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Air pollution, affects everyone. At CECO Environmental we have made it our mission to remove the many pollutants out of the air by providing safer, cleaner and more efficient solutions for the air we all breathe.

Soot. Smog. Gray.

Around the world, that’s what millions of people live in, every day.

Air pollution disrupts our environment. From dangerous emission levels to hazardous chemicals, the average person in the world is losing 1.8 years of their life expectancy to dirty air that violates the World Health Organization’s guidelines. Studies show that exposure to air pollutants has been linked to suppressed lung growth, asthma, heart disease and the onset of diabetes.
A recent article by The Evening Standard vividly shows what pollution actually looks like in several major cities across the globe. Using data from 2018, these photos show hazardous chemicals produced by vehicle exhaust once the initial cloud of smoke has dissolved.

Pollution, especially air pollution, affects everyone. At CECO Environmental we have made it our mission to remove the many pollutants out of the air by providing safer, cleaner and more efficient solutions for the air we all breathe.

Now that you see it, it’s time to take action.

References and photo provided by The Evening Standard.

According to the British journal The Lancet, 16% of all deaths worldwide can be attributed to pollution. While there is more to be done, progress has been made to tackle the pollution challenges we face, such as Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (NOx emissions), wet and dry scrubbers, and others.

Seven million. According to a recent study just released by The World Health Organization, that’s how many people died from pollution in the world last year—16% of all deaths worldwide. According to a recent paper in the British journal The Lancet, cited in TIME magazine, the number could be as high as nine million.

The vast majority of those people were in developing “low- and middle-income” countries. In places like India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Madagascar, and Kenya, up to one in four deaths can be tied to pollution. In 2015, pollution in China was linked to 1.8 million deaths, and in India it was linked to 2.5 million deaths. And while the figure for the US is an order of magnitude smaller at 155,000, that’s still far too many. As the saying goes, those people were parents and grandparents and siblings and children. Every one of them mattered.

Those of us in the pollution control industry, and industrials that take action to do right by the environment, can be proud that over the last five decades, successive advances in technology have brought the US figure down to where it is today. Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, children in Los Angeles were often not allowed outdoors to play because of the deadly smog. Sooty particulates from power plants and steel mills shortened the lives of millions across the industrial Midwest. Nitrogen and sulfur oxide (NOx and SOx) emissions from smokestacks were killing our woodlands as airborne moisture turned them into acids. The Cuyahoga River caught on fire.

There’s no question that we’re doing better today in this country. But there’s more to be done. And there’s the new challenge of carbon pollution and its possible impacts on the climate, the atmosphere, and the oceans.

Some of our customers and other industrials are reducing their impact on the environment with things like alternative feedstock, cleaner inputs, low sinter iron ore in China and higher air quality regulations in Southern California. There is still a lot more to be done and business leaders in this industry can lead the way. I believe we need to aim for the eventual goal of a low-to-zero-pollution economy that doesn’t impact robust growth. In turn, we can drive a higher quality of air, and life for people around the world.

Many of our most effective core technologies for pollution control have set standards and stood the test of time: wet and dry scrubbers, catalytic converters, cyclone and venturi separation chambers, electrostatic particle collectors. If we want to improve that effectiveness and remain competitive, there are some opportunities for innovation and evolution:

They should be affordable in both materials and manufacturing.
They should be adaptable and capable of being retrofitted to existing equipment without major disruption.
They should trap the broadest possible range of pollutants to keep energy requirements and environmental impact footprints down.
They should – where possible – convert trapped pollutants into valuable chemicals.
Happily, there are a growing number of examples out there, from test-bed models and pilot projects to full-on commercial implementations.

One example is in NOx emissions reduction. Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) is a mature, effective, and affordable technology that breaks NOx in furnace-flue gas down into nitrogen gas (N2), water, and carbon dioxide, using ammonia or urea as a reagent. The SNCR technology does these things well, and we’re always looking to improve it.

