Objective:
We conducted an audit for a global confectionery manufacturing giant at their plant in Thailand
Issues:
During our audit, we observed that the plant was facing several problems in the process and steam and condensate network. In joint discussions with the plant team, we decided to focus on the following key areas-
Address the issue of temperature fluctuation in sugar syrup preparation and the severe issue of water hammer in the sugar syrup tanks. While temperature overshoots and fluctuations were impacting the process and leading to product overflow from the tanks, the water hammer was a huge safety concern. Finding a suitable application where condensate could be used. The plant was recovering condensate back to the boiler house, but as they were now purchasing steam from outside and their boiler was no longer in operation, they were draining all of the condensates. Addressing the health of the steam traps, 55% of the steam traps in the plant were not working resulting in a steam loss of 13,229 kg/day.
Solutions and Benefits:
a. For the Sugar Syrup tanks, we recommended a reduction in steam supply pressure and PID-based control eliminating the issues of temperature overshoots and temperature fluctuations. To address the issue of the water hammer caused due to the stall, we installed a steam-operated pumping trap. Besides addressing the issues this solution resulted in a savings of 70 kg of steam/batch and monetary savings of 4000 USD/annum for two tanks.
b. We designed and implemented a system to utilize condensate heat to preheat the process hot water. By doing this we could reduce steam consumption to the hot water system by 530 Kg/hr resulting in monetary savings of 47,700 USD/annum.
c. We replaced the faulty steam traps in the plant and this resulted in steam savings of 11,083 Kg/day and monetary savings of 95,625 USD/annum.
d. Overall, by addressing these three issues we were able to bring about a steam reduction of 23,803 kg/day resulting in a reduction in CO₂ emission by 847 tons/year.
