The cost of treating symptoms every six weeks
A continuous galvanizing line was draining and cleaning its tank systems every six weeks to remove accumulated contamination. Each pump-out consumed chemicals, energy, pumping services, and wastewater treatment. Management wanted to understand the cost of solving the root cause rather than paying for the symptoms again every cycle.
Discovery
Felton MBC met with the engineering and reliability teams to review the line’s cleaning process, which ran through alkali cleaning, brush scrubbing, electrolytic cleaning, and a final rinse. A full engineering survey was scheduled.
Engineering Survey
Felton MBC engineers spent four days on site working alongside the mill’s mechanical, process, instrumentation, and reliability personnel. The survey produced thirteen findings, and filtration was the primary issue. The four largest findings are below.
01. Filtration capacity was inadequate
The system removed only a small percentage of the soil load from circulation, so contaminants kept cycling through the cleaning system, the furnace, and the zinc pot. The six-week pump-out schedule had become the line’s main method of contamination control.
02. The alkali dunk tank re-contaminated the strip
Turbulence in the tank kept accumulated solids suspended, and the sink roll pressed those contaminants back into the strip surface instead of removing them.
03. Backup rolls were out of position
The roll placement prevented proper strip shape control entering the brush contact area.
04. Several spray headers provided little or no cleaning benefit
Some headers were not aimed at the brush-strip contact zone and added little to the process.
Recommendations
Felton MBC delivered a thirteen-point improvement roadmap prioritized by operational impact. The primary recommendation was a high-efficiency filtration system that continuously removes most suspended solids and iron fines.
The roadmap also covered converting the alkali dunk tank to a vertical pre-cleaning system, removing spray headers that added no value, repositioning the backup rolls, upgrading brush construction, and moving to a progressive filament grit strategy.
ROI analysis
The report projected annual savings from reduced caustic consumption, lower water usage, lower wastewater treatment costs, and the elimination of routine pump-outs, with each category quantified against the mill’s current operating costs.
Implementation path
A sequenced plan combining capital improvements, meaning the filtration system and vertical pre-cleaning, with near-term operational changes the mill could start immediately.
Implementation
The project is in progress. Felton MBC is working with the customer’s engineering team to sequence the capital improvements and the near-term operational changes. Results will be validated through a follow-up engineering audit once implementation is complete.
What four days on site produced
- A thirteen-point improvement roadmap prioritized by impact
- An ROI model with projected annual savings
- Quantified savings across chemicals, water, and waste treatment
- A sequenced plan covering both capital and operational changes
Key takeaway
Filtration upgrades rarely attract capital attention because they do not directly increase production output. Their impact shows up elsewhere on the P&L, in lower chemical consumption, lower wastewater costs, reduced maintenance, and better downstream reliability. Those savings often justify the investment on their own, before any production benefit is counted.
The Engineering Survey was built to make that case. A thirteen-point roadmap with an ROI model attached gives the engineering team something to bring to capital planning that pays for itself in operating costs.