And there’s the leftover CO2. The USDOE recently funded a pilot project in this area. The technology converts waste CO2 into CO using a solid-oxide electrolyzer (SOE). The SOE cell is adapted for combustion-assisted electrolysis, which both provides the energy required for reduction and lowers the electrical potential needed to kick off the reduction reaction. The CO from this process can be combined with an ethane derivative from shale gas, ethylene oxide, to form an intermediate called beta-propiolactone (BPL). The BPL can then serve as feedstock for the creation of various useful chemicals. Those are the kinds of synergies we’re looking for.

Next time: The potential of nanotechnology for emission control.

Companies worldwide face increasing social pressure to improve operations and reduce pollutants. For CECO Environmental this means delivering technologies and solutions such as fiberglass specialty pumps, selective catalyst reduction (SCR) and gas turbine silencers to protect our shared environment.

In celebration of Earth Day week, CECO Environmental releases the first in a series of blogs about the opportunities to improve air quality.

Companies around the world face increasing social pressure to clean up their operations, reduce pollutants and protect our shared environment within any local community. A handful of corporate leaders are more aware than ever about their responsibilities in driving positive, sustainable change, and I’m proud to be among them. It is one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most since becoming CEO here at CECO Environmental a year ago. Having the opportunity to improve awareness, implementation and utilization of products and technologies which help energy infrastructure and industrial businesses run cleaner, safer, and more efficiently is tremendously rewarding.

Thanks to awareness and dedicated efforts, parts of the world are cleaner and safer today than they’ve been in decades past.

But we’ve all read the reports and seen the pictures – skies around major cities thick with pollution that to the point it looks like a dirty fog. This helps me understand that we still have a long way to go. Most of us have wondered – at some time or another – about the effect on children growing up in those regions.

For any CEO in a position to make a difference, it is essential that we do our part. For CECO Environmental, it means delivering solutions that contribute to creating healthier living and working conditions for people around world.

I believe it is important that business leaders become more aware of the technologies and solutions that help them deliver the results they promise to their shareholders without sacrificing the promise of a healthy environment to the future generations. So, we’ll be communicating more about those different technologies and challenges in the weeks, months, and years to come.

One example that comes to mind is one of the world’s first solar-powered desalination plants located in Saudi Arabia. In need of pumps that could hold up to the corrosive brine, the plant utilized our patented Fybroc fiberglass specialty pumps to power a filtration process that removes impurities, salts and even jelly-fish from seawater. I’m proud that our technologies are used to help the plant deliver more than 60,000 cubic meters (20 million cubic feet) of potable water per day efficiently to local Saudi communities.

While being part of new initiatives like that is great, we also help improve existing infrastructure. That’s what we’re doing in Southern California with our selective catalyst reduction (SCR) and gas turbine silencer technology that is being applied to an 80-year old natural gas turbine plant. We are proud to have our air and noise emissions solutions being used to responsibly help our customers help meet current and future regulatory and environmental requirements in Southern California.

We’ve also collaborated with a leading U.S. shingle producer to deliver a custom ventilation solution in their manufacturing facility. Our filter solutions improve air quality by offering mist elimination units which are instrumental in air ventilation, fume capture and exhaust, product recovery, and emissions mitigation requirements.

Regardless of which way the policy and political winds shift, we plan to keep on doing the right thing for our shared environment. I invite you to join me and the team at CECO Environmental as we all contribute in some way toward a clean, safe, and healthy environment for today’s world and generations to come.

Industrial duct is fabricated with a variety of options – spiral, flanged (welded or vanstoned), and clamp-together. Learn more about the pros and cons of each type of duct and duct clamp.

This article is designed to help professionals in plant management, process engineering, maintenance, purchasing, and environment health and safety (EHS) to understand the differences between industrial duct options when they are seeking to control airborne process or manufacturing dust and contaminants. When evaluating industrial ductwork options, it is best to consider not only the initial / first costs of ductwork design and construction, but also the additional implementation costs (e.g., shipping and installation) and ongoing lifecycle costs of maintenance and modifications.

What is Industrial Duct?

Wikipedia defines industrial ducts as “low-pressure pneumatic conveyors to convey dust, particles, shavings, fumes, or chemical hazardous components from air in the vicinity to a shop floor or any other specific locations like tanks, sanding machines, or laboratory hoods.” Industrial duct comes in multiple styles (e.g., spiral, welded flanged, vanstoned flanged, and clamp-together).

