7% fuel bill reduction through steam trap uptime and condensate recovery

A chemical plant in Indonesia, which primarily manufactures artificial sweeteners for the food and beverage industry, was facing difficulties in sustaining the uptime of its mainline and process-level steam traps. This was an ongoing issue, despite the plant maintenance team’s efforts and the frequent replacement of steam traps. While the steam traps were a major problem, the plant also wanted to optimize its flash and condensate recovery network.

After a thorough survey of the plant’s steam network, Forbes Marshall engineers identified the bottlenecks and their causes. They then engineered a comprehensive solution to improve steam trap uptime and enhance condensate recovery.

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PROBLEM

Condensate recovery factor (CRF) was low, at approx. 60%

Inefficient flash steam recovery to the feedwater tank

Back pressure issues due to incorrect condensate line hook-up

Higher boiler feed water tank level maintained, causing lower feed temperature.

Trap uptime at 70% instead of the expected >95%

SOLUTION

Steam traps on the distribution line were replaced with CMTD42MF, a variant of the Compact Module Thermodynamic Steam Trap thus improving uptime.
CMTOFT or Compact Module Two Orifice Float steam traps were installed at the process equipment level to enhance condensate evacuation.
A FlashJet™ Pump was installed to enhance condensate and flash steam recovery.