Case Study: Procure SPA reduces desalination plant shutdowns and saves $175,000 annually with Datacor Impulse

Procure SPA reduces desalination shutdowns 34.8% with Datacor

The customer, Procure SPA, was engaged by a major desalination plant to address frequent and costly shutdowns of its Energy Recovery System (ERS) racks. The plant was experiencing an average of two shutdowns per day, reducing its production capacity and causing high failure rates due to unexplained vibrations. The client had contacted the original equipment manufacturers without success. Procure SPA, using Datacor's Impulse pipe flow modeling software, was brought in to perform a root cause analysis.

The solution from Datacor involved using Impulse to create a calibrated model of the system, which identified that ERS shutdowns were creating vacuum pressure in the brine discharge pipeline. Procure SPA designed and installed a hydraulic chimney on each of the nine ERS racks to prevent this issue. After implementation, pressure oscillations decreased by 34.8% and shutdowns were cut in half. This increased the plant's daily water production by 6,000 m³, resulting in annual savings of $175,000 for the client.