What is Spiral Duct?

Spiral ductwork is a relatively inexpensive style of duct pipe that is named after its manufacturing method. It is popular in sizes between 16 feet and 36 feet, when there are long runs with few fittings.

Traditional spiral duct is formed by spiraling and locking strips of metal together to form one continuous piece. This construction method is typically less expensive than duct formed by rolling sheets. Spiral duct is usually available in any length, but the cost of shipping long sections can make it relatively expensive to deliver. Spiral pipe sections are typically joined together using inset-off-set with barrel clamps, spiral pipe connectors, sheet metal screws, or special angle rings.

Spiral duct has a number of disadvantages that should be considered, as addressing these often more than offset the relatively inexpensive fabrication cost:

• It is often produced in long sections that make handling, loading and unloading difficult, and moving the duct into place can also be very challenging.
• Exact cuts are required
• All of the joining methods for spiral duct are difficult and/or costly:
  • Barrel clamps
  • Spiral pipe connectors
  • Sheet metal screws
  • Special angle rings or flanges
  • Crimping one end and forcing it into the adjoining piece
  • Collars

When all of the costs and the timing associated with installation and ongoing maintenance are taken into account, spiral duct is sometimes found to be a sub-optimal solution versus manufacturing the ductwork in small sections and joining it together.

Joining together small sections of duct represents a viable alternative to spiral duct. The classifications of joined-together duct take their names from joining methods used – welded flanged, vanstoned flanged, and clamp-together.

What is Welded Flanged Duct?

Flanges are angle rings that are typically constructed in black iron, galvanized or stainless steel, with or without holes, and with both standard and special hole patterns. These flanges / angle rings are rolled, and then the ends are welded to create a ‘ring’ that fits over the duct. The welds are either continuous, for a full weld, or intermittent, and the faces of the flanges are mated together. Flanged duct work can be sealed very tightly with the addition of a gasket between the mating flanges. However, it typically takes a skilled mechanic to cut to length and fit the flanges, and there is little room for error.

As the act of welding is both permanent and costly, it is the least common method of joining sections of duct, and it is most appropriate with applications where 100% air-tightness or liquid-tightness is required. Where there are heavy concentrations of liquid, or for the conveyance of dust under positive pressures, flanged duct with a gasket is a good fit.

The rings and flanges may be custom manufactured with a 3-inch (7.62 centimeter) diameter all the way up to the size that you could drive a truck through, and the duct is constructed with premium quality materials to ensure material integrity for even the most abrasive applications. Flanged duct pieces are usually available in 5 foot to 20 foot lengths, depending on the diameter.

The gauge of sheet metal is the unit of its thickness. For sheet metal, a retrogressive scale (i.e., higher numbers equate to lower thickness) starts with 10 gauge representing a thickness of 0.1345 inches (3.416 millimeters). As the gauge number increases, the thickness of the sheet metal drops by 10 percent.

Flanged duct can be manufactured in lighter gauges, or in heavy gauge (even up to 0.25 inches or 6.35 millimeters) for a fully welded product, all depending upon the application. Seam welds are used for flanged duct with a diameter of 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) and higher, and seam welds are also used for 16-gauge (0.0625 inch or 1.588 millimeter thickness) and heavier.

What is Vanstone Flanged Duct?

Another variation of flanged duct is the “vanstone” or “loose” flanged duct. The term “vanstone” refers to a technique where flanges are placed onto the pipe, with the lip turned back at 90 degrees and left loose for a secure metal-to-metal connection when the flanges are pulled together and the vanstone lips are connected. The flanges are not attached to the duct, and this allows for easy alignment of the centerline of the components.

What is Clamp-Together Duct?

The clamp-together duct concept is similar to building with Lego blocks or an erector set. All straight duct comes in a nominal 5-foot length and with rolled lips on both ends. When the duct is cut to a required length, the cut end will slide into an 11” long adjustable sleeve that slides over the pipe until the length of the sleeve and pipe assembly measure the desired length (as in a telescoping joint). Once the desired length is met, the sleeve clamps to the cut duct using a standard duct clamp and an O-ring.

