Siemens Selling Water Treatment Business

The big news in the water treatment industry for this past week has been Siemens' announcement to sell the water treatment equipment and water systems service business.  Bloomberg announcement states that the Siemens Water Technologies division includes wastewater, municipal and industrial water purification services and membrane filtration systems.  Most of these technologies were parts of the former US Filter Corporation acquired by Siemens in 2004 from Veolia Environnement for $993 million.  

According to a statement by Siegfried Russwurm, member of the Siemens AG Managing Board and CEO of the Industry Sector, "This business shows only minor synergies with our industrial portfolio, as the skills for water treatment are primarily based on chemical expertise. Instead of investing into that business, we want to gear our resources toward our core portfolio."

In related news, Kemira Oyj, Europe’s largest supplier of chemicals to treat water, will not be bidding for the water business of Siemens AG.

Open For Business-Res-Kem Aston, PA & New Britain, CT

For Res-Kem Customers: Both of the Res-Kem regeneration facilities, Aston, PA and New Britain, CT are open for business!  Delivery services may be curtailed based upon local ordinances.

For Res-Kem Employees: If your State's roads are closed, then do not attempt coming in.  You must obey the laws as they apply.  If you are trying to get to work, please keep your safety paramount.  Use your best judgment of the road conditions.

Res-Kem New Britain, CT Remains Closed

Since the roads remain closed in Connecticut by order of the Governor, our New Britain, CT facility will remain closed until the roads are open for traffic.

If you need assistance, please contact our Aston facility at 800-323-1983 or send an email to sales@reskem.com.

Delayed Opening Res-Kem Aston, PA

Due to the hazardous road conditions from Hurricane Sandy, the Res-Kem Aston facility will have a delayed opening this morning, October 30. Some of our employes have already arrived, the balance will arrive by 10:00 AM.

If you need assistance, please leave a message at 800-323-1983 or send an email to sales@reskem.com. 

Res-Kem New Britain and Hurricane Sandy

Res-Kem New Britain will be pulling our Connecticut delivery drivers off of the road. The State of Connecticut is putting a truck ban into effect by 11:00 AM today for limited access highways.  At 1:00 PM, all CT state highways will be closed for all non-emergency personnel.  We will be closing the New Britain office at 12:00pm today.  We anticipate being open tomorrow.  As power permits, we are working remotely from our homes. You may leave a message on at 800-358-1983 or send an email to sales@reskem.com. We will respond as soon as possible.

For our DI exchange customers, we prepared for Hurricane Sandy by working additional shifts over the weekend. When we are allowed to be safely on the roads, we will resume deliveries. Thank you for your patience.

Res-Kem Aston and Hurricane Sandy

Due to the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, the Aston, PA office of Res-Kem will be closed on October 29.  We anticipate reopening on October 30. You are welcome to leave a message at 800-323-1983 or email us at sales@reskem.com.

Rental Condensate Polishers Now Available

Skid-Mounted, Rental Sodium Cycle Condensate Polishers are available for deployment with preconfigured systems in single, double, triple and quadruple module deisgns to treat condensate return for reuse as boiler feedwater. All wetted parts for Res-Kem Condensate Polishers are 316 stainless steel. Single units are rated for flows up to 210 gpm. Use multiple modules in parallel to treat flows up to 840 gpm. 

Res-Kem is offering a rental option because companies who want to immediately begin to saving money recovering waste heat, reducing water usage, and reducing water chemical usage may not have sufficient capital.

Res-Kem CPR-2 Rental Condensate Polisher
Designed to Treat up to 420 gpm

STANDARD FEATURES:

•Skid Mounted Units With Flows up to 840 gpm
•All 316L Stainless Steel Wetted Parts
•Welded Components Media Blasted and Passivated
•ASME Code Stainless Steel Vessel Designed for 100 psig
•Factory Assembled Schedule 40 316 Stainless Flanged and ASME Section IX Welded Valve Nest
•Stainless Hub and Wedge Wire Screened Lateral Underdrain
•NEMA 4XFG Electrical Enclosure
•Differential Pressure Switch
•Flow Sensor
•Automatic Fast Rinse and Backwash Flow Controller
•Separate Cold Water Connection for Regeneration Cycles
•High capacity, High Crosslinked Macroporous Cation Resin
•Stainless Steel Resin Trap
•Water Sample Cooler
•Manual Isolation Valves and Bypass Piping

INCLUDED SERVICES:
•Monthly site service visit to insure proper operation
•Yearly resin cleaning to maximize system efficiency
•Resin replacement every three years included

ADVANTAGES:
•Quick ROI by Reclaiming Waste Heat and Increasing Cycles
•Cold Water Regeneration Saves Heated Water
•Standard Designs Reduce Cost and Delivery Time
•Passivated Flanged and Welded Piping for Corrosion Resistance
•High Strength Resin Selected for Long Life

OPTIONS:
•Pressure Relief Valve
•Allen Bradley PLC

For Additional Information:
Rental condensate polisher bulletin
Technical help sizing and selecting a condensate polisher
Entire Res-Kem Condensate Polisher Product Line

Arc Flash Training Held at Res-Kem

Arc flash training, an OSHA required session to help identify the risks around working with electrical and signal wires, was given to twenty people with our organization.  It helps the technicians fully understand the risks, and how to determine if there is any stored energy before starting work.

