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Hydro Aluminum, |
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Hydro Aluminum of North America is the second largest aluminum manufacturer in the world. In addition to other major businesses they own and operate over 12 off-shore oil/natural gas drilling platforms in the North Sea. Recently they aggressively added major new manufacturing equipment to their ever expanding re-melt/extrusion operations in Ellenville, NY. The total project cost to upgrade their existing propane system to meet their new energy demands was in excess of $ 500,000.00. The NEW upgraded system now consists of a total of (4) 30,000 gwc propane storage tanks and (4) vaporizers. Two of the (4) tanks and the two smaller 350 gph water bath vaporizers were existing but failing to meet demand becoming increasingly undersized. The key to this project expansion was how to engineer and install a new larger propane system with only one day of interruption to the customer's 24 hour around-the-clock operations and time it so RHW could put the new propane system on-line in March 2005 just as installation work was being completed on the customer's new re-melt/extrusion equipment. This was accomplished through pre-planning meetings with the customer this past winter when RHW outlined the project to the them in four phases. The first phase was to install (2) NEW WB-1500 gph water bath vaporizers which would add an additional 275,000,000 BTU's of capacity to the existing system making it capable of meeting the customer's new and old equipment demands. In addition get the customer immediately converted over to the new larger capacity vaporizer's system as soon as the customer's new process equipment was completed. The second phase involved relocating two old failing 350 gph vaporizers and piping (presently in the way of the two new tanks to be added) over to their new location getting them too back on-line clearing the way/area for the two new tanks. The third phase was to install (2) new customer supplied 30,000 gwc propane storage tanks complete with new pre-cast concrete piers, state-of-the-art tank trim, new pump and piping which manifolded them into the two existing tanks. The 4th and FINAL phase recently completed this April/May was to install a new propane cylinder fill shed/building with automatic cylinder filling scale and cylinder storage cage for existing fork lift cylinder operations. The total propane system as now designed/installed will average three 9,500 gallon capacity transports/day or approximately 28,500 gallons of propane/day with the Ellenville plant's increase in energy usage. |
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