Clamp-together ducting is applicable to virtually every dust or fine particulate collection system (e.g., wood dust, paper dust, chemical powders, and pharmaceuticals), and it is also used in fume exhaust and oil mist collection, and abrasive applications (e.g., metal shavings, sand, and coal). Clamp-together branches are fabricated to SMACNA duct construction standards, but may be fabricated in heavier gauges for more abrasive applications. A wide variety of gasket materials, coupled with stainless steel material, makes it possible for clamp-together ducting to address even the harshest applications.

The standard n-butyl rubber gasket works well for 95% of all applications, but the gasket is also available in FDA silicone, which is appropriate for some food and high-temperature applications. Viton and Gore-Tex gasket materials address the balance of applications where standard rubbers will be ‘eaten’ away.

When compared to traditional spiral duct and flanged duct, clamp-together duct offers a number of advantages for consideration:

• Speed and ease of installation – the primary advantage of clamp-together duct is that it is fast and easy to install, reducing the installation time by up to 70% versus spiral duct, and up to 50% versus flanged duct. This translates into significant shipping and implementation cost savings that can more than offset fabrication cost differences between different duct options. With clamp-together duct, pieces can be clamped together without special tools, rivets, screws, or welding. In-house maintenance teams can self-install without the need for outside contractors.
• Infinite adjustability – no matter how short the piece needed, you can make it. Simply cut a piece of pipe, apply on the O-ring, slide it into any fitting, and then simply clamp.
• Clamp – together duct clamps are guaranteed forever by the manufacturers.
• Re-usability and cleaning – The duct clamp securely holds the duct, but may be easily released for modifications. Clamp-together duct is easy to uninstall, clean, and relocate (without tools), as you move machinery or have other changes in work areas, which results in one of the lowest life cycle costs of any ducting product. Downtime for maintenance and floor plan changes is minimized.
• Flexibility – Available in construction materials to fit most applications – galvanized and stainless steel.
• Serviceability – in abrasive applications, wear-points can be replaced in seconds, without tools. And, as all of the 5-foot pieces clamp-together, no point in the system is more than five feet from a tool-free access point.
• Minimizes waste – Avoiding the waste from precision cutting and fitting mistakes associated with other types of duct translates into additional savings.

Summary

Spiral duct is worth consideration for long duct lengths between 16 feet and 36 feet, when there are long runs with few fittings.

Welded flanged duct is most appropriate with applications where 100% air-tightness (e.g., the conveyance of dust under positive pressures) or liquid-tightness (i.e., heavy concentrations of liquid) is required.

However, when you compare the total lifecycle cost of your ducting system – fabrication, shipping, labor, waste, ongoing maintenance, etc., clamp-together duct is a competitive option worth strong consideration for most applications.

To learn more about duct clamps and clamp-together duct, view our brief whiteboard video. To find out how CECO Environmental can help you grow your business while improving your air quality, please view this brief video.

When it comes to industrial ductwork and duct clamps, contact CECO KB Duct. We have a solution for you.

Optimal dust collection ductwork allows air to be pulled from individual pieces of equipment at the velocity required, and it transports sufficient air volume to convey both relatively large particulate and very fine dust. The objective is to eliminate static pressure that can restrict air flow.

If you are a plant manager, maintenance manager, process engineer, or Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) manager who faces the challenges of collecting and/or recovering wood dust, metal shavings, chemical powders, pharmaceuticals, or other abrasive materials, then you understand the importance of not just dust collector technology, but also dust collection ductwork.

Selecting and investing in the optimal dust collection technology for your requirements is a major step toward optimizing shop safety, improving air quality, or recovering products. However, it is also critical that you make the correct decisions about the dust collection ductwork that you implement to convey the fine particulate matter (PM) that you are collecting or recovering from the various pieces of equipment that feed into the dust collector.

