Many more related articles are also published in World Pumps magazine. The digital edition of the magazine is distributed free of charge to readers who meet our qualifying criteria. You can apply to receive your free copy by completing this short registration form.
The water in the a cooling towers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) Division’s facility in Clarksburg has a variety of uses. The facility’s engineering technician explained that each of the 1,000-ton cooling towers at the facility collect bugs, bird nesting materials and dirt from a nearby landfill. “Our towers do not have sumps in them that hold water. The water coming from the towers goes into the Coldwells and is then pumped throughout the system (to chillers, heat exchangers, and chemical feed panels).”
To clean the condenser water coming off of their Coldwells, a Forsta B2-90 model self-cleaning filter is employed. Forsta Filters is a California-based company specializing in the design and fabrication of self cleaning water filters.
The B2-90 handles a flow of 150 gpm at 75 psi and at 75° F. The filter enters into a backwash sequence about once every three hours. The filter helps to keep the tower basins clean and because the inline strainers do not need to be removed for cleaning, it make maintenance that much easier. Previously, the water contained a great deal of sand and dirt. The turbidity ran around 10 (NTU) after the filter was installed the turbidity is around 3 (NTU).
Aluminum plant
Superior Industries International, Inc. is an OEM supplier of cast aluminum road wheels for the automotive industry. Superior operates five manufacturing facilities employing approximately 4000 people in the US and Mexico that produce aluminum wheels for the major vehicle platforms of the world's leading automobile and light truck manufacturers.
Their Fayetteville plant in Arkansas needed a low-maintenance solution to remove and prevent further pipe scale debris from the open cooling tower. They needed to lessen their machine downtime due to water issues and improve their cooling ability.Capital Improvement Project Manager, Kyle Gunn explained, “I was handed this project, and after having one of our other plants recommend Forsta, I did some research and was impressed with their track record and product lines. Now both of our plants that use these filters have less water problems in our casting machines, meaning more production and less downtime.”
The plant uses a total of three B6-180 model filters in parallel to filter the process and cooling water generated from their 5000 gpm cooling tower. There is a main header that feeds the three pipes. Each pipe has its own filter and feeds a different set of machines. One filter is in a different location, due to space constraints.
From the cooling tower the water flows to a pump, through the filters and then to casting machines. They wanted to remove pipe scale and debris down to 50 micron. Gunn explained, “With aging pipes and cooling tower we wanted to stay ahead of any buildup.” Each of the plant’s filters flows 350 gpm of city water at 125-155 psi at a temperature of 76°F. Filters perform a backwash sequence every 12 hours.
Fruit farm
G&G Orchards in Yakima, WA grows apples and pears. After the fruit is harvested, it is stored in a packing house, which is equipped with controlled atmosphere rooms. In order to preserve the fruit’s freshness, the controlled atmosphere room offers a reduced oxygen environment with increased nitrogen and a low temperature. The maintenance of this controlled environment is vital to ensure the quality of the fruit throughout the boxing and casing stages of shipment. The cooling tower for this facility serves a pivotal role in the success of protecting the fruit.
The G&G Orchards filter receives cooling tower water from the holding tank drain. Dirty water comes out of the tank into the M2-90 Forsta self cleaning filter and clean water is discharged back into the holding tank.
Randall Gidge of Central Washington Refrigeration installed the unit for the orchard. He explained that he manually adjusts the duration of the backwash to optimize the cleaning cycle for his unique application.
He offered that the unit he installed saves on water blow down, maintenance to the tower, and chiller pans, and allowed the customer to rapidly see the difference in the water quality inside the holding tank. Gidge’s plan is to utilize the M2-90 skid unit as a portable system that will be moved to service other tanks, then moved back and forth on a scheduled maintenance rotation.
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Many more related articles are also published in World Pumps magazine.
The digital edition of the magazine is distributed free of charge to readers who meet our qualifying criteria. You can apply to receive your free copy by completing this short registration form
