Ceramic-Filter SOP, Preventive-Maintenance and CIP Audit

On April 10, 2023 at 2:22 PM, emailed Art Trevino, Michelle Gott, Donnella Gregg, Robert Londono, Benny Joseph, and Denise Kuhn about difficulty remembering SOP due dates at operator-equipment level and asked for a setup that would send operators inspection and cleaning reminders.

Art Trevino listed proposed operations tasks: weekly inline steam-filter cleaning; daily ceramic steam-line blowdown; ceramic-filter cleaning as needed; fault resets during power issues; ceramic-filter operation; weekly exterior cosmetic cleaning; monthly polishing; filling water-treatment salt; and weekly water-filter and inline-filter checks with changes as needed.

Art Trevino listed proposed maintenance tasks: weekly inspections of ceramic, cooling-water, and water pumps; monthly seal inspections; greasing pumps as needed; weekly electrical temperature checks similar to acetator checks; ordering replacement water filters; checking chemical lines for leaks and repairing them; and replacing chemical hoses as needed.

A March 1, 2025 draft stated that wanted the handwritten filter log retained and a spreadsheet added for analysis, considered Chrisnet oversight of bulk data entry, and proposed shift-based analytics and automatic delivery scheduling for CIP chemicals and filters.

The March 1, 2025 draft proposed adding valves to the operating-condition SOP, a weekly walkaround for leaks, valve condition, and pump cavitation, and a filter log recording ceramic used, carbon bags, HMI gallons and time, whether CIP was a filter event, concentration-end reason, CIP type, start and stop times, and CWF.

wrote on December 9, 2022 at 8:13 AM that the boiler and air compressors were not being maintained and described them as the system's lifeline. His boiler supplier procedure required daily boiler blowdown, purging both ceramic steam traps, daily alarm review with maintenance requests, and weekly disassembly and cleaning of the two traps at the ceramic condensate-return drip legs.

The December 2022 air-compressor procedure required a daily auto-drain check, a maintenance request if the purge stayed a solid stream consistently over a week, daily alarm and alert review with maintenance requests, and weekly filter and oil inspection with more frequent replacement when saturated or dirty.

After each filter cycle, the December 2022 procedure directed users to identify from the alarm screen or history whether concentration ended because of minimum flow, an empty machine, or high temperature; observe CWF after each CIP; and perform an intensive clean when CWF was red and below 100 and concentration ended on minimum flow.

The December 2022 operating-condition procedure required a weekly walkaround for leaks, manual operation of valve-bank valves, and checks for pump condition, cavitation, and leaks.

The December 2022 fresh-water-filter procedure required monthly removal, cleaning, inspection, and replacement as needed; draining and cold-water filling; observation of fill time and housing pressure; thresholds of no more than 20 minutes and no more than 3.5 bar; and replacement every six months or earlier if either threshold was exceeded.

The carbon-mixing instruction required all manual valves on the V30 recirculation pump to be open, the pump to be turned on, carbon to be added, and recirculation to continue until filtration was complete.

After every carbon run, the carbon-cycle procedure required cleaning the stainless-steel prefilters: Ceramic 1 had two, one on the infeed manifold and one on the skid by the water filter; Ceramic 2 had one on the infeed manifold. Filters were to be rinsed until clear, replaced, and followed by CIP.

The carbon-cycle procedure directed a backflush from the V30 feed-pump line to the infeed using the flush workstream with the V30 tank, pump, and infeed valves open so dirty water returned to V30; then the V30-to-feed-pump valve was closed. It also directed closing the drain, opening the recirculation path, rinsing and filling above the pump inlet, running recirculation for one minute, opening the drain for a final carbon rinse, and then closing the drain and valve.

sent the Carbon Cycle SOP to Francis Campbell, Michelle Gott, and Art Trevino on March 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM. The thread was forwarded as 'Ceramic SOPs' to Denise Kuhn and Andrew Detjen on May 11, 2023.

On January 17, 2025 at 12:45 PM, Asked Michelle Gott and Art Trevino whether Outlook reminders had arrived, said he had received two or three, and stated that dirty filters had caused past issues. He described about three months without cleaning as an observed tipping point before errors and production stops and advised considering filter condition when those symptoms appeared.

On March 22, 2024, wrote that soft-water condition and absent filtration were major contributors to performance and throughput degradation, that a filtration supplier scientist had taken a soft-water sample, and that cleaning was being performed with unfiltered water containing bio-slime. He said he was working on ultraviolet treatment and spray-ball tank sterilization and recommended monthly tank CIP until biological conditions were controlled, then once every six months.

Stated that installed soft-water filters were 10 micron but should be 1 micron, that green slime was coating ceramic modules, that both housings were filled with ten modules total, and that replacing ten modules twice yearly created recurring expense. Planned an inline 1-micron sock filter, requested ten units of part AB3A0107WH4, and described the change as intended to reduce cost tenfold.

In the March 22, 2024 thread, hypothesized that KOH was less active than equivalent-concentration NaOH and planned to test KOH with surfactant against higher KOH concentration. Stated the then-current use was one-third tote per ceramic per CIP, expected one-half tote, and projected that bringing Ceramic 2 online would add one or two CIPs per week. He described 1.25 totes remaining, approximately 4,000 gallons of vinegar available before CIP, and recommended one tote on Monday plus weekly automatic delivery beginning the following Friday.

Maintenance team reported on May 19, 2023 that Ceramic 1 made 17 gallons in five hours, then 5 gallons after restart, while 166-degree temperature prevented action, and that Ceramic 2 discharged water-rinse flow from a 2-inch line and flooded the warehouse twice. first described Ceramic 1 as a training and troubleshooting matter and Ceramic 2 as a filtration supplier or remote-intervention matter. On May 20, Maintenance team corrected the record: Ceramic 1 needed new parts, although he accepted flush training; Ceramic 2 had processed more than 13,000 gallons of WDV overnight, its standard clean and hot-water rinse became stuck, and staff filled with water and used UF until caught up.

On January 15, 2024, Art Trevino stated acid had been used twice in the prior couple of weeks with little or no CWF difference and a duration of 8.5 hours. Stated that standard CIP included chlorine and acid was separate; the KOH was 45 percent versus 50 percent NaOH and was used at about twice the prior average; CWF after NaOH was also poor; and acid was previously about monthly but had become more frequent. Filtration supplier representative of filtration supplier wrote on January 10 that CIP effectiveness depended on temperature, concentration, and exposure and asked about chlorine, acid frequency, enzyme, and protease use. wrote on January 5 that about 3,000 pounds of KOH per week barely supported three 6,000-gallon batches, that CWF had fallen from about 800 to below 100 after the NaOH-to-KOH switch, and that timer-based dosing was being reprogrammed toward sensor-based dosing.

On February 19, 2025, Michelle Gott stated that no potash was being used or ordered despite stock, operators believed the system was self-cleaning, and operators said it called for cleaning about every 20,000 gallons. Stated his intended process was potash-only automatic CIP after each run to reduce soda discharge plus weekly NaOH CIP, and that LA wanted potash stopped and only NaOH used like Ceramic 1 after V11 rules and haulaway economics changed.

Asked for potash and soda purchases and V11 haulaway data, stated that each cycle used about one-third tote, and calculated that five automatic cycles per week would imply at least eight potash totes per month. Noted that November nitric-acid barrels remained full, CWF was about 50, no NaOH was onsite, and the automatic-CIP tote was empty.

The document titled 'ceramic membrane Crossflow Filter SOP and PM Audit Report' identifies an audit period from Friday, February 21 through Saturday, March 1, 2025 and a triage period from 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM on February 21.

The audit reported clean water filters; 90 percent of sanitary tri-clamps needing two to three turns and 25 percent critically loose; an open and unlocked panel with internal temperature above 140 F; dirty panel air filters; an excessively dirty machine; melted nitric-line tri-clamp gaskets and a spill; a primary-pump gearbox approximately 90 percent empty before refill; and air hoses partly disengaged from automatic-valve quick connects.

The audit stated that it found no evidence of SOP or PM adherence beyond water-filter replacement.

The audit listed full cleaning, updating all SOPs, and removal of automatic potash CIP from the production sequence so it became manual-only as actions from February 21 through March 1, 2025. It recommended panel locks.

The audit called for a weekly walkaround before and during operation; quarterly tri-clamp checks; monthly checks of compressed-air leaks, valves, regulators, filters, panel pads, chemical gaskets, and exterior condition; and annual or biannual addition of the soft-water tank to CIP with ultraviolet recirculation.

The audit required recording system used, carbon bags, HMI gallons and time, concentration-end reason, CIP type, CIP start and stop times, and CWF, with management monitoring. It called for filtration supplier repair or replacement of the pump gearbox, filtration supplier washdown covers for three Ceramic 2 panel fans or vents, and stock of filters, chemical-resistant gaskets, NaOH, HNO3, hypochlorite, Ceramic 2 Pump 2 gear oil, and air hoses and fittings.

The cleaning report displays water and energy readings; the source does not establish whether they represent one cycle or cumulative use.

A draft operating-governance email records the working SOP set and repeated training, identifies procedure infractions and retained carbon/product, and recommends shutdown while defining an operational-support boundary during reprogramming.

The support draft reported Ceramic 1 processing 15,000 gallons of ACV before high-TMP CIP, CIP CWF of 118, and restart TMP of 1.3 average after 50 gallons, with a stated filtration supplier stop threshold above 1.4. It compared this with reported performance of 40,000 gallons ACV, CWF 700, and believed startup TMP 0.3.

The November 11, 2024 update stated Ceramic 2 had been repaired and ran 16,000 gallons of WDV over the weekend with filtration supplier oversight. It attributed approximately 95 percent pore clogging to vinegar remaining after a June mid-batch breakdown, stated initial CIP did not restore CWF, and deferred a soak because the boiler was offline. The update also listed: all four skid panels lacking airflow because filters were soot-clogged; Ceramic 2 VFD motor replacement by maintenance team; Ceramic 1 modules packed for testing, warranty, and repair in with the shipment method pending; a continuing Ceramic 2 primary-pump gearbox leak; a seized Ceramic 2 CIP diaphragm pump replaced temporarily by the Ceramic 1 pump; backups added with one repair and a UPS recommendation; and a capped Ceramic 2 infeed vent that caused vacuum and near implosion.

A May 15, 2022 email in the compendium attributes to a network repair and says Nick Richards gave kudos. A separate embedded exchange attributes a network outage to operators moving Ethernet cables. The compendium also records sharing a bottling-audit spreadsheet with Donnella Gregg and a bottling manager during a Line 2 104-BPM crisis and describing operator exclusion from the A56 control room as a monitoring and troubleshooting gap.