Water Systems Turned Over to Operations

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A technician checks the filtration media level in a water demineralization tank at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

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Technicians prepare to pump water from a demineralization trailer to the Process Water Tank at the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in this photograph from 2017.

Experts deemed two systems that provide water to Blue Grass plant processes ready in March to proceed to the next step toward the destruction of chemical munitions.

“The start-up team completed the test plans for the Demineralized and Process Water Systems and turned them over to the operations team,” said Kevin Matthews, area supervisor, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass. “We will now operate and train on these systems before we begin destroying the munitions.”

These two systems will provide water to plant processes and buildings such as the boilers, the Munitions Demilitarization Building and the supercritical water oxidation process, Matthews said. Water is demineralized to remove impurities and minimize scale build-up and improve process and maintenance effectiveness and efficiency. The water is then supplied to the Process Water Tank for distribution throughout the plant.

“The point of all the testing and training is we want to make sure our equipment fully reflects our safety culture to keep everyone safe and our processes running smoothly,” Matthews said.

The systems consist of a portable demineralization unit with beds of filtration material, a 35,000-gallon working-capacity Process Water Tank, valves and piping.

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