In a bid to identify improvements to its operational efficiency, one of our clients, the largest listed water company in the UK turned to Deritend to explore the benefits of a new fixed pump efficiency monitoring and asset management platform.
Our approach to pump asset management encompasses innovative & patented technology, alongside countless years of experience in pump repairs & refurbishments from Deritend to provide a truly 360° approach to pump asset management
Purpose and Priorities
Like most service providers today, the UK water industry is under pressure from the government to keep prices as low as possible for its customers, making it vital to maximise operational efficiencies throughout all pumping assets and associated drives.
Our client operates more than 90 water treatment works and wanted to investigate the potential for any operational improvements which across their entire network, could lead to substantial energy and costs savings. To this end, the company called upon Deritend to undertake a one month trial project at one of their water treatment works.
Key to the project was the deployment and installation of fixed pump efficiency monitoring, which monitors pumps thermodynamically in real-time the performance of each pump and their associated drives.
It was envisaged that the data captured via the fixed monitoring system would allow Deritend to work with our client to optimise their pumping operations and deliver water to its customers at the lowest possible cost through innovative pump refurbishments, using efficiency coatings from Belzona.
Once the system was installed, detailed operational data was fed through the FREEFLOW system’s sophisticated HMI interface into the customers SCADA interface and provided operator guidance via a dashboard installed in the pumping station and control room, providing real-time performance monitoring along with current pump scheduling v recommended pump scheduling. The treatment works had been running with an annual energy costs of £3.7 million with the current arrangement consisting of 11 pumps in total. The facility was chosen for the trial as it is strategically important for water utility in the area, as the system distributes directly to consumers and an end-of-line service reservoir.
Deritend teams worked very closely with the customer and completed a full site survey and audit. The project engineers determined that nine of the pumps should be used for the trial, five small and four large, and this provided a true comparative value for the required measurement of pumping one million litres of water.
Key parameters measured in the process included:
REAL-TIME DATA
Pump Efficiency (%)
Motor Power (kW)
Flow rate (l/s)
Pump Head (m)
Once all the data had been gathered and evaluated, Deritend analysed the results and presented an extremely detailed report to the water utility, which clearly demonstrated a large variation in hydraulic and financial operating behaviour.
Results and Recommendations
The findings showed a massive 224% fluctuation in the operating costs for the large pumps and this varied from a cost of £20/Ml to £69/Ml in terms of their operation. Pump efficiency showed an overall variance ranging from 32% to 89%, which was predominately explained by the existing operating schedule.
With the smaller pumps, there was a reduced variation of 16% in the operational cost to deliver one million litres of water. Depending on the mode of operation, the cost was between £27/Ml to £31/Ml, with pump efficiency ranging around 80% – 85%.
Energy and Cost Savings
Through deploying the joint Technoflow methodology, Deritend was able to evidence a huge potential saving from the use of real time scheduling of the existing pumps at the water treatment works. By achieving an operational efficiency of more than 80%, the improvement would result in a 13.7% saving in energy bills.
Project Summary
The outcome of the trial was deemed a huge success by all parties involved. By identifying the real time operational inefficiencies and recommending appropriate remedial actions, Deritend have been able to provide a more efficient on-going operational model for the pumps, thereby enabling the customer to realise an annual savings figure of more than £505,000.
In addition, the wider analysis process of the project has also identified further possible improvements that can be undertaken by the water utility, including head management, M&E upgrade and further network optimisation, which could lead to further substantial additional savings.
Applying both Technoflow principles and technology, Deritend has provided an innovatiive solution that provides customers with realistic and significant savings in terms of specific energy and cost reduction through effective real-time monitoring and asset management