Economical And Operational Performance Improvement thanks to Clustered Water Management
1. The Challenge: Coping with increased production and environmental requirements
Air Products is an international supplier of industrial gases, based in Ghent. The company is currently facing the dual challenge of corporate expansion and increasingly stringent environmental requirements.
The first challenge requires them to secure a supply of additional water for their future needs. The second challenge means finding a solution that guarantees a continuous quality.
For these reasons, Air Products asked Induss to perform a water audit on their current and future water usage. This audit included a thorough analysis of the company’s water requirements, flows and qualities, and an assessment of possible future water demands.
As a result of the audit, Induss was able to propose a range of fine-tuned options:
- Keep canal water as the supply and adapt existing water treatment programmes;
- Switch to tap water quality through existing water networks;
- Build a local water treatment factory dedicated to Air Products;
- Connect to Indus II, the Induss-owned water factory servicing a cluster of local firms.
2. The Answer: Connecting to the cluster serviced by water factory Induss II
Although the first three solutions are perfectly feasible, the obvious and most sensible solution for Air Products was to connect with the existing installations of Induss II. This would ensure enormous benefits of scale.
Using the abundantly available, low-cost water from the Rodenhuize dock in Ghent, Induss II already produces four different bespoke water qualities tailored to its various customers’ requirements. Customers have their water delivered through adistribution grid, guaranteeing total product integrity and ensuring continuity for the customers’ production plants. This whole integration process is designed to have a low environmental impact – exactly what Air Products were looking for.
Induss therefore constructed a 3-kilometer pipeline to connect Air Products with Induss II. We also drew up Service Level Agreements between Air Products and Induss, which were defined within the scope of a long-term contract. These guarantee the provision of a constant flow of cooling water, improved operational efficiency, and maintenance of the cooling water delivery infrastructure.
3. The Benefits
Outsourcing its water management to Induss has enabled Air Products to focus on the construction of a new industrial gas production plant. The company is now able to concentrate more effectively on its core business, while being able to rely on Induss to take care of water issues. This case shows how a water audit by Induss can result in creating a solution that significantly improves a company’s water management efficiency.
To Air Products, ‘increased efficiency’ means an improvement in economical and operational performance, including:
Improved water quality, resulting in lower operational, treatment and maintenance costs;
- Substantially lowered total cost of ownership (TCO);
- Optimal delivery and quality of cooling water, resulting in reduced manpower and management time;
- Avoidance of environmental and licensing problems;
- Lower wastewater taxes.
