Power Plant Improves Prod. with Turn-key Filtration Solution
Challenge
A local power plant was having issue with clogged nozzles. This 450-megawatt power plant has aqueous ammonia piping and tanks that are used for NOx reduction (to neutralize emissions). The plant was purchased in 2005 and originally constructed with carbon steel piping and tanks for the ammonia system. The nozzles that spray the ammonia to neutralize the NOx began to clog forcing the customer to take the units offline. Because of this, they were not able to produce power at peak time to their customers. The plant performed internal analysis and determined that the ammonia was gradually corroding the interior of the piping creating a powder that was in turn clogging the spray nozzles.
The plant has power contracts with customers which include sending electricity across state lines. If they cannot fulfill demand due to the plant being down, they would have to purchase power on the open market (which is very expensive compared to production cost).
The company contacted Valin to discuss filtration options.? Valin went to the site and once the filtration systems, components, and processes were understood, the course of action was started with a simple sketch on paper.
?
Solution
Valin designed and assembled a turnkey filtration system that consisted of 10 filtration assemblies with filter housings (for pre-filtration and final filtration), a differential pressure gauge, drain valves on the bottom of filter housings, inlet and outlet valves, and a support stand. A list of spare parts was also suggested to keep on-hand for quick replacement when needed. They placed an additional order for the following:
- Spare filters for pre- and final filtration
- Spare gaskets for filter housings
- Drain valves for filter housings
- Differential pressure gauge
- Filter housings
- On/off valves
Customer Benefits
By designing a system and filtering the pipe scale, Valin helped slow down the corrosion process and buy the customer more time to replace the carbon steel piping and tanks with stainless steel. With in-house knowledge necessary to design and build the systems without outsourcing, Valin delivered a turn-key system that easily connected to their existing piping scheme and ensured an optimized production. The customer is confident in our ability to understand his process and problem and provide a solution to meet their needs.