The complex procedures prevailing in chemical plants and the process industry must not be interrupted, require high availability and must be safe. And they often involve the storage, transport and processing of chemicals that are harmful to health. At the same time, the processes need to run with maximum energy savings, maximum conservation of resources and maximum environmental protection. Monitoring and controlling the interwoven processes lead to an ever-increasing amount of data and information, which need to be made as transparent as possible.
If network-compatible components, such as metering pumps, disinfection systems, controllers and sensors are intelligently linked up, new opportunities occur:
- Timely response: all revelant system data is available at all times and from any location e.g status, funtionality, etc.
- Safe working: because the precise process and system status can be accessed digitally, there is no need for workers to go into potentially dangerous environments.
- More efficient service: accessing status and performance data from any location reduces travel for purely inspection and documentation purposes.
- Reliable storage and documentation: all measured values and system data are reliably stored in the cloud and protected from manipulation and loss of data. Regulatory documentation obligations can be met with ease.
SINK DISINFECTION: CONSTANTLY KEEPING AN EYE ON THE CONSUMPTION OF CHEMICALS
The Blanco group is a German manufacturer of kitchen fittings, including granite sinks. Holes for taps and accessories are milled during the sink production process. The milling machines operate in the dry, i.e. without any water, which leaves the sinks very dusty. The last stage of the production process is to wash them so that they can be packaged clean and free of germs. To minimise the amount of water in circulation for cleaning the sinks and therefore to minimise the consumption of fresh water, it has to be treated. The kitchen manufacturer uses hydrogen peroxide to do this. In accordance with EU Ordinance 2019/1148, it must be possible for consumption and use of this chemical to be meticulously traced at all times because it is considered a raw material for explosive substances. Using the intelligent ProMinent metering pump gamma/ X, the delivery volumes of the hydrogen peroxide solution are recorded as required by law and saved in a controller by means of an SD card. With its Teflon diaphragm, the intelligent pump is also ideally suited to metering the aggressive and outgassing disinfection solution into the washing water.
During disinfection, the concentration of the washing solution is continually measured using a sensor for hydrogen peroxide. The controller keeps the H2O2 concentration constant. A liquid level indicator issues an alarm in good time if the hydrogen peroxide needs topping up.
The benefits for Blanco at a glance:
- Assurance of chemical supplies: a predictive alarm is issued as soon as chemicals need topping up.
- Consumption reports: no extra work or time is needed to ensure the compliance stipulated by law.
- Assurance of continuous production: deviations in the process trigger an alarm in good time, e.g. if a filter needs replacing, so there are no production downtimes. This is important in a company that runs a five-shift operation to produce a million sinks a year.
- Site-wide recording: chemical consumption can be globally determined in an instant.
- Elimination of manual processes: reports no longer have to be produced and evaluated by hand.
- Everything comes from one source: ProMinent supplies the complete hardware solution (metering pump, controllers, sensors) and the IIoT system networked into this for digital fluid management.
APP-BASED COOLING TOWER DISINFECTION
Suez Water Technologies & Solutions (WTS) France is part of the international Suez group, which delivers industrial services and solutions. One of the company’s remits is responsibility for operating evaporation cooling systems. Chemical biocides are used to disinfect cooling towers. These have to be used to free the inner chamber of the cooling towers of naturally occurring legionella.
To supply these chemicals, Suez Wts France uses the intelligent metering pump gamma/ X with integrated Bluetooth module, which allows the pump to be remotely controlled using a mobile app. Thanks to the free DULCONNEX Blue App, service technicians can easily control the gamma/ X pumps on their smartphones from a safe distance. The mobile app gives them central access to all the data from linked devices. The current system performance data can therefore be called up using remote access, settings can be adjusted in real time or pump capacity and metering volume can be directly regulated. This is of major benefit to industrial areas of application where pumps are often hard to access or where protection involves stringent safety measures.
REMOTE ACCESS FOR MORE EFFICIENT SERVICE PROCESSES
By using the DULCONNEX Blue App, Suez Wts France has been able to not just improve safety for its service technicians but also make what used to be an expensive and time-consuming process much more efficient.
Before they used the gamma/ X, whenever a service incident occurred or an error/problem was reported, Suez Wts France first had to produce a plan of action and safety measures and have this approved by the operator of the evaporation cooling system before a service technician was able to set out for the system. Once on site, the technicians had to first identify themselves, register with the system and put on appropriate protective equipment. Only once kitted out in protective equipment could access be gained to the affected evaporation cooling system where the service technician could read the pump values and settings and manually record them. Having removed the protective equipment and left the system, the service technician had to then transfer the manually recorded data into a digital report.
TIME SAVINGS OF UP TO 60 MINUTES
Since switching to the innovative gamma/ X with DULCONNEX Blue, Suez Wts France is now saving up to 60 minutes per service incident. The service technicians travel to a location close to the facility and, following authentication from their cars via their mobile phones, can establish a secure connection to the pump. Pump values and settings can be accessed via the app and all relevant data can be exported to a digital report at the click of a button. There is no need for the entire creation and approval process required in producing a plan of action and safety measures in agreement with the system operator.
