Yesterday I ran a rapid impact assessment at a mid-sized food processor, and in 20 minutes we found the cooling tower bleed-off was driving most of their water footprint; a simple plate heat exchanger plus smarter blowdown controls should cut withdrawals around 40% without touching product quality. Has anyone phased a retrofit like that in an older plant without downtime, and what tripped you up?
We phased one at a 1970s snack plant by bringing in a pre-piped PHE skid and tying it in during two weekend windows — felt like changing tires while rolling. Temporary bypass kept the tower online; add isolation valves, a side-stream sand filter, and a conductivity controller with ramped setpoints so chemistry doesn’t swing. Also verify chloride limits on plates/gaskets before you buy to avoid a nasty surprise.
Did this at a dairy by hot-tapping and using Victaulic grooved couplings so we could tie the PHE in live; once online, the cooler return fooled the conductivity control, so we recalibrated temp compensation and added a small side-stream sand filter to keep plates from sliming. @dwilso34’s skid idea is solid — just watch gasket material if you’re chlorinating (EPDM over NBR).