One of the most pressing and frequently asked questions in the process industry is: how can we increase operation sustainability while improving production output?
With climate change a pressing issue, more businesses have started looking for ways to reduce their emissions and shift their processes in a more sustainable direction. Sustainable industrial processes are important because they benefit both the environment and the organization.
Emissions like CO2 are the main contributors to climate change, encompassing rising average temperatures, extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas, and various other impacts.
Companies worldwide increasingly commit to sustainability, initiating pledges to adopt practices that lower their carbon footprint and minimize their environmental impact. While there are still challenges to overcome, companies have made great strides.
Sustainability becomes crucial given the growing importance of regulations on emissions, chemical usage, and the imperative for overall sustainable practices in the process industry. Fortunately, our ZPD (Zero Process Downtime) solution can improve different processes and production output and simultaneously improve operation sustainability.
How Altum’s Solution Works to Improve Sustainability
Our solution utilizes ultrasound to prevent and eliminate fouling, reducing the necessity for cleaning and maintenance while enhancing the efficiency of processes and machinery.
By minimizing the wear and tear on equipment due to fouling, our approach ensures processes operate at maximum capacity while resources are used sparingly.
The three biggest environmental impacts to be reached with our solution are:
- Lowered CO2 emissions
- Lower energy usage
- Reduced chemical usage
- Reduced water consumption
Employing ultrasound technology to maintain optimal process flow can reduce reliance on additional energy required to sustain operations. This enhancement in energy efficiency leads to reduced energy usage, resulting in a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, a major way to battle climate change.
Altum’s ultrasound technology also reduces chemical usage, effectively eliminating and preventing fouling without chemicals. Additionally, our ultrasound method can alter molecular bonds in liquids, improving operations such as tall oil separation and reducing the reliance on chemicals usually required for this process.
Our solution also reduces water consumption. It ensures equipment stays clean, reducing or eliminating the need for water-heavy cleaning techniques such as high-pressure washing or flushing. Furthermore, this ultrasound approach enhances dewatering processes, leading to a increased dry material content. This increase allows for more water to be subsequently reused and recycled. Reducing water consumption is crucial because water shortages are becoming increasingly frequent and urgent around the globe.
Real-Life Results Achieved by Preventing Fouling
We have achieved great results in improving sustainability by preventing fouling. For example, one of our pulp and paper customers in Asia was dealing with fouling issues in their black liquor heater. This caused major issues in the whole production process, as scaling issues caused a decrease in production output and increase in production costs and energy use.
By preventing fouling, a more stable flow and an overall 5% improvement of flow rate was achieved, in addition to temperature stability. Steam valve opening stayed below 80% during sonication for over 8 weeks, meaning no extra steam was required to maintain original production efficiency – without sonication the opening degree reached 100% in 4 weeks.
In another case, fouling prevention in a black liquor evaporator enabled the process to run continuously with unrestricted liquid flow and efficient heat transfer. This meant that the mill did not need to purchase any extra energy to maintain operations, translating to approximately 920 tons of less CO2e per year. Overall energy savings achieved by preventing fouling are estimated to be around 200 million MJ on an annual level.
Altum’s solution is a game-changer that improves your processes toward a more sustainable direction. Let’s find the optimal solutions for your processes together!
Are you interested in knowing how Altum can help you make your processes more sustainable? Don’t hesitate to contact us!
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