A methanol manufacturing facility in the Texas Panhandle needed a water treatment plant designed, manufactured, and installed during the construction phase of their operation. The equipment needed to satisfy rigorous water criteria, be modular for plug and play installation, meet Class I Div. II Explosion Proof requirements, and fit into two, customized 53-foot shipping containers.
The manufacturing company contacted U.S. Water to design the total equipment package to fit into two, 53’ containers. This required coordination between the facility, the engineer, and the varied sources of equipment. The scope of the finished water treatment program incorporated the media, instrumentation, chemical feed pumps, and a full control system with motor starters.
To successfully design the water treatment system, U.S. Water needed to address any potential issues and obstacles from the beginning. The first step was to determine the treatment requirements to convert the source/raw water to acceptable process water. By analyzing the primary water source and potential alternates for dissolved minerals and gases, the undissolved solids were quantified, and the peak and minimum make-up flow rates were determined. The final package was also designed to be flexible enough to accommodate an alternate water source in case of outage. As methanol plants can produce explosive gases, all electrical components had to be either contained or rendered explosion-proof in the system. The client requested a completely modular system, which required U.S. Water to ramp up past traditional skid-mounted equipment to provide the operation already interconnected—plumbed, and powered inside the containers.
U.S. Water brought its infrastructure to the forefront—in-house lab support coupled with engineering experience with filtration, analytical probes, control instrumentation, chemical feed technology, and process assembly.
After the successful analysis and package design, the client awarded U.S. Water the contract to fabricate the treatment plant. The containers were received on the U.S. Water engineering floor along with the major components for electrical and plumbing. Assembly was completed in-house with systematic inspections by the people who had designed the treatment program. All terminations, plumbing, and panel wiring complete, the units were ready for final testing.
Performance assured, and U.S. Water delivered the containers as specified. The client accepted the containers, positioned them, and attached the necessary water and power. The containers dramatically reduced the installation time and expense—also eliminating potential errors from having multiple contractors provide and assemble the components.
The ultimate result was a professional-looking, self-contained water treatment system that produced water that met customer requirements, with equipment that would operate in an explosion-proof environment.
U.S. Water Designs and Manufacturers a Self-Contained Water Treatment System
