A Turnkey Solution for a Unique Situation

Duke Energy contacted us with a request to analyze their current water filtration issues. Their setup consisted of a 140 cu.ft. Sperry Filter Press suspended 16 feet over a trailer inside a closed building. This set up allowed them to collect water from the Muskingum River, process it and filter it through the Filter Press for easy “sludge elimination”. When the trailer was full, a truck could easily drive off with it and a new trailer installed to take its place. The system had to be enclosed to ensure the sludge did not freeze solid in the trailer.

Although the setup was a great design, the filter press was not working properly. Upon inspection, we determined it had severe deflection when the pressure was added to the press. This caused visible bending and arching of the Filter Press sidebars. It was also noted that every time the pumps engaged to fill the Filter Press the entire building moved.

The Solution Options

Duke requested a few options to see which option fit their needs, budget, time-frame.

Our first option was to add knee bracing to the I-Beams in the structure to shore up the movement in the building. This would also help with the deflection but would not fix it entirely.

The second option was to fix the existing frame as well as we could. However, the frame was not constructed to the exacting tooling that Met-Chem’s Filter Presses are. There were gaps in the original frame that could not be entirely resolved. This option was not offered as a guaranteed solution; however, Duke decided to give it a try and see if the I-beam and frame fixes would be enough to solve their problems. Although this solution worked as predicted, it became obvious that it was not a long-term solution.

Structural problems were found in the building as well as in the filter press. To shore up the structure we recommended adding knee bracing to the I-Beams

Although an occasional shim can be helpful the original filter press was in dire need of a more structurally sound and longer lasting solution.

Other areas of the original filter press were modified, giving a short-term fix to the larger problems.

The next option we provided was to build a new filter press and to use their existing filter plates.

The final option was to build a new filter Press and provide new plates.

Since their original plates were in good condition and fairly new they opted for the new filter press with the existing plates.

Now for the Install!

Once the new filter press was constructed it was time to install it in on the catwalk/press frame in the filtration building

There were many issues that needed to be considered, and many organizations and people who were required to pull this off.

Met-Chem was in charge providing a turn-key installation
A local crane company was required to aid in the removal and installation of the filter presses
Duke’s teams of engineers were required to lock out electric, water and air service. They also contracted to remove the shutter door of the filtration building

Met-Chem’s experience and expertise made the whole process run smoothly.

Communicate with the Duke team and the Crane team to develop a critical lift plan
Planning meeting 1: all parties were included in the meeting to describe what was going to happen, who was responsible for what and what the chain of command was.
Planning meeting 2: was a pre-incident tailgate meeting held outside to discuss what was going to be seen, where people should be placed, and who to make contact with if there was an issue.
The old filter press was disassembled, filter plates were removed, hydraulics and water lines were drained to ensure no chance of freezing or leaking
The front of the building was removed
A custom Gantry system, designed by Met-Chem, was installed to allow the old press to roll out of the building

The tailgate meeting was held outside to give everyone an idea where things were going to be happening and what to expect.

The original filter press was disassembled. The plates were removed, and all the lines throughout the building were cleared to prevent leaks or freezing.

Met Chem’s custom gantry system was attached to the old filter press and run out on an I-beam to ensure it was removed without damage to the structure. The same system was used to bring the new filter press into the building.

The shooting boom was attached to the filter press to move it out of the building
The front crane was attached to the filter press to support the weight as the press was pulled out
Once the filter press was sufficiently pulled out the second crane was attached
The shooting boom finished pulling the filter press out.
Once out of the building the cranes were able to move the old Filter press to a new location and the whole process was reversed
The new Filter press was attached to the cranes and hoisted to the proper position
The shooting boom pushed the filter press into the building and onto the gantry
The interior crane was disconnected
The filter press was pushed in and the external crane was disconnected
The gantry was removed and the filter press was installed
Hydraulics and water were run and the old plates were reinstalled on the new frame.
The siding was put back on the building and the project was completed

The old filter press was removed from the building and placed out of the way by two large cranes

The new filter press was installed and all the lines were reconnected and tested to ensure all would work as expected.

The building was put back together so that Duke Energy was able to proceed as normal.

The project was finished on time, on budget, and to the satisfaction of the customer.

The dedication to service and response to customer requirements opened the door to a project of this magnitude, the ultimate determining factor for our selection was the knowledge and experience Met-Chem brought.