An on-line viscometer from Hydramotion Ltd has solved an important problem in process control for leading South African specialty chemical manufacturer Zetachem.

Zetachem is a major supplier of specialty polymers and chemical management systems to leading companies in the water treatment, mining and pulp and paper industries.  It is also the largest supplier of organic coagulants in the southern hemisphere.

At its Durban plant Zetachem produces a number of specialty polymers, including the polyamine flocculants used in water treatment plants to assist in liquid-solid separation processes.   Viscosity is a key control measure for determining the degree of polymerisation during polyamine production.  Previously, the company had to take individual samples of the reactor contents and determine viscosity manually in the lab.  Now, with a Hydramotion XL7 process viscometer on line in the reactor, production staff have immediate feedback on progress of the polymerisation stage. 

“The vastly improved monitoring of this step allows us to control product consistency and throughput with a commensurate reduction in ‘off-spec’ production,” said Richard Winter, Production Manager at Zetachem.

Continuous viscosity monitoring has also led to a better understanding of the process and consequent improvements in operator training and productivity.  All this has led to considerable savings for the company.

The company chose Hydramotion back in 1998, after reviewing a selection of ‘on-line’ viscometers on the market.  “We considered Hydramotion to offer the best chance of providing an accurate and robust ‘fit-and-forget bolt-onto-the-reactor solution’ that would meet the requirements of our processes,” Mr Winter said.

The company has had occasion to celebrate its choice, as the XL7 has gone on to prove its long-term reliability.  “The instruments have performed flawlessly since 1998.  We have experienced no significant drift requiring recalibration in that time to date [January 2006].  The units have been in continuous use.”

Zetachem has been equally impressed with Hydramotion’s after-sales support.  They were concerned that, with their operation being in South Africa, service could be “problematic”, but such fears were quickly proved groundless.  “On the one occasion when a bracket detached itself from inside one of our reactors and damaged the viscometer probe, Hydramotion provided excellent, rapid and cost-effective service.”

For Zetachem, the benefits of installing the Hydramotion XL7 were immediate and substantial.   It is, says Mr Winter, “a truly ‘fit-and-forget’ instrument that enabled us to remove some of the art from polymerisation and replace it with science.”