March - Y-12 National Security Complex - U.S. Department of Energy

Volume 13, No. 3March 2013www.y12.doe.gov/news/times.phpP.O. Box 2009Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8245B&W Technical Services Y-12, LLC, a partnership betweenBabcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group Inc.and Bechtel National Inc., operates theY-12 National Security Complex.Managing EditorsAmy Alley:alleyab@y12.doe.govMary Bryant:bryantma@y12.doe.govLayoutLisa HarrisP.O. Box 2009Oak Ridge, TN 37831-8245PRSRTSTDPAIDU. S. PostagePermit #622Knoxville, TNContributorsCarolyn AndrewsEllen BoatnerRyn EtterKathy FaheyScott FrakerJohn HolbrookTerry MarlarJill McNuttBrett PateKate ShawRay SmithHeidi SpurlingBrian WagnerDonna WatsonMona WrightWorking smart to provideutilities for lithiumSmall-scale improvements, such asautomatic valve controls, add up to betterefficiency and operator safety.Supplying the right environment to process lithium is not as simple as flippinga switch. In fact, achieving the required humidity and temperature is a complicatedbalancing effort and a real test for aging utility systems.To deal with both capacity and flexibility issues, Utilities, Production and Engineeringare working together — tracking system performance, adjusting parameters,mitigating breakdowns and installing upgrades as funding allows.Perhaps the utility that receives most attention is the cooling/dehumidifying system.Since dehumidified areas amount to half the building, removing moisture fromthe air can load the system to capacity. “There were times last summer when we hadto raise temperatures to achieve the required relative humidity level,” the lithium operationsmanager said. “Utilities operators and engineers worked really hard to keepbrine temperatures in specification all the while we were loading their system.”In addition to daily tweaking, the lithium team is making permanent systemimprovements. Some manual controls for conditioned air have been rebuilt orreplaced with automatic controls. The result is less stretching and climbing foroperators and better efficiency. The system engineer responsible for the changessaid, “These automatic controllers will pay for themselves.”Delivery of gases such as nitrogen and argon has also been fine-tuned. Meterswere installed to distribute the right amount of gases and avoid wastefulness.What everyone on the lithium team understands is that balancing delivery ofutilities requires continual communication and adaptability. “Our focus is keepingour mission-critical facilities in operation,” the operations manager said. “As budgets gettighter, we have to figure out ways to work smarter and find workable solutions to difficultproblems.”