QuickTime™ and a None decompressor are needed to see this picture. Steam Generation Systems, Inc. 1108 Lavaca St., Suite 110-309 • Austin, Texas 78701 USA • 832-725-7662 • www.SteamGenerationSystems.com FINAL REPORT for PROPOSAL No. SGS-0106-00-002 Survey of Water Treatment Plant for Cogeneration Facility Prepared by: Alex C. McDonald, Ph.D. March, 2006
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SCOPE OF WORK ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 EXISTING WATER PLANT.................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 NEW WATER PLANT......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 STAND-ALONE FACILITY.................................................................................................................................. 7
2.0 EXISTING WATER PLANT ............................................................................................................................ 8
2.0.1 Description of Existing Systems .......... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... ..... 8 2.1 RAW WATER .................................................................................................................................................... 9
2.2 INTERMEDIATE QUALITY (IQ) WATER ........................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Cation Exchange Units .......................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Anion Exchange Units ........................................................................................................................... 15
2.3 HIGH QUALITY (HQ) WATER .................................................................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Mixed-Beds ............................................................................................................................................ 17 2.3.2 Condensate Return ................................................................................................................................ 18
2.4 WASTE WATER NEUTRALIZATION AND BRINE SOAK WATER ........................................................................ 18 2.5 OPERATING COSTS AND MANPOWER REQUIREMENTS.................................................................................... 19
3.0 NEW WATER PLANT.................................................................................................................................... 21
3.1 CLARIFICATION / FILTRATION.......................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 FILTER WELL /CLEAR WELL............................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 INTERMEDIATE QUALITY (IQ) WATER ........................................................................................................... 22
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SCOPE OF WORK
The proposed study will focus on design/capacity and operation of the water plant systems.Potential for cost savings from water use and re-use systems will be investigated.
The study will focus on four types of contributing factors:
1. Mechanical and Design
2. Operational
3. Chemical Treatment and Control.
4. Produced water quality specification.
These factors are not independent variables and must be addressed collectively. The work to be
performed to investigate these primary factors is outlined below.
1. Mechanical and Design
• Review manufacturer’s guidelines and design parameters for waterside
systems including flow rates, pressure, production rates, chemistry
control (blowdown, variable service), factors influencing produced water
quality.
• Evaluate the current condition of the raw water plant and boiler systems.
This will be performed by review of historical records, including records
of internal inspections, outage reports.
2. Operation
• Assess planned operation procedures and service duty requirements.
Emphasis will be placed on the impact of these procedures on water
treatment costs and manpower requirements.
• Audit historical chemistry records, maintenance records (failure
patterns), treatment requirements and correlate these to water system
operation.
3. Chemical Treatment • Audit historical records of type and amounts of chemicals fed.
• Correlate chemical feed procedures with unit operation and manpower
requirements.
• Assess the effectiveness of the current chemical feed procedures.
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2.0 EXISTING WATER PLANT
2.0.1 Description of Existing Systems
Raw surface water enters the facility at
Junction Box B, where any excess water
overflows into the ditch system of the
complex. Raw water for clarification/water
treatment and other process applications
flows via gravity in three 36” conduits from
Junction Box B to Junction Box C where it
is then conveyed via a concrete conduit to
various plant locations including the water
treatment plant.
Raw water is pumped and chlorinated from
sump 108C to five (5) circular upflow clarifiers. The plant has undergone a number of
expansions and operating changes over the years. These changes include modifications to the
clarifiers; including (1) the discontinuation of lime-softening, and (2) discontinuation of
magnesium oxide feed for silica removal. Most of the equipment associated with these two
processes remains on plant site. A cationic polymer, used for solids coagulation and settling in
the upflow clarifiers, is fed ahead of the small chemical mix vessel. Additional trim chlorination,controlled by chlorine “residual”, is used for organic removal. Twenty (20) % caustic is fed after
chlorinating to control the water pH and for general corrosion reduction.
