International Pharmaceutical Client

Haden Freeman and Nalco Develop Unique Operating System at Irish Pharmaceutical Plant
One of the worlds leading research-based global pharmaceutical companies has completed a unique joint project with engineering company, the Haden Freeman Group (HFL), and water treatment specialist, The Nalco Co, to improve the efficiency and control of its cooling and boiler water systems at a major plant in Ireland.
The client, who has a number of plants in Ireland, specialises in prescription medicines for humans and animals as well as many of the world’s best known consumer products. The company briefed Nalco and HFL, who work together through an alliance agreement, to upgrade their existing water chemical-treating systems for its four boilers and cooling towers across the plant.
The water supplied to the boilers and towers at the plant needs to be chemically treated on a controlled basis to ensure efficiency and lifespan of equipment as well as avoiding corrosion, scale deposition and biological growth to internal pipe work, heat exchange equipment and the plant. The more controlled the chemistry addition to the systems, the greater the efficiency of their operation, resulting in greater energy savings for the company.
A key part of the project was to minimise the plant downtime ensuring the window for the work was not overrun, as this would have an impact upon system integrity. HFL deployed a team of four, led by project manager Ian Dunkley, who ensured that the timescale was met by completing the build and testing prior to installation and commissioning.
Nalco’s 3D TRASAR technology was installed on all cooling systems, which is used to monitor and control the chemical dosing and operational parameters for each system via stress management. Webmasters were used on the boiler system with the relevant information fed back to individual LED screens. However, with the plant consisting of two large utility buildings with some distance between utilities, the disparate information from each 3D TRASAR unit and Webmaster meant the system didn’t allow for a ‘big picture’ of the plants performance to be easily monitored.
Haden Freeman saw the opportunity to centralise all the data sources from the 3D TRASAR units and Webmasters to allow information to be collated, monitored and controlled from a central position. This would result in a much clearer picture of what was going on throughout the plant, and therefore greater control and efficiency of resources.
HFL developed an innovative system that combined the 3D TRASAR units and Webmaster systems, which were used in a unique way. Information from both systems, which monitored the chemical and operational data, was collated in a special web-enabled Data Collection Hub. This then converted the data for the entire plant into a clear, graphical form, which could be viewed using a web browser.
The system also allows retrospective data to be viewed for up to seven days and is allied to web/ethernet connectivity, which allows for remote monitoring of the boiler system, meaning adjustments to water treatment chemicals can be made on an ongoing basis.
The project means that the client can now monitor and control with much greater accuracy, the chemical dosing levels around the plant. This results in the boilers and cooling towers now operating with greater control, meaning they are working much more efficiently on a day-to-day basis. This will result in significant long term cost savings.
Eleanor O’Shea, from Nalco said: “The project is a good example of existing technology being applied in an innovative and unique way. It was absolutely key that the project was carried out within the timescale and HFL achieved this. We now have much greater control over chemical levels in the plant, which will result in significant long term energy, and cost savings.”
The project is the latest in a raft of jobs HFL has carried out in Ireland, and comes on the back of the firm opening its first permanent base in the country, in Dublin. HFL and Nalco have been working together through an alliance agreement for several years. HFL’s expertise in project management and engineering, along with Nalco’s specialism in water treatment, forms a strong partnership.
Ian Dunkley, who led the project from HFL, said: “This project is the latest in a series of high profile jobs HFL have worked on in Ireland, in conjunction with Nalco. We are increasingly making a name for ourselves in the country and our Dublin base will help us strengthen our offering. We have a raft of expertise, offering a complete range of engineering and management services to chemical, pharmaceutical, food processing, oil and gas, utility, insurance, transport and general manufacturing industries.”