Objective Is To Eliminate Static Pressure

Optimal dust collection ductwork allows air to be pulled from individual pieces of equipment at the velocity required, and it transports sufficient air volume to convey both relatively large particulate and very fine dust. The objective is to eliminate static pressure that can restrict air flow, which requires minimizing smaller ducts, long distances, bends in the pipe, and flexible tubing.

Best Practices for Optimizing Dust Collection Ductwork

There are a number of generally accepted best practices about optimizing dust collection ductwork:

1. All-metal construction is the best practice for dust collection ductwork because it reduces the probability of static electricity buildup, and the smooth rigid interiors reduce static pressure loss, even over long duct runs.
2. Duct runs should be as short, straight and direct as possible to reduce static pressure. For example, a single duct of 30 feet or more that wraps around multiple walls will reduce air velocity and increase the risk of dust buildup. Instead, it is preferable to implement one shorter main duct with diagonal branches leading to the machine drops.
3. Accurate pipe sizing is optimal. Although pipes of larger diameter permit greater air movement and introduce less static pressure, when the duct is too large, there won’t be sufficient air speed to convey particulate. Conversely, when the duct is too small, there will be insufficient air volume to remove fine particulate.
4. Minimize flex pipe and ensure that any turns required are gradual to make it much easier for dust to travel through dust collection ductwork efficiently, without the dust having to slow down around curves.
5. Eliminate bottlenecks near the collector and aim to have the main duct lead straight into the inlet. If this is not possible, for example, use two 45° bends instead of two 90° bends.
   A Sub-Optimal Solution – Flanged Dust Collection Ductwork

Flanged ducting utilizes metal flanges to connect two pieces of duct. Flanges are fitted over each end of the pipe, and then the edge of the duct is turned up to keep the flange in place, before the flanges are bolted together.

Flanged dust collection ductwork is a sub-optimal solution for three primary reasons:

1. Relatively long implementation times
2. Once in place and bolted on, it is very difficult to move or change the dust collection ductwork
3. Higher overall project cost

The Optimal Solution – Clamp-together Dust Collection Ductwork

A more viable dust collection ductwork option to address the challenges of static pressure is all-metal clamp-together duct, which fits together quickly without the need for custom sheet metal fabrication or bolting. The concept is similar to that of building sets and blocks, so installation time is generally measured in minutes, not hours, as occurs with traditional spiral duct. Clamp-together duct aligns perfectly, is highly versatile and modular, and is also clean, safe, efficient, durable, and reliable.

Clamp-together dust collection ductwork is fabricated to SMACNA (Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association) ducting construction standards, and can be fabricated in heavier gauges for more abrasive applications. The product offers the benefits of adjustability, flexibility, re-usability, efficiency (as compared to spiral duct), and serviceability, in terms of easy access.

With clamp-together dust collection ductwork, your cut can be off several inches and you will still have the length required. Last but not least, clamp-together dust collection ductwork can be disassembled and reassembled quickly and easily. With clamp-together dust collection ductwork, there are a wide variety of quick-installation fittings available to meet your requirements – clamps, O-rings, flange adaptors, cut-offs, elbows, branches, and reducers – and none of these components need to be thrown away.

To learn more about dust collection ductwork, view our video on clamp-together duct. To find out how CECO Environmental can help you grow your business while improving your air quality, please view this brief video.

When it comes to dust collection ductwork, or other industrial ductwork, contact CECO KB Duct. We have a solution for you.

Trouble with your candle filters can create serious issues leading to environmental contamination and long term plant shut down…

I recently received a call from a sulfuric acid plant operator that sounded a big alarm—as in the plant was in danger of violating environmental output regulations if an issue could not be resolved quickly. And, to top it off, he was asking me to help troubleshoot a competitor’s candle filter that a contractor had installed.

You’re probably wondering why he was calling me and not the competitor. Well, I had recently called on him to discuss CECO filters when he informed me that he had already purchased the competitor candle filter mist eliminators. So, I left my card and let him know that we provide engineering, retrofit and upgrade services on any equipment whether it is ours or a competitor if he ever needed troubleshooting help.