The effluent from the clarifiers is gravity fed to a series of nine (9) mixed media filters for
removal of remaining solids. Filtered water is collected in an underground storage facility or
filter well. Clarified and filtered water from the filter well is pumped to a demineralizer system
consisting of four (4) cation and six (6) anion units to provide Intermediate Quality (IQ) water.
IQ water from the demineralizers provides boiler feed water and also feed water to two (2)
mixed-bed polishers. The two mixed-bed polishers provide high quality (HQ) demineralized
water for process usage.
Sulfuric acid and caustic are used to regenerate exhausted cation and anion exchangers;
respectively. Regeneration is performed in a counter-flow manner. Caustic and brine are also
used in an alkaline brine wash (soak) to improve organic removal from the anion resins. Waste
effluent from the ion exchange regeneration process is collected and neutralized in five
neutralization tanks before transfer to on site bio-ponds.
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• Test polymers with different charge densities and molecular weights.
• Evaluate the use of clay additives.
• Investigate the installation of settling tubes.
• Continuous recycle of clarifier blowdown sludge to the raw water sump to increase
solids contact and minimize solids bridging due to long sludge residence times.
• Optimize the upflow clarifier operating parameters such as agitator speeds, sludge
density, blanket levels, and consistent hydraulic loading.
Given the current clarification capacity of approximately 6,000 gpm at 1 gpm/ft2
and the
numerous options available to ensure or enhance this capacity, the addition of the clarifier/filter
(Trident or similar systems) is not considered necessary. This is of particular importance since
the proposed units operate much differently from the existing system and may introduceunnecessary complexity to the production of clarified and filtered water. Batch processes with
numerous operating steps and moving beds are less reliable in producing adequate and consistent
quality water than the current clarifiers.
• In addition, the stated plan would be to feed Alum as a coagulant to the new
clarifier/filters. It is recommended that consideration be given to feeding Alum to
the existing clarifiers and increase their rated capacity as opposed to the
installation of the proposed Trident or equivalent unit.
• The installation of the proposed Trident or equivalent unit would also impose the
requirement of additional backwash capacity. The filter well has limited capacityand the inventory of water is rapidly depleted whenever a current filter is
backwashed. Additional backwash water requirements from the filter well would
cause serious depletion of filtered water or cause operational problems if water
were unavailable.
• Another consideration, in evaluating future clarifier capacity requirements, is the
proposed use of clarified/filtered water from the filter well as cooling water make-
up. This adds approximately 700 gpm to the clarifier and filter water throughput
demand. Although the evaporative cooler make-up water should be clarified and
filtered, the main cooling water make-up to the surface condenser does not need to
be clarified and filtered. Raw water or ditch water, which is the current practice atthe CG facility, can be used as cooling water make-up. This will reduce the
required clarification and filter requirements by 700 gpm.
• The current filter well has a capacity of only 170,000 gallons. This reduces the
ability to operate the clarifiers at higher rates since filter well capacity is limited.
Increasing the backwash requirements for the Trident or comparable system and
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2.2.1 Cation Exchange Units
There are currently four (4) cationic ionexchangers in service. Each unit is 11’ in
diameter and 11’ straight sides and containing
525 ft3 of strong acid resin. The resin depth is
5’ 6’’ in each unit. The units are regenerated
in reverse or counter-current flow using 4 lbs
of sulfuric acid per ft3 of resin. The service
flow rate is 900 gpm (1.7 gpm/ft3) with
theoretical exhaustion at about 1.3 MM gallons
of water or a designed once/day regeneration
schedule.
Operating under the present unit guidelines, four cation units can produce a maximum or 3600
gpm until one unit needs to be regenerated. With one unit in regeneration the other 3 units can
produce a nominal 2700 gpm of cation-exchanged water. Although the theoretical service
throughput is 1.3 MM gallons for each cation exchanger, most units are frequently regenerated
before reaching theoretical exhaustion or sodium breakthrough. With the current design of the
waste-water neutralization system combined with the plant’s efforts to minimize acid/base usage
costs, a cation exchange unit must be taken off-line and regenerated whenever an anion exchange
unit is being regenerated. Analogously, anion units will be taken off-line for early regeneration
whenever a cation unit must be regenerated. Therefore, the acid/base neutralization requirements
have a significant and negative impact on the demineralizer system operation. Coupled with thebrine “squeezing” process, the demineralizer system loses flexibility and cannot be operated
efficiently to provide demineralized water at the lowest cost and minimum water consumption.