Injuries that can result from an arc flash:

• Burns
• Respiratory system damage
• Hearing damage
• Skin penetration from flying debris
• Eye and face injuries

We covered the risks with performing the work, Lock-Out Tag-Out (LOTO,) testing methods and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). The twenty people trained included plant and field personnel that have not yet completed this certification class, including field service technicians, in-house assembly personnel, and field sales engineers.

What is an arc flash?

According to Wikipedia:

"An arc flash is an electric arc supplied with sufficient electrical energy to cause substantial damage, fire or injury. ...  Arc flash temperatures can reach or exceed 35,000 °F or approx 20,000 °C at the arc terminals. The massive energy released in the fault rapidly vaporizes the metal conductors involved, blasting molten metal and expanding plasma outward with extreme force. A typical arc flash incident can be inconsequential but could conceivably easily produce a more severe explosion ... .  The result of the violent event can cause destruction of equipment involved, fire, and injury not only to the worker but also to nearby people."

Industrial Water Softener Shipped to Repeat Food Flavorings Customer in New Jersey

Res-Kem recently shipped a second 84 inch industrial water softener to the same food flavorings plant in southern New Jersey. The water treated by the water softener is used to make steam to sterilize the raw plant material prior to extraction and to extract the flavoring. The softener is the replacement to a second existing tank which has failed after 40 years of service.

Second 84"Water Softener prior to Shipment to Food and Flavorings Plant

Emptying and Removal of Old System:
Before the system was shipped, our service team coordinated their work with the company's mechanical contractor to remove the resin and gravel from the existing, corroded system. Our service team brought our trailer mounted diesel vacuum system to remove the media and prepare for disposal by the customer. After we were finished, the old system was cut apart for scrapping by the contractor.

Vacuum Trailer used to Remove Ion Exchange Resin
and Gravel from Existing Water Softener

New System:

The new system is an 84" diameter steel vessel and is finished in an epoxy coated interior and exterior. The customer asked us to change our normal blue color to red.  We hope to provide the white tank next fiscal year (do you see the theme??)  We also were asked to change the face piping to Schedule 10 304 stainless steel. As before, the valves are Bray valves with Bray air-to-air actuators. The system is controlled by an Aquamatic 962 controller. At this point, regeneration will be initiated manually when production will allow. To handle the existing uneven floor, four jack legs were provided.

System Operating Parameters:

Since most of the steam ends up in the plant matter and the extracted flavor ingredient, very little steam condensate is returned. This make the makeup flow very large. Each of the three softeners operate at 200 gpm and 80 psig. Because to the system's age, corrosion of the tanks and piping have become a maintenance nightmare.

Second Condensate Polishing System Shipping to a North Carolina University

Res-Kem is shipping the second of two condensate polishing systems to a leading private university in North Carolina next week.  This is the second of two systems sold to this same university in the past year and a half.  This system treats 400 gpm of dirty condensate.

Res-Kem's Dual 54 inch Sodium Cycle Cycle Condensate Polishers

To improve the ROI, through energy savings, this system is designed with a separate source of cold water for backwash, brine draw and slow rinse.

What is the Res-Kem water treatment application?	Sodium cycle condensate polishing to remove iron and hardness
What are the operating conditions?	Flow: 400 gpm Pressure: 30-100 psi Temperature: 200F Continuous
What is the system configuration?	Dual tank, parallel operation 54” in diameter tanks
What ion exchange resin was used?	47 cubic feet of Purolite C-150 highly cross-linked macroporous cation exchange resin in each tank
Materials of construction?	316 SS ASME code with a 150 psig design pressure 316 SS Hub and Lateral 316 SS Subsurface Wash Distributor 316 SS Schedule 40 Welded face piping
Type of Valves and Actuators?	Bray McCannalok Series 41 with Series 93 pneumatic actuators with manual override
Special Features?	Subsurface wash Cold water used for separate source backwash, brine draw and slow rinse Condensate fast rinse 316 Stainless resin traps after each system

Additional Information:
Listing of Condensate Polishers Built by Res-Kem
Online Catalog of Res-Kem Condensate Polishing Equipment
Condensate Polisher Technical Bulletin
Condensate Polisher Application Checklist 
Purolite C-150 Technical Bulletin
For Technical Help From a Res-Kem Sales and Application Engineer