Solvay Fluor moet de pH van hun fabricageafvoer controleren, teneinde tegemoet te komen aan de locale wetgeving. METTLER TOLEDO heeft aan Solvay pH-elektrodes geleverd met een levensduur oplopend tot 6 maanden – een kostenbesparende oplossing die volledig aan de wetgeving voldoet.Solvay France
Our customer, Solvay, is a large Brussels-based international chemicals and pharmaceutical group. Solvay Fluor, their French division, operates in the pharmaceutical, chemical and plastics sectors.
For a number of years Solvay Fluor has been developing products that are compatible with environmental concerns. One of these products is Solkane® 365mfc, produced at their Tavoux facility. Solkane 365mfc is a fluorinated solution used in manufacturing of thermal insulation foams or as a very high performance solvent. It is replacing harmful HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons) in the manufacture of thermal insulation foams, as Solkane 365mfc has no impact on the ozone layer.
Effluent Treatment
Solkane 365mfc manufacturing wastes are treated and regulated by prefectural decree. In order to comply with the standards applicable to industrial wastes, Solvay Fluor has implemented effective aqueous effluent treatment facilities. The waste is routed to a treatment plant where volatile organic compounds are removed by steam stripping and precipitation of metallic salts, before the fluid is discharged.
Maintaining Precise pH
Due to the effluent being strongly basic and hot (65 ºC) and containing fouling organic compounds, the difficult part in the treatment process is pH regulation. In order to allow effective elimination of the organic components and precipitation of salts, the pH must be adjusted to within 12.5 to 12.7. The fluid first has to be brought to the correct pH before it enters the stripping column. As the steam process alters pH, the value must again be adjusted to the correct value to enable precipitation of the metallic salts on the filters that follow.
The METTLER TOLEDO Solution
After discussions with Solvay Fluor France, we proposed the following pH measurement solution for this station:
- InPro4800 pH electrode
- InTrac777 retractable housing
- 2220X pH transmitter (recently replaced by the M420 transmitter)
- EasyClean automatic cleaning system
The InPro4800 pH/temperature electrode is designed for the most demanding applications in the chemical industry. The electrode enables reliable measurements in oxidizing environments, solvents, strong acids or bases, and resists high pressures and temperatures.
The EasyClean automatic cleaning system is designed for easy integration in explosion-risk areas (ATEX II 2G).
Long Electrode Lifetime
In this process pH is an essential parameter and measurement is critical before discharge of the effluent or there is the risk of violating the standards. Solvay Fluor France has found the system recommended by METTLER TOLEDO to be more effective than competitors'. In fact, despite the presence of metallic salts at a concentration of almost 1 g/L and 10 % nitric acid cleaning every 60 minutes, the InPro4800 electrodes provide a service life of around 4 to 6 months.Read the entire case study