- a copper rod pickler was faced with having to treat 60 gpm of effluent from a new pickling operation, at a potential capital cost of $1,000,000; in addition, there was no space available for a waste treatment plant. ESCO engineering process modifications for less than one tenth the cost of the waste treatment plant, completely eliminated all effluent and recovered over $50,000/yr of copper values!
- an ESCO study of pickling operations in a major steel mill revealed that nearly half the pickle acid was being wasted.
- an ESCO study of titanium pickling operations identified simple changes that resulted in a substantial reduction in waste volume and treatment plant cost. ESCO designed and supplied the necessary equipment, and the expected load reduction was achieved.
- an ESCO plate-type scrubber installed on a hydrochloric acid tower pickler reduced acid losses by over $100,000/yr.
- an ESCO study in a major alloy steel mill's pickling operation resulted in a reduction in wastewater flow requiring treatment from 600 gpm to 75 gpm, and saved 60% of the cost of the waste treatment plant. In another plant owned by the same company, ESCO designed rinse/brush systems and scrubbers reduced the volume of effluent generated by two pickle lines from 1200 gpm to 120 gpm, and substantially reduced the investment needed for the waste water treatment plant.
- an ESCO study in a wire mill resulted in a reduction in effluent requiring treatment from nearly 3000 gpm to 60 gpm.
- an ESCO computer analysis of a continuous steel pickle line showed that all the benefits of closed heating coils could be obtained by using them in just one of the tubs - thereby saving the cost of installing heaters in the other three tubs.
- an ESCO innovation in closed circuit cooling system design eliminated the need for cooling water treatment in two wire mills.
- ESCO developed a mathematical model for a food product cooling procedure and carried out and analysed field tests to verify the model. The model was then used to design a new unit.
- ESCO carried out a computer flow analysis of thermal processing equipment in a food plant to provide preliminary system optimisation without incurring the time and expense of hardware modifications.
- ESCO designed two rectangular FRP tanks using finite element stress analysis to optimise material thickness. Although one fabricator would not build the tanks because they were 'too flimsy', another fabricator did build them, and they are now in service without any problems.