Cooling tower cleaned by robot
29 Jan 2007
Ineos ChlorVinyls has succeeded in cleaning one of the main water cooling towers at its chlorine plant in Runcorn, without having an impact on production. The work was carried out using robot technology already in use in the water industry
The robot — a Panton McLeod VR600 underwater unit — has been used for 15 years to clean service reservoirs of the public water supply, meeting all necessary purity standards without requiring supplies to be shut down.
"We have carried out other ways to clean the tower without shutting down production but this is by a very long way the most impressive and effective," explains Paul Taylor, site utilities asset engineer at Ineos ChlorVinyls. "There was absolutely no downtime, it required very little manpower from us and it is definitely cleaned to standards to satisfy the HSE."
The cooling tower cleaned has 14 separate water compartments. Powerful pumps and constant falling droplets cause major turbulence and substantially reduced visibility. Prior to the clean a mini sub fitted with powerful lights and cameras surveyed the 14 compartments.
To reach difficult areas and remove some of the larger debris, Panton McLeod engineers designed and built a suction boom, a telescopic arm with a powerful pump at the end. The tracks of the VR600 were raised and a more robust discharge hose fitted. Water pumped out was put through settlement and filtration treatment and returned to the cooling tower, with the waste disposed of by licensed experts.
Paul Taylor said Ineos ChlorVinyls is delighted not to have taken the cooling tower out of production and so avoided costly downtime at a facility that runs round the clock every day of the year. The cleaning method was assessed as low risk from the outset and also brought important savings by recycling water already in the system.
Taylor has already spoken to Panton McLeod about cleaning another of the seven cooling towers on the site next year.
According to Panton McLeod's managing director Ian Weir, the operation was a world first for the VR600 in the way the equipment was used. Now he expects other plants to be interested in having their cooling towers or recirculation systems cleaned without any downtime.
The robot — a Panton McLeod VR600 underwater unit — has been used for 15 years to clean service reservoirs of the public water supply, meeting all necessary purity standards without requiring supplies to be shut down.
"We have carried out other ways to clean the tower without shutting down production but this is by a very long way the most impressive and effective," explains Paul Taylor, site utilities asset engineer at Ineos ChlorVinyls. "There was absolutely no downtime, it required very little manpower from us and it is definitely cleaned to standards to satisfy the HSE."
The cooling tower cleaned has 14 separate water compartments. Powerful pumps and constant falling droplets cause major turbulence and substantially reduced visibility. Prior to the clean a mini sub fitted with powerful lights and cameras surveyed the 14 compartments.
To reach difficult areas and remove some of the larger debris, Panton McLeod engineers designed and built a suction boom, a telescopic arm with a powerful pump at the end. The tracks of the VR600 were raised and a more robust discharge hose fitted. Water pumped out was put through settlement and filtration treatment and returned to the cooling tower, with the waste disposed of by licensed experts.
Paul Taylor said Ineos ChlorVinyls is delighted not to have taken the cooling tower out of production and so avoided costly downtime at a facility that runs round the clock every day of the year. The cleaning method was assessed as low risk from the outset and also brought important savings by recycling water already in the system.
Taylor has already spoken to Panton McLeod about cleaning another of the seven cooling towers on the site next year.
According to Panton McLeod's managing director Ian Weir, the operation was a world first for the VR600 in the way the equipment was used. Now he expects other plants to be interested in having their cooling towers or recirculation systems cleaned without any downtime.
