24 GE POWER 3
INDUSTRY NEWS
nearby Ebro River and to protect its RO membranes from costly damage. The company chose GE Water &
Process Technologies to manage control of the RO system for its cogeneration plant located close to one of largest rivers in Spain, and provide a comprehensive RO system. GE’s RO membrane system included biocide and anti-scalant chemical treatment in addition to technical support for daily issues due to a high salt density index (SDI), a typical measurement in reverse osmosis that determines the amount of solids present in the water.
In addition, the GE team
recommended the installation of InSight, an industrial internet solution for improved performance management of water treatment systems, on the RO membranes to monitor and normalize the permeate flow control, and replace the previous manual data entry methods. InSight connects people and
data to provide a total system view of performance, and can alert operators to flow changes and other problem indicators. The platform also uses powerful analytics to resolve critical issues, prevent problems before they occur, and optimize operations for greater productivity, reliability, and reduced costs.
Results InSight had an immediate impact to plant operations shortly after its
Pulp Paper & Logistics
installation in July 2014. An anti-scalant dosing pump
connected to the membrane system became plugged, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the chemical treatment and jeopardizing the health of the RO membranes. InSight revealed, almost immediately, loss of performance in the permeate flow chart, with a decrease of more than 25 per cent in just two days. This problem would not normally have been identified until much later. By uploading asset data into InSight, the system identified a blockage, and alerted operators who were quickly dispatched to repair the antiscalant dosing pump, avoiding the loss of critical performance
and preventing plant shutdown. Once the normalised flow data
was uploaded into InSight and the problem was identified, GE recommended a prompt chemical cleaning of the membranes, which saved the membranes from early replacement, and avoided additional costs for the customer. As a result, SAICA chose to
extend the use of InSight to another critical RO system within the plant to avoid potential issues and extend total membrane life. It is now considered a best practice prevention and performance optimisation tool for the customer. In future, InSight’s predictive
capabilities will be able to show when a cleaning procedure is
About SAICA’s paper mills
SAICA’s El Burgo de Ebro paper mill is located adjacent to the River Ebro about 25km from Zaragoza in Spain. It operates three paper making lines: PM8 with an operational width of 7.30m and a capacity of 380,000 tonnes a year; PM9 with an operational width of 7.50m and a capacity of 420,000 tonnes/year; and PM10 with an operational width of 7.80m and a capacity of 475,000 tonnes/year.
May/June 2016
Other locations of SAICA mills are at its Zaragosa headquarters in Spain where it operates PM6 and PM7 with total capacity of 525,000 tonnes/year, in France at Venizel north of Paris with one line, PM4 with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year; and in the UK at Partington (its most recent investment) with its PM11 line having capacity for 450,000 tonnes/year
Normalised flow within SAICA’s RO membranes
recommended (such as loss of normalised permeate flow or increased normalised salt passage), saving chemical cleanings and manpower time and extending RO membrane life. By analyzing normalised data
plant within the InSight platform, it is possible to anticipate problems and act to prevent damage to assets or even plant shutdown, with associated savings from this preventive action. More information from GE
Water & Process Technologies, 4636 Somerton Road, Trevose, Pennsylvania 19053, USA. Website:
www.gewater.com
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