Cambridge’s Traveling Water Screens Prevent Clogging in Chemical Cooling Towers

Cambridge EnTech, the environmental and energy products division of Cambridge Engineered Solutions, has designed and manufactured eight pairs of traveling water screens recently installed in new cooling tower systems for El Dorado Chemical.

The rotating water screens are part of a refurbished production line for ammonium nitrate and sulfuric acid manufactured at the company’s El Dorado, Arkansas plant.

Eight metal mesh screen pairs — four per cooling tower — filter water and block debris that can back up pumps and heat exchangers that transport water during the cooling process.

Each screen pair covers a 13-foot wide opening and is capable of filtering more than 20,000 gallons of water per minute. The screens rotate and force debris into a catch basin that is emptied periodically by plant personnel.

Critical to reducing the heat build-up produced during chemical manufacturing, each cooling tower sits over an 8-foot-deep, football field-sized pond. Water is pumped into the tower during production and then returned to the cooling pond.

Cambridge worked with the Oklahoma City office of Leidos throughout design and installation to develop a customized solution for the El Dorado project.

Larry Windsor, Cambridge executive director of sales and business development, says the size of the screens presented logistical and financial challenges. To meet these, the company paired two, 6-foot screens per opening, which reduce shipping and handling expenses.

The size and efficiency solutions developed by the engineering teams at Cambridge and Leidos resulted in more than $200,000 in cost savings, according to Windsor.

Global Industrial assisted Cambridge as the on-site contractor for the installation.

Cambridge traveling and static water screens can be used to prevent debris back-up and clogging in a variety of industrial applications that use retention basins, including power plants, sewage treatment, heat processing applications and other manufacturing requiring irrigation, the company says.

In a case study published late last month, LG Sonic says its algae water treatment helped a district cooling facility in Dubai reduce its chemical dosing while keeping microbial activity under control.