Nalco Company
Bedford Park, Illinois
Intern: Nanda Kishore Boddeda
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
Nalco Company is a leading provider of integrated water treatment and process
improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs for industrial and institutional
applications. Nalco’s Clearing plant in Bedford Park produces
colloidal silica, which is used in a variety of applications, including polishing
silicon wafers and memory discs; juice purifications; and also in the paper making
operations.
Results:
The focus of the intern’s project was to identify the ways to improve the
efficiency of the boiler operations at the facility. The intern made
the following recommendations:
- Install a heat recovery heat exchanger to capture the heat from the flash tank. The
captured heat can be used to pre-heat city water. This would help reduce
the use of natural gas and increase the life of the boilers. Installing
a heat exchanger could save approximately $32,000 annually, with a pay back period
of less than a year.
- Install an automatic excess air controller (oxygen trim) to reduce fuel consumption. For
every 2-3 percent reduction in the oxygen percentage, the efficiency of the boilers
will increase by 1 percent. By installing the oxygen trim controls, the
overall efficiency of the boilers can be increased by about 2-3 percent. Installing
automatic excess air control could achieve a cost savings of $35,000 annually,
with a payback period of less than a year.
- Inspect and test the boiler water on a regular basis to keep hardness, total
dissolved solids, and silica levels within appropriate operating parameters.
- Install
steam flow measures in areas where steam is been used and not recorded. Unit
heaters should be shutoff in the shutdown areas. Un-insulated pipes
should be insulated.
- Redo piping of condensate lines and install a separate condensate-measuring
meter. This project could achieve a cost savings of $5,000 annually,
with a pay back period of 1.7 months.
- Make a list of leaks, failed traps, pumps
etc. and assist workers in performing preventative maintenance.
- Upgrade the boiler
burner to increase complete burning of the fuel. Installing
a new burner could achieve a cost savings of $33,000 a year, with a payback
period of 1.6 years.
- Install a cogeneration system to produce electricity
and steam. This
project could save $149,000 a year, with a payback period of 1.7 years.
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