All pumping stations of the Kyshtym Copper Electrolytic Plant will operate in automatic mode
KMEZ is implementing a project for complete dispatching of the pumping facilities as part of the Tankhouse technical modernisation. Expansion of production, an increase in the cathodes output require uninterrupted operation of the Power Department, stable provision of the necessary resources. The project is meant to solve this problem by increasing the reliability and efficiency of the equipment.
Today, there are five pumping stations on the territory of the plant. Recently, there were six of them, but one of them was shut down after the plant changed the storm drain collector system and factory channel sewage. KMEZ switched to a closed cycle of water circulation and stopped dumping used water into the plant channel, which led to uselessness of the sixth station. Now it is being dismantled.
Each of the operating pumping stations is serviced by at least five operators. They open and close check valves, switch sewage supply schemes and control the process. The idea to automate the stations operation arose back in 2015. That same time, the first move was made in that direction.
“At that time, selective spot modernization was underway in almost all divisions of the Russian Foil plant” – recalls the Head of the Power Department Viktor Plaksin. “We couldn not be at the tail end. We decided to start with a pumping station for utility waste. Why did we choose it first? The answer is simple: the need for its services will never disappear. It is this station that regulates the level of wastewater in the plant’s reservoir and pumps it out, directing it to the city sewage treatment facilities.”
The utility waste station is a stand-alone building, consisting of a gravity collector, a process pipeline and a pressure header. During modernization here, pumping equipment and internal piping were replaced, modern starting devices with frequency converters and data collection units were installed, which allow the station to be controlled remotely.
The dispatching of the first pumping station was nearing finished, when the management of the shop and the plant had a quite reasonable idea: why control one station remotely, if modern technologies allow us to connect everything up to one control panel at once? The answer to this question seemed unambiguous, but required careful elaboration. The experience of upgrading the pumping station for utility waste has convinced the specialists that it is extremely difficult to replace the main equipment without stopping the technological process. It is critical to thoroughly prepare for large-scale dispatching of pumping stations. It started only in 2020. The main stage was installation of a single automatic workstation (consisting of three computers and an information collection cabinet) at the compressor and refrigeration station.
An Automatic workstation will become the Control centre for all pumping stations. All operating parameters of each of the factory stations are displayed on the computer screens in real time. Any malfunction is visible, a failure alarm immediately forces to take prompt measures to eliminate it. Via computer, the operator, without leaving the office, opens and closes the check valves, alternates the operation of pumping units, switch the sewage supply scheme – does everything that previously required manual intervention and personal presence at a particular station. Automation, without a doubt, will reduce the pumping facilities service charge, increase the reliability of its operation, and minimize the time for troubleshooting.