The current net demand for cation exchange water is reported as 3300 gpm. This demand is met
with the current four units. Since cation regeneration is “tied-to” neutralization requirements for
anion regeneration, significant average service capacity is lost. Operating to theoretical capacity
or exhaustion is not possible on many occasions. To meet the capacity demands, all four cation
units are either in service or being regenerated. Essentially there is no standby cation exchange
unit because of the above mentioned neutralization requirements as well as other operating
practices.
If we assume that neutralization restraints are removed from the operating procedures and a
standby cation unit is present; there are still additional recommendations to increase the capacity
and/or service flow of all cation units:
• The lbs. of regenerant, sulfuric acid per cubic foot of resin, could be increased
from four (4) lbs. to six (6) or even eight (8) lbs. of sulfuric acid. Six (6) lbs. of
Steam Generation Systems, Inc.1108 Lavaca St., Suite 110-309 • Austin, Texas 78701 USA • 832-725-7662 • www.SteamGenerationSystems.com
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acid would increase the kilograin capacity and throughput slightly more than 20%,
and 8 lbs. per cubic foot would increase capacity by almost 40%. Increased
regenerant also reduces sodium leakage. Lower sodium from the cation unit willalso reduce the silica leakage from the anion units. Without increasing the
quantity of resin or the number of vessels, the capacity could be increased by 40%
by increasing regenerant. Suggested service flow rates are 0.5 to 5.0 gpm/ft3. The
current service flow rate of 1.7 gpm/ft3
or 900 gals / min. could be increased by
40% to 1360 gpm per cation unit. This would take advantage of the increased
capacity from the increase in regenerant dosage/ft3. With one unit on stand by, the
current four cation units would have a nominal continuous capacity of 4,000 gpm
(3 units operating). To increase cation exchanger capacity to 5,000 gpm another
unit of comparable size would need to be installed.
• Conservation of IQ water should be investigated. Filtered water, instead of IQ
water, could be used for backwash, acid dilution, and rinsing for the cation
regeneration. This would represent a conservation of an average of 100 gpm IQ
water.
2.2.2 Anion Exchange Units
There are six (6) anion exchange units; three
(3) small and three (3) larger vessels. The
small units are 8’ in diameter with 9’ straight
sides and contain 221 ft3
of resin. The resindepth is 4’ 6”. The large units are 12’ in
diameter with 10’ straight sides and contain
650 ft3 of resin at a resin depth of 5’ 9”. These
units employ counter-current regeneration with
a total stated capacity of 3800 gpm. Current
operation normally requires that one small and
one large anion unit be in regeneration;
therefore, nominal anion exchanger capacity is 2500 gpm, with 500 gpm from the 2 small anion
exchangers and 2000 gpm from the 2 remaining large anion units. Under present operating
procedures there is no standby unit.
The anion units are regenerated using approximately 4.5 lbs/ft3 of caustic. Each anion unit is
also “brine squeezed” about once / month to remove organics. This process is fairly time
consuming and additional anion units will be required to compensate for the brine treatment,
unless additional solutions to organic contamination are investigated or implemented.
• As with cation exchange units the regenerant dosage for anion resins can be
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the capacity increase is about 10% for each 2 lbs/ft3 of caustic, therefore
increasing regenerant from 4.5 lbs. to 12 lbs. per cubic foot would increase the
capacity by approximately 40% for each anion exchanger unit. Silica leakagewould normally also decrease. The recommended service flow rate is normally
between 1-3 gpm/ft3. If higher regenerant dosages were used, present service
flows could be increased and still be within the recommended range. An
increase of caustic regenerant to 10-12 lbs/ft3
would allow the service flow rate
to be increased in all the on-line, (5) large, units to 2.0 gpm/ft3. This would give
a service flow of 6,500 gpm with the sixth unit being in stand-by.
