Pfizer improves control of water systems at Cork plant

Manchester, UK - Pfizer has completed a project with an alliance partnership between Haden Freeman Group (HFL) and water treatment company Nalco, to improve the efficiency and control of its cooling and boiler water systems at one of its plants in Cork, the Republic of Ireland.

Water supplied to the boilers and towers at the plant needs to be chemically treated on a controlled basis to ensure efficiency and lifespan of equipment as well as avoiding corrosion, scale deposition and biological growth to internal pipe work, heat exchange equipment and the plant. The more controlled the chemistry addition to the systems, the greater the efficiency of their operation, resulting in greater energy savings for the company.

A key part of the project was to minimise the plant downtime ensuring the window for the work was not overrun, as this would have an impact upon system integrity.  Engineering company HFL deployed a team of four, led by project manager Ian Dunkley, who ensured that the timescale was met by completing the build and testing prior to installation and commissioning.

Nalco’s 3D TRASAR technology was installed on all cooling systems, which is used to monitor and control the chemical dosing and operational parameters for each system via stress management. Webmasters were used on the boiler system with the relevant information fed back to individual LED screens.

However, as the plant consists of two large utility buildings with some distance between utilities, the disparate information from each 3D TRASAR unit and Webmaster meant the system didn’t allow for a ‘big picture’ of the plants performance to be easily monitored.

In response, HFL  centralised all the data sources from the 3D TRASAR units and Webmasters to allow information to be collated, monitored and controlled from a central position. This provided a much clearer picture of what was going on throughout the plant, and therefore greater control and efficiency of resources.

HFL also developed a system to combine the 3D TRASAR units and Webmaster systems. Information from both systems, which monitored the chemical and operational data, was collated in a web-enabled data collection hub. This then converted the data for the entire plant into a clear, graphical form, which could be viewed using a web browser.

The system also allows retrospective data to be viewed for up to seven days and is allied to web/ethernet connectivity, which allows for remote monitoring of the boiler system, meaning adjustments to water treatment chemicals can be made on an ongoing basis.

Pfizer can now monitor and control chemical dosing levels around the plant with much greater accuracy. This results in the boilers and cooling towers now operating with greater control, meaning they are working much more efficiently on a day-to-day basis, which will provide long-term cost savings.

According to Eleanor O’Shea, from Nalco: “The project is a good example of existing technology being applied in an innovative and unique way. It was absolutely key that the project was carried out within the timescale and HFL achieved this. We now have much greater control over chemical levels in the plant, which will result in significant long term energy, and cost savings.”