Cooling Water System Treatment
Whether your cooling system is open-recirculating, closed-loop, or once through, the goals remain the same; prevent corrosion, prevent deposition/scaling, and prevent microbiological growth. By accomplishing these goals, your cooling system will operate more efficiently, economically, and safely.
Prevent Corrosion
- Based on the nature of your make-up water, corrosion could be a concern. Uniform corrosion, pitting, microbiological, and under deposits all can cause major problems within a cooling tower, heat exchanger, piping, or any other area of your cooling system. Problems from corrosion include pinholes, pipe failure, and equipment malfunctions. We have a variety of products available to handle the specific nature of your corrosion. By understanding the problem in-depth, we are able to properly passivate your system and protect it from corrosion.
Prevent Deposition / Scaling
- Deposition or scaling within a cooling system is usually the limiting factor for cycles of concentration. Understanding your specific make-up water and how it relates to scaling is critical in minimizing water consumption and saving money through water conservation, decreased wastewater treatment costs, optimized efficiency, and decreased chemical addition. This can be broken down to two key goals:
- Minimizing Make-up Water: A common issue we see is systems running below the optimal number of cycles due to scaling concerns. Our consistent monitoring, specialized chemistry, and experience generally allow for higher cycles and lower make-up water volumes with less blowdown.
- Maximizing Efficiency: Scaling in your cooling system will act as an insulator. This will decrease the heat transfer efficiency and can even restrict flow through the system. We utilize chemistry that keeps these deposits in solution and sends them out with the blowdowns. A system properly treated for scaling will operate at maximum efficiency, decreasing power consumption and improving system reliability.
Prevent Microbiological Growth
- Bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa, and sulfate-reducing bacteria all pose a serious risk to cooling systems. There are two primary concerns:
- Protection of Product/Protection of Customer: Certain industries, such as food processing, may have contact cooling water that must be sanitized to prevent the spread of disease. This of the utmost importance and must be taken extremely seriously. Once we fully understand the materials, temperatures, and water quality of your system, we can develop and implement the proper disinfection chemistry. Different bacteria require specific and unique chemical approaches and applications. Our experience and knowledge coupled with a variety of chemical options allow us to maintain sanitary conditions at all times.
- Protection of Equipment: When bacteria build up in a system, they can form slime deposits. These deposits can act as insulation (reducing heat transfer efficiency), clog lines and valves, and generate corrosion sites. The effects of bacteria in a cooling system is known as “biofouling” and can be treated using a variety of chemicals including both oxidizing and non-oxidizing disinfection agents. It is important to assess the entire system and understand temperature, materials, water quality, and other factors before deciding which chemistry and application style will be most effective. When properly treated for bacteria, a cooling system can operate at maximum efficiency, protect against corrosion, and minimize equipment failures and variation.
Monitoring and Service
Our monitoring and service plan will keep your cooling system in efficient, safe, working order.
We also offer Boiler Treatment and Wastewater Treatment in South Carolina, North Carolina & Georgia.