With two anion units normally in regeneration in the current operating system, service capacity
could also be increased by considering the following option:
• Replace the three small anion units, which contribute only 500 gpm, with threelarger units of sufficient size to give the desired capacity. At present the three
larger anion units can easily produce 3,000 gpm; therefore, another three units of
equal size could satisfy the 5,000 gpm water demand as well as have a standby
unit.
• Since organic contamination is a serious problem for strong base anion exchange
resins, macroreticular resins such as IRA-958, organic traps, and Alum or Ferric
coagulants in the clarification process should be investigated.
• Although IRA-402 is a gel resin with enhanced pore size, changing to a resin
with even large pore spacing such as IRA-458 should be considered. Converting
to IRA-958 or similar macroreticular resins would significantly reduce the rate of
organic fouling and may improve average service water capacity. The need for
brine squeezing could be greatly reduced which greatly simplifies the whole
demineralization process.
• Organic traps make use of macroreticular strong base anion exchange resins such
as IRA-958 operated in the chloride form strictly for organic removal. The
organics are absorbed on the resin but removed by regenerating with salt/caustic.
The best system requires separate anion vessels and regeneration procedures.
The organic trap is placed ahead of the strongly basic anion resin, but its
operation essentially minimizes organic fouling and the complex and timely
process of “brine squeezing” of exchange resins.
•
Organic concentration in the SBW raw water varies seasonally. Although TOCindicates the level of organic contamination, it does not predict which waters will
have more tendencies to foul anion exchange resins, because molecular weight
variation of organics is not detectable by TOC analysis. Determining the actual
organic fouling tendencies of water, through laboratory testing of various anion
exchange resins, would be extremely valuable in simulating plant operations.
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• Removal of organics in the clarification/filtration processes is usually an
excellent approach. Maximizing chlorination then dechlorinating ahead of the
demineralizer will usually greatly reduce organics.• The use of Alum or Ferric salts in the clarification process will assist in the
removal of organics to below troublesome levels.
The addition of the CG LP Co-Generation project as a “Stand-Alone" facility should only
increase the demand for Intermediate Quality (IQ) water by 200-300 gallons per minute. This
amount of water would normally easily compensate for steam venting, boiler blowdown and/or
sample lines for any large combined cycle heat recovery facility. Based solely on this “Stand-
Alone” concept, no water plant expansion would be necessary. The increase in IQ water demand
can easily be handled by the existing pre-treatment and demineralization system. Even if
clarified and filtered water is used for cooling tower make-up, the current water plant could
handle the extra 900 plus gpm.
2.3 HIGH QUALITY (HQ) WATER
2.3.1 Mixed-Beds
The two (2) mixed-bed polishing units currently in service are essentially the same size but are
referred to as the large and small units. Both are 10’ in diameter with 10’ straight sides. Each
mixed-bed contains about 230 ft3 of strong acid cation exchange resin and 155 ft3 of strong base
anion exchange resin. One is operated at 900 gpm and the other at 1,000 gpm with no apparentreason for the difference. The current requirement is only 600 gpm of HQ water for on site users.
At any given time, one polisher is either in regeneration or on standby while the other is in
operation. Each mixed-bed is capable of producing 18 MM gallons of high quality polished
water before regeneration; however, effluent conductivity must be below 0.5 micromhos with
silica below 0.1 ppm.
These mixed-bed polishers can obviously handle more service flow and be regenerated more
frequently. Maximum service flow capacity for mixed bed polishers is usually based on pressure
drop considerations for the vessel, sodium leakage limitations of effluent water, and resin
durability factors rather than regeneration schedules. The two present mixed-beds contain
approximately 390 ft3
of combined cation and anion exchange resin. At a designed service flowrate of 2-5 gpm/ ft
3of resin, each mixed-bed can provide 780-1950 gpm of HQ water for a total
capacity of 1560-3900 gpm. Unless there is a back-pressure and/or unexpected sodium leakage
problem, the required HQ water expansion capacity of 3,807 gpm can be handled by the current
two mixed-bed units. A third mixed-bed of equal dimensions would be required to serve as a
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The addition of the CG LP Co-Generation project as a “Stand-Alone" facility should only
increase the demand for High Quality (HQ) water by 200-300 gallons per minute. This water
would be received from the IQ water demineralizers. This amount of HQ water would normallyeasily compensate for steam venting, boiler blowdown and/or sample lines for any large
combined cycle heat recovery facility. Based on this “Stand-Alone” concept no water plant
expansion would be necessary. The existing pre-treatment, demineralization, and mixed-bed
polishing system can easily handle the increase in HQ water demand. Even if clarified and
filtered water is used for cooling tower make-up, the current water plant could handle the extra
900 plus gpm.
2.3.2 Condensate Return
Current plant operation requires continuous condensate return of 800-1000 gpm to the PowerHouse and existing co-generation unit. This quantity of condensate return ensures the
availability of demineralizer intermediate quality water to boilers. An additional supply of ~125
gpm of condensate is to be available with the completion of the project. No condensate water
balance for current or future operations was available. Several boilers will be shuttered after the
completion of the co-generation facility, which is designed to export steam.
Based on the proposed expansion, most steam will now be produced using High Quality (HQ)
water, which is more costly to produce than the Intermediate Quality (IQ) water currently used to
produce steam and condensate. Greater economic loss occurs when condensate produced from
more costly make-up water is not returned for reuse.
The importance of quality condensate recovery cannot be overemphasized. Condensate return
also reduces the need for IQ water production. Any reduction in IQ water requirement cascades
beneficially throughout the water plant system resulting in decreased requirements for
clarification, filtration, and neutralization. This reduces operating cost and also impacts the
current capital expansion requirements.
2.4 Waste Water Neutralization and Brine Soak Water
There are five (5) fiberglass waste neutralization tanks each with a capacity of 30 M gallons. Thesystem is equipped with 2,000 gpm recirculating/transfer pumps for pH control, with the optional
addition of either sulfuric or caustic. Due to high TOC and TDS waters from the brine soak of
anion resins, the discharge of neutralized waste is monitored for pH and TOC prior to disposal to
on-site bio-oxidation ponds.
The process of wastewater disposal from demineralization has seemingly taken precedent over
the demineralization process. The demineralizers are operated inefficiently in deference to
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3.0 NEW WATER PLANT
The following evaluation is based solely upon the new water plant design scenarios (Bechtel)
provided by SGS. Justification for the water/steam requirements for the installation was not
provided.
3.1 Clarification/ Filtration
Based on the objectives of the project and the design bases, the maximum clarification system
capacity required is 5,870 gpm. This clarification capacity was established for the “Ethylene
Startup” scenario.
Cooling tower make-up water of 702 gpm is included in the 5,780 gpm clarification requirement.
If raw water instead of clarified and filtered water is used as cooling tower make-up, the actual
clarifier capacity requirement decreases to 5,168 gpm. As discussed previously, the current five
clarifiers can produce over 6,000 gpm; therefore expansion of the clarification capacity by the
installation of the Trident or similar unit is not necessary. Without the Trident or similar units
the backwash water requirements reduce by 15-20 gpm and the maximum clarified water
requirements become 5,150 gpm.
In the event the Ethylene start-up should occur during a coincidental shutdown of one clarifier,
the remaining four clarifiers could produce an adequate supply of water on a short-term basis tohandle start-up requirements of 5,150 gpm.
Other than optimizing the current clarification system through evaluation of
coagulants/flocculants, chemical feed locations, mixing, and other parameters pertinent to
clarifier performance, no additional clarifiers are required for the system expansion.
3.2 Filter well/Clear well
The current filter well capacity is approximately 170,000 gallons. Additional filter well capacity
of 170,000 gallons would allow for greater flexibility in filter backwashing and ensure watersupply to the demineralizer system. Additional filter well capacity would also allow an increase
in clarifier base loading and minimize hydraulic surges during clarification.
Since the current filter well is located as sub-surface storage it would be very difficult if not
impossible to increase the capacity of the current filter well. Ground space is not readily
available, and it may also be impractical to add any additional capacity as surface storage because
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gravity-flow filtration is currently used. Any surface storage would require pumps and control
systems in order to be used as additional filter well capacity.
Although additional filter well storage would increase the system flexibility, it appears there is no
easy or practical way to increase the filter well storage at the present water plant location.
3.3 Intermediate Quality (IQ) Water
3.3.1 Cation Exchange
The largest IQ water demand for the expansion project is 4,503 gpm which is required for the
“Ethylene Start-up” scenario. This is significantly higher than the “Peak Normal” requirement
which is 3,914 gpm.
The current cation exchange system consists of four (4) cation exchange units each with 525 ft3
of resin. Each unit is capable of handling over 1500 gpm without exceeding the pressure drop
constraint of 20 psi maximum. For each cation exchange unit to produce the required 1125 gpm
of quality water, would necessitate a change in the quantity of regenerant acid per cubic foot of
resin if the systems were to retain the same regeneration schedule. As noted earlier, increasing
acid regeneration from 4 lbs/ft3
to 8 lbs/ft3
of resin would provide a 40 % increase in capacity,
thus compensating for the additional throughput.
Different regeneration procedures would be required if the sulfuric regenerate were increasedabove the current dosage of 4 lbs./ft3. Increasing the service flow rate and the sulfuric acid
regeneration dosage would allow the unit regeneration frequencies to remain the same if based on
exhaustion or throughput.
Using both weak acid and strong acid cation resins in each cation exchanger is another approach
to increase the service capacity of the cation exchange system. Compared to strong acid resins,
weak cation resins have higher exchange capacities and regenerate to 100% capacity, but only
exchange those cations associated with alkalinity.
The filter well water contains about 20% of its anions as bicarbonate alkalinity. The weak-acid
cation resin would remove cations, equivalent to the available alkalinity, whereas, the strong-acidresin would remove those cations not associated with alkalinity. By replacing strong acid resin
with weak acid resins where sufficient alkalinity exists, the capacity of the system can be
dramatically increased even at the same acid regeneration dosage.
Although a few procedures may need to be changed, it is apparent the present four (4) cation
units could handle the expansion demands for 4,503 gpm of IQ water. An additional cation
exchange unit of similar capacity would need to be installed as a standby unit.
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3.3.2 Anion Exchange
In order to meet the maximum IQ water production rate of 4,503 gpm, changes in the anion unitsare required. The current system has six anion units, three small and three larger vessels. As
previously discussed the three small units represent only 750 gpm of IQ water capacity as
compared to 3,000 for the three larger units. It is recommended that these three small units
should be replaced with the appropriate number of large units. This would tremendously reduce
operational complexity and improve reliability of IQ water production.
With a total of five (5) large units, each containing 650 ft3
of anion exchange resin and
regenerated at larger caustic dosages, 4,503 gpm of IQ water could be produced with four units in
operation and one unit on standby.
The greatest factor in the reliability of anion exchange capacity is the control or prevention of organic fouling. Current acrylic resin technology and macroreticular resin structures both greatly
reduce the fouling tendency normally associated with anion resins. To minimize organic fouling,
these technologies can be used in the anion exchanger units, in organic traps ahead of the system,
or in both.
Organic traps are not designed to remove anions from the water, they serve to collect organics
and protect the anion exchange resins that follow. Organic fouling of IQ water anion exchange
resin does interfere with the exchange of anions; therefore, the resins must be cleaned regularly.
“Brine squeezing” of organic traps is conducted less frequently, since the collected organics do
not interfere with other functionality of the resin.
Although brine squeezing will still be required, the decreased frequency in favor of the organic
traps warrants consideration. Although the economics is not known, it appears that retaining the
three small anion units and adding several more large anion units while increasing the squeezing
frequency only exacerbates the operating difficulties and even perhaps the capital cost of the
water system.
Considering the complexity and difficulty associated with brine “squeezing”, the time involved,
and the large impact on water discharge characteristics, it appears that organic traps as well as
acrylic resins may provide the most reliable system for IQ water production.
