Client
Power Generation
Location
USA
Deliverables
- Save $100K
- Reduce Labor Hours by 92%
- Reduce chemical waste
Read PDF Case Study
Power Generation
Problem
A coal-fired power plant had two 3,000-gals boiler feed water pumps with very old and highly degraded turbine oil. They needed to clean the systems and change the oil.
Solution
The power plant elected to try two different services to clean up their systems. One being a traditional flushing service with chemical cleaning and confined space cleaning, the other being Fluitec’s Boost VR+™
Results
- Both methods cleaned the system
- Boost VR+ was 66% less expensive saving over $100K
- Boost VR+ worked during operation so no additional downtime for cleaning during outage
- Boost VR+ used 92% less labor hour resources than the traditional flush
$100,00 in Cost Savings
Deeper Dive
The Flushing of Boiler Feed Water Pump 1
The services were outsourced to a professional flushing company which performed the services during a planned outage. The following procedures were followed:
- At the beginning of the outage, the lube system was drained and disposed.
- Restrictive flow areas and critical components were isolated from the flush with the installation of specialized jumper hoses
- Confined Space Tank Cleaning was done on the reservoir
- A water-solution with a citrus cleaner was added to the system
- An external pump and bag filters were used to generate very high flow rates
- At the conclusion of the chemical flush, the water was removed from the system from draining and evaporation
- The oil system was charged with new oil
- A high velocity, high temperature oil flush was performed to remove any other contaminants from the system
Total flush time: 2.5 weeks
Estimated support hours: 100 hours
Total flush cost: $150,000
Flush effectiveness: All varnish and contaminants were removed from the system. The flush was considered a success.
The Flushing of Boiler Feed Water Pump 2
For the second system, the plant performed a Solubility Enhancement System Cleaning by following these procedures:
- 5% Boost VR +™ was added to the system 3 months prior to the outage
- A Vita III ESP™ filtration system was set up to continually clean the fluid and restore the fluid’s ability to dissolve contaminants
- During the outage, the used oil was drained from the reservoir while still warm, as well as all low points in the system
- The system was then recharged with new oil
Total flush time: 3 months
Estimated support hours: 8
Total flush cost: $50,000
Flush effectiveness: All varnish and deposits were removed from the system. The flush was considered a success.
The plant was equally satisfied with the outcome of both flushes. Boost VR+ however was one third of the price and required significantly less internal resources to support. Other concerns about residual cleaning agent left over in the turbine oil were also eliminated.
The plant was equally satisfied with the outcome of both flushes. Boost VR+ however was one third of the price and required significantly less internal resources to support. Other concerns about residual cleaning agent left over in the turbine oil were also eliminated.
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