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10 AESSEAL Averting the water crisis


The impending global water shortage is a potential crisis that no industry can afford to ignore. In paper mills, water can be saved by better management of cooling systems for the seals in rotating machinery, says David Amory*


T


he water crisis is playing out on a global scale. Cape Town in South Africa faced the


threat of literally running out of water last year; southern California has experienced years of record drought and the UK’s Environment Agency issued a stark warning that England could run short of this vital resource within 25 years. The problem is as much about climate change and population growth as it is about the impact of industrial processes. But the predicted outlook is nevertheless dire and the answer has to be collective and concerted action at every level – community, industry and government. Many pulp and paper


companies have made a commitment to reducing their environmental footprint by embedding sustainability targets in their plant Measures of Performance (MOPs). Those in the public domain posted targets for raw-water intake ranging anywhere between five and 20 per cent. However, it has to be said that


there remains an unwillingness by some companies to properly investigate, let alone invest in, operational changes to tackle excessive water consumption and unnecessary waste. In its recent report ‘Treading Water’, CDP, the global organisation that drives action by companies and governments to safeguard water resources, presented


some starkly contrasting facts: while the number of companies setting targets to reduce water withdrawals doubled between 2015 and 2018, in that same period there was an almost 50 per cent rise in the number of companies reporting higher withdrawals. So, what will provide an incentive for companies to make the leap from ‘good intentions’ to setting a proactive, effective sustainability programme in operation? How about these:


• Eliminate all water waste beyond the absolute minimum required for the efficient functioning of rotating equipment and the process


• Eradicate the leakage that leads


to product dilution and bearing failure


• Improve reliability and put an end to unscheduled downtime


• Make significant energy savings • Achieve swift return on investment – typically four to nine months - and long term operational savings. It’s a fact that all of the above


can be achieved through a simple upgrade to advanced dual mechanical seals and seal support system on production pumps.


Water saving solutions Any pulp and paper company taking an in-depth look at where water is being used to excess in their processes would highlight gland packing and single mechanical seals as the primary source of waste.


Both of these sealing approaches


often demand substantial quantities of clean, cool water to provide lubrication and prevent overheating, yet even in optimum environments they display serious operational flaws. Leakage is a standard feature of both, causing product loss and contamination. Maintenance is intensive and mean times between failure (MTBF) often short. But their greatest drawback is the sheer volume of seal flush water that is often injected from an external source to provide this lubrication cooling, the vast bulk of which simply goes down the drain or is evaporated at the end of the cycle.


Rotating equipment that has been upgraded by AESSEAL with dual seals and support systems May/June 2019


On a unit with 30 pumps the normal water consumption on a


Pulp Paper & Logistics


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