Shortly after the start-up of the plant the operator was experiencing serious issues:

• They were experiencing major acid carryover in their final absorption tower.
• The output at the stack was showing a long-lasting acid plume.
• He was concerned about the environmental output regulations or being required to shut down longer term.

As candle filters are the last line of defense to prevent acid output at the stack, the customer fortunately called me straight away to discuss troubleshooting. He knew a solution needed to be found quickly and before the stack emissions created environmental contamination.

Environmental emissions is a high priority for sulfuric acid plants and not complying with regulations often results in expensive fines or penalties, and in some cases, even long term shut-down of operation. These are costly impacts on the operation and cash-flow generated from production.

Even though the client did not procure the candle filters from us, we still provided troubleshooting assistance and were able to guide them to source the problem. We were able to determine that the problem was poor installation of the candle filter mist eliminator. The client could see a visible opening at the flange connection through the sight glass. The gasket leak was due to poor installation provided by an outsourced maintenance company.

The problem could not be resolved during operation and the plant had to undergo immediate shut-down to fix the candle filter issue as well as one other issue we helped them identify. Within one week, the issues were resolved and the plant was operating again. The client appreciated our support and was very satisfied with our fast and effective troubleshooting services. I had provided a step-by-step procedure to assist them with sourcing the issue.

This got me thinking a lot about the exact procedures for installation of candle filter mist eliminators. How can I or CECO Filters prevent this from happening again with other clients or customers?

When we deliver our products to our customers, we offer installation manuals and procedures with information on how to properly commission our candle filters. The client confirmed the competitor had given them a manual, however, their manual didn’t provide clear cut instructions on how to prevent gasket by-pass or indicate the importance of ensuring firm seals.

I started to consider, could this problem be avoided? Why didn’t the client request installation supervision from the competitor? I thought about the number of times our candle filters have been installed without supervision and think of the problems caused due to lack of due diligence when it comes to installation. CECO Filters has incorporated supervision services into the proposal to clients to ensure the client is being offered the added value service to prevent measures like this case.

After reviewing the chain of communication, I understood clearly the experience and the resources that the CECO Filters team has and how they can assist our customers. I started to think about how we could improve our service and assist clients in a wider spectrum. I decided that a step-by-step troubleshooting guide for customers or the contractors they hire would be useful in preventing similar issues from arising.

The troubleshooting guide is completed and is available to our customers online and will be provided to each customer with supply of candle filters.

Feel free to send me an email if you would like to discuss this topic further, or if you are dealing with another issue that you would like me to address in a future blog. Also, please feel free to post this to your LinkedIn or Twitter feed for others who may be dealing with this, or similar challenges.

When dealing with collection systems, various problems related to the material conveyed, noise, or other criteria can impede system operation.

Collections systems can run into all sorts of problems … everything from the type of material, to noise, or even the specifications. Fortunately for property managers, HVAC engineers, and maintenance technicians, there are a wide variety of solutions for the various issues that may arise in your collection system ducting.

Clamp Together Ducting Elbows Are A Problem

One of the biggest problem areas with ducting systems is the elbow. Duct elbows are used to make turns in flexible, clamp-together ducting. When abrasive materials are present in the ducting, the elbows can wear out quickly. This abrasive wear often results in system shut downs for corrective maintenance. One potential solution abrasive wear is the flat back elbow.

Flat Back Elbows Are Better

While abrasive materials can bore through standard elbows, a flat back elbow has a longer radius and a heavy-duty removable back plate. This means the flat back elbows last longer AND the removable back plate allows for faster maintenance if the material ever wears through.

Vibration Dampers

If flow rate or materials are causing unwanted vibration, consider using a vibration damper. One of the other big issues comes from vibration in the ducting that created by the flow rate or material.

Vibration dampers have standard connection ends with a heavy rubber material connection in between. This allows you to isolate the vibration to one section at the rubber joint, thereby preventing continued vibration further in the system.

Silencers

Silencers can reduce unwanted noise by as much as 10-15% and are a great solution when dealing with noise issues from the fan or airflow. Silencers are perforated lengths of pipe enclosed by 4 inches of insulation. The resonation within the ducting is absorbed within the thick insulation, which reduces the sound by 10-15%.

Oil Mist Caulks and Leak-free Gaskets

Another potential challenge is created when you have a wet collection system with oil mist. These systems can encounter problems from leaking at the joints to having to purchase the oil to help catch the particulate.

Fortunately, there are at least two solutions to these challenges. The first is an oil mist caulk on the ducting to ensure closure of the seams. The second is a “leak-free gasket” that ensures a tighter seal with clamp-together joints.

Oil Mist Accumulators

As for the oil itself, oil mist accumulators can help in several ways. The oil mist accumulator is a large-diameter enclosure that slows the particulate/oil mixture and uses a triple-layered mesh to knock the oil mist from the airflow. This action helps to minimize the amount of oil flowing through the system which, in turn, leads to fewer leaks from the settling of the oil in the ducting. This solution also includes an NPT (National Pipe Thread) connection at its base, allowing for the capture and possible repurposing of the oil in your systems.

These are just a few of the many solutions to common ducting challenges. If you encounter an issue with your system, please click here or call our KB Duct solutions team toll-free at 866-KNB-DUCT (866-562-3828) and let us determine if we have, or can develop, a solution for your circumstances. We are always happy to help.

If you are wondering about that “wild pig” in the title, when a pipeline inspection device (“Pig”) is not caught by the pig receiving vessel…

The other day, I received a call from a customer that I have known for years. I’ll call him Juan for purposes of this article. He was a seasoned compressor station operator and knew his plant better than anyone.

Today, he was worried sick that his separator had failed and was putting his multi-million-dollar compressor at risk. (For more insights on Separators, check out: Making Sense of New Separators vs Retrofits) He didn’t know what caused it, and he didn’t know how to figure it out. But, he definitely knew something was wrong and his risk level had just gone up!

To that end, users should know about the three biggest problems a failed separator can cause:

• Efficiency or product production declines
• Downstream equipment damage requiring unexpected shutdowns & lost production
• Process disruption

To be honest, this was a call just like hundreds of others my colleagues and I have taken over the years and it got me thinking: What if I could give him a cheat sheet to self-diagnose? What if when he called, he knew what caused the problem and had an informed opinion on what the solution needed to be?

So, this “Diagnostic Cheat Sheet” is intended to help you to benefit from my 30+ years of experience combined with the 250+ years of experience of my team.

The most common causes of problems for a separator are:

• Operation outside of original design conditions
• Unexpected incoming solids & liquids
• “Operating Errors” (bad maintenance or not following required settings)
• Damage to internal separation components

In many applications, upstream conditions change over time and operations in future years can be dramatically different than when the units are first put into service. Poorly performed maintenance can have the same detrimental results as not doing maintenance at all. Operating errors can occur during initial commissioning or during standard lifetime operation. Sometimes Installation Manuals get lost in the system & operators like Juan have to call us. Clogging can occur when there is an upstream process failure or when the properties of the incoming gas & liquid are out of the original specifications. Failure can also occur if the filters haven’t been replaced or if internals have been damaged.

The most common symptoms of a separator issue are:

• Carryover of liquids or solids
• Abnormal pressure drop across the separator vessel (high or low)
• Foaming in downstream process equipment (i.e. catalyst beds)
• Abnormal or erratic drainage of separated liquids/solids

In closing, if you are wondering about that “wild pig” in the title, it just so happens that when a pipeline inspection device (“Pig”) is not caught by the pig receiving vessel, it can do a tremendous amount of damage if it passes into a separator. It turns out that Juan’s compressor station experienced this exact thing.

With our technician on-site, we were able to look into the separator vessel through the manway access hatch and see broken pieces of a pig lodged within the separator internals. The separator internals were broken within their frames, rendering them useless. The solution involved a new set of replacement internals fitted into the vessel in a fast-turn, relatively inexpensive “retrofit.” The lesson learned was “make sure you keep your pigs under control!!”

Feel free to send me an email if you would like to discuss this topic further, or if you are dealing with another issue that you would like me to address going forward. Also, please post this to your LinkedIn or Twitter feed.