor, Corrosion Inhibitor, Biocide
The Challenge
In cement manufacturing, the consistent flow of temperature-controlled water is critical to maintain the specified operating temperature of the ball bearings in the rotary kiln and thus ensure proper clinker formation. Cooling towers need plentiful fresh water to operate smoothly, but only quarry water was available at our client’s site. Water testing showed the source brackish with high chlorides, sulfates, silica, and calcium levels – a cocktail of undesirable inclusions that make cooling systems highly susceptible to scaling and corrosion. High skin temperatures further exacerbated this propensity for scaling.
Intense scaling had repeatedly caused unplanned cleaning shutdowns, which generated unsustainable maintenance costs and reduced capacity to meet increased demand. The manufacturer sought a solution to inhibit scaling, enabling effective heat transfer and protecting the system metallurgies. Especially important was to increase the time to greater than 24 months between planned advanced cleaning shutdowns.
The Solution
After a thorough system audit and understanding of the complex cooling system chemistry, Gradiant designed a tailored solution that included a comprehensive CURE Chemicals package, dosing equipment, and monitoring program supported by on-site service arrangement to ensure system performance and reliability. The program was targeted for for cathodic protection of system metallurgies and effective scale inhibition and dispersion.
The Benefits
The plant now routinely operates on higher concentration cycles in the cooling system, reducing the water footprint. Benchmark corrosion rates have been improved for mild steel and copper. Planned shutdowns have been extended with minimal downtime for cleaning, and no downtime due to cooling tower treatment has occurred since Gradiant has been responsible for on-site monitoring.
Impact Stats
20%+
water reduction in the cooling system
>3.5 years
between plant shutdowns for cleaning
<2 MPY
for mild steel corrosion
<0.5 MPY
for copper
ZERO
downtime caused by cooling system
Figures & Images
Aggregate going to rotary kiln