3.4 High Quality (HQ) Water
The proposed largest demand for HQ water is 3,807 gpm corresponding to the “Steam
Emergency” scenario. High Quality water is currently produced using two mixed-bed units with
inlet water consisting of condensate and IQ water. The current production of HQ water is only
600-700 gpm; therefore, the increase in maximum demand to 3,807 gpm is substantial. This is
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also significantly higher than the “Peak Normal” requirement 2,698 gpm. Because the mixed bed
units always receive demineralized and condensate water as influent, the mixed-bed units
function as “polishers”. At their current service flow rate they are regenerated after 20-30 days of operation or after 18 MM gals of water have been processed.
These mixed-bed polishers can obviously handle more service flow and be regenerated more
frequently. Maximum service flow capacity for mixed bed polishers is usually based on pressure
drop considerations for the vessel, sodium leakage limitations of effluent water, and resin
durability factors rather than regeneration schedules. The two present mixed-bed units are 10’ in
diameter with 10’ straight sides and contain approximately 390 ft3
of combined cation and anion
exchange resins about 5’ in depth. At a designed service flow rate of 2-5 gpm/ ft3
of resin, each
mixed-bed can provide 780-1950 gpm of HQ water for a total capacity of 1560-3900 gpm.
Unless there is a backpressure or unexpected effluent quality problem, the required HQ water
capacity of 3,807 gpm can be handled by the current two mixed-bed units. A third mixed-bed of equal dimensions would be required to serve as a stand-by unit.
3.5 Operating Cost and Manpower Requirements
Based on the evaluation of the water plant operated to these requirements, additional manpower
is not required compared to the existing water plant operations.
3.6 Equipment Capacity
The following flow requirements were used for a basis of primary equipment additions:
• 600 gpm unfiltered raw water to cooling tower make-up (continuous)
• 5,168 gpm clarified and filtered water (“Ethylene Startup” scenario)
• 4,503 gpm IQ water (“Ethylene Start-up” scenario).
• 3,807 gpm HQ (“Steam Emergency” scenario).
Based on the evaluation of the water plant operated to these requirements, the following primaryequipment additions are required:
• Replace the three small anion units with three larger units with capacity of 650 ft3
of resin). The total of six units of equal size would produce an estimated 5,000
• 5,190 gpm clarified and filtered water which includes 742 gpm to cooling tower
make-up and evaporative coolers.
• 3,914 gpm IQ water.
• 2,688 gpm HQ.
Using these normal peak operating capacities, the equipment additions are still required andrecommended in order to provide the specified “N+1” redundancy for clarifiers, cation/anion
exchangers and mixed-bed exchangers.
The operational and service modifications required to achieve these capacities are discussed
• Additional demineralization capacity would provide all high quality make-up
water after clarification and filtration.
4.3 Operating Cost and Manpower Requirements
Insufficient information is available to determine to the manpower required to operate the water
plant as a “stand alone” facility.
Based solely on day to day operating requirements, one (1) operator per shift, unsupervised
would meet normal water plant needs. As a stand alone facility integrated into a power
generation facility, dedicated chemistry, operations and maintenance personnel may not berequired. Many such facilities rely on the plants existing, or contracted operation and
maintenance personnel to perform these duties in the water plant. The direct manpower costs
including supervisors, maintenance and repair personnel, instrumentation & calibration
technicians, laboratory support, engineering & other support personnel, as well as management
costs are difficult to assess without the current annual budget.
The current annual budget would provide a detailed review of the itemized operating and capital
project cost projections for the year 2000. Previous records should indicate past manpower cost
allocations to the water plant.
4.4 Equipment Capacities
Insufficient information is available at this time to estimate equipment requirements for operation
of the water plant as a stand-alone facility producing water solely for power plant operation. In
the absence of steam export requirements, the produced water requirements are very low (< 500
gpm HQ peak). However, the CG units as designed produce steam for export and may be
difficult or impossible to operate as a contained, power generation system which is not integrated