K2 Pure Solutions

When K2 Pure Solutions decided to build a high-efficiency chemical plant that uses salt to produce chlorine and industrial bleach as a by-product at a Dow Chemical Co. site, it looked to Cupertino Electric to design and build the facility’s electrical manufacturing infrastructure.

Unique Processes Requiring Unique Electrical Solutions
To move special Chilean salt delivered by 600-foot cargo ships from a service dock a half-mile to where it is mixed with water and pumped to the K2 manufacturing plant, Cupertino Electric designed a conveyor system at the site. Inside the K2 plant, various chemical processes were taken into account during the electrical design phase, including DI/RO water treatment systems, three electrolyzers with 20,000A buss bars at 680V DC to separate the chlorine from the salt brine, and a pump system transferring the bleach by-product to a hypo bleach plant for use in waste water treatment plants.

Electrical Infrastructure Details
The K2 electrical Design/Build construction project features two 2,000A 13.8 kV feeders from the Dow substation to newly-installed 13.8 kV gear. As part of the electrical infrastructure, Cupertino Electric distributed 48 MW of power to the electrolyzers, 4,160 motors and 480V MCCs. Most of the industrial skids used for different processes with motors for pumps at the site are outdoor skids, tank farms or areas with shed roofs.

As part of the electrical scope, Cupertino Electric installed heat trace on the process piping at the site. In addition, many of the on-site motors are backed-up by a generator and UPS for the 20,000A bus bar polarization and UPS for the DCS controls. The nerve system of the chemical plant consists of a small, 4,500 square-foot control building housing a small lab and digital control system. Remote I/O cabinets with control wiring and transmitter devices enable processes for the entire plant to be controlled out of the building.