The new Purdue University and Duke Energy combined heat and power plant near the Purdue campus needed a wash drains basin lift station. Romtec Utilities was brought in to provide the wash drains basin along with two other pumping systems for the new power plant.

The plant utilizes HRSG (heat recovery steam generator) to help heat the Purdue campus, which is close to the plant. The HRSG process recovers heat from the exhaust gases of the gas turbines and generates steam from it. That steam pushes a steam turbine, providing more electricity in the process called combined cycle power generation. This is a more efficient way of producing power.

Romtec Utilities was contacted by F.A. Wilhelm to provide these three pumping systems including the wash drains basin inside of the power plant.

The wash drains basin is located near the combustion turbine generator and it pumps fluid that comes from the engine wash water drains on the combustion turbine with a max fluid temperature of 190 degrees Fahrenheit. The vault is a precast concrete with liner, and a non-slip carbon steel hatch, with an 80 to 100 gallon working volume.

West Lafayette, Indiana is a city located about an hour northwest of the state capital, Indianapolis.

West Lafayette is home of the Purdue University Boilermakers. Purdue is a public land-grant research university in Indiana. West Lafayette is divided by its sister city, Lafayette, by the Wabash River. The population in West Lafayette is about 55,000.

Purdue University offers over 200 majors for undergraduates and over 70 masters or doctoral programs.

Duke Energy Purdue is an electrical utility company in West Lafayette.

Duke Energy and Purdue University joined together on a new power plant which is a combined heat and power plant near the Purdue campus. The power plant will serve Indiana customers along with powering Purdue University.

The plant produces both electricity and steam more effectively than typical utility plants from a cost perspective. The new power plant produces a new steam source option for heating the Purdue campus.

Romtec Utilities was contacted to fast track a project brought to us by F.A. Wilhelm. F.A. Wilhelm is the Midwest’s largest pourer of concrete, but they also construct smaller 20MW power plants.

F.A. Wilhelm originally brought us the “Hot Sump Basin” for our review, and then subsequently added two other systems. Romtec Utilities ended up doing three total systems including: an Oil Water Separator, a Hot Sump Basin, and a Wash Drains Basin. All these systems will be located inside a building.

The pump station Romtec designed and supplied collects Blowdown water from the power plant’s boiler. We designed the vault around the Oil and Water Separator which will discharge into the Hot Sump Basin with temps expected as high as 200 Fahrenheit.

Romtec Utilities provided the design and supply of these systems for the end owner, Duke Energy’s, new CHP plant. The new plant will produce more power for Duke Energy’s grid and increase its reliability.

IC Thomason and Associates is the civil engineer. IC Thomason is an engineering consulting firm out of Nashville, Tennessee that specializes in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering. IC Thomason has worked on many notable projects such as the Nashville International Airport – BNA Vision.

Romtec Utilities provides pump stations and other systems for industrial applications like power plants, oil and gas plants, food and beverage, and data center cooling waste. We design and supply pump systems for a variety of different water types all over the country. We are a good fit for a company like IC Thomason that is occupied with the design of the overall utility plant. Romtec Utilities partners with engineering firms to provide the entire scope of the pumping system within a larger project.

This wash drains basin for the Duke Energy and Purdue University combined cycle power generation plant, provides necessary pumping for various processes in the plant’s operation. Romtec Utilities designs, manufactures, and supplies pump stations for power generating plants all over the country, including those that utilize the HRSG power process. We have worked on a variety of industrial pumping systems that help with the operation of various processes in these plants. We know how to design the system to deal with caustic pumping environments and choose pumps and equipment that will withstand these high temperatures.

For your next wash drains basin lift station or other pumping system associated with a power plant, combined cycle power plant, or HRSG process, we can design it to meet the pumping requirements while lasting for the long term. We send an onsite installation tech, provide commissioning services, training for maintenance personnel, and provide a robust warranty.

We provide the complete scope for a package pumping system where we handle the entire process for the system. Contact us today if you want to get started on the design of your next pumping system.

Here are the features of the systems we provided:

Wash Drains Basin
– Precast ~3.66′ length x 2.66 width vault