Treatment FAQ

how do you set up a water treatment sytem for a boiler plant

by Prof. Mortimer McGlynn Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago

Make up water treatment Treated raw water is mixed with potable water and pumped to the boiler feedwater treatment system. The system is designed to remove 99% of the dissolved minerals and provide high-purity water to the boiler.

Full Answer

How does a boiler feedwater treatment system work?

Treated raw water is mixed with potable water and pumped to the boiler feedwater treatment system. The system is designed to remove 99% of the dissolved minerals and provide high-purity water to the boiler. The mixed water flows through a reverse osmosis plant operating at a recovery of 80% and an average salt rejection of 95%.

How do you treat raw water in a boiler?

Make up water treatment Treated raw water is mixed with potable water and pumped to the boiler feedwater treatment system. The system is designed to remove 99% of the dissolved minerals and provide high-purity water to the boiler.

How is internal water treatment done in a boiler?

Internal Water Treatment. Boiler Internal treatment is carried out by adding chemicals to boiler to prevent the formation of scale by converting the scale-forming compounds to free-flowing sludge, which can be removed by taking blowdown.

Why boiler water treatment is necessary?

Boiler Water Treatment is necessary to Producing quality steam on demand depends on properly managed water treatment to control steam purity, deposits and corrosion. There are two main types of boiler feed water treatment Internal boiler Water Treatment method and external boiler water treatment. A boiler is the sump of the boiler system.

What is boiler water treatment procedure?

How do you treat boiler water?Remove Hard Water Elements. Water treatment typically begins with sediment filters to remove suspended solids and water softeners to remove calcium, magnesium and other metal cations. ... Pre-Heat the Feedwater. ... Treat Feedwater with Required Chemicals.

What is the first step towards boiler water treatment?

Filtration is the essential first step before the chemical treatment and conditioning of the boiler feedwater. Filtration removes or minimizes all types of suspended solid impurities. If rust, sand (silica) etc.

Which water treatment process is best for boiler water?

One of the most common and efficient combination treatments is the hot lime-zeolite process. This involves pretreatment of the water with lime to reduce hardness, alkalinity and in some cases silica, and subsequent treatment with a cation exchange softener.

What is need for boiler water treatment?

Boiler corrosion: water contains oxygen which will eventually lead to the thinning and pitting of the metal pipes. This can interfere with the heat transfer abilities of the boiler and contamination of the water itself. Suitable boiler water treatments will eliminate oxygen from the water and help prevent corrosion.

What are the 2 types of boiler feed water treatment?

The treatment of boiler water can be put into two parts. These are internal treatment and external treatment.

How do you treat the industrial boiler water?

Water treatment for industrial steam boilersRaw water. Pressure filtration of raw water. ... Softening. Softening by ion exchange. ... Demineralization. Demineralized water by reverse osmosis. ... Water tank. Storage of the demineralized water.Degassing. Removal of gasses with a thermal deaerator. ... Dosing pump. ... Steam boiler. ... Production.

What is the pH of boiler feed water?

An important element of boiler feedwater treatment is controlling corrosion by keeping the boiler water slightly alkaline, between 7 and 9 on the pH scale.

Which type of water is used in boiler?

The boiler receives the feed water, which consists of varying proportion of recovered condensed water (return water) and fresh water, which has been purified in varying degrees (make up water). The make-up water is usually natural water either in its raw state, or treated by some process before use.

What is hardness in boiler water?

Most boiler systems have sodium zeolite softened or demineralized makeup water. Feedwater hardness usually ranges from 0.01 to 2.0 ppm, but even water of this purity does not provide deposit-free operation. Therefore, good internal boiler water treatment programs are necessary.

How do you maintain pH in a boiler?

This product is recommended for raising boiler water internal pH where the natural feedwater alkalinity or cycles of concentration are low. Hydroxide concentration is directly elevated to promote boiler internal softening and control of corrosion....Product Data.Specific Gravity (SG)1.35pH of product14

What are the effects of a boiler deposit?

These deposits can inhibit the transfer of heat and reduce the boiler’s efficiency. In extreme cases, such deposits can lead to corrosion, scaling, fouling, and the shutdown or replacement of equipment. These types of issues can shut down the process and prove costly to repair and replace any worn equipment.

What substances are used to heat water?

When it comes to heating water for creating steam and energy, even trace amounts of certain substances, such as oxygen and carbon dioxide, can wreak havoc on your machinery and pipes in a short amount of time.

Why is my boiler not running?

When your boiler isn’t running efficiently, it can use excess energy to make up for energy loss. For example, let’s say your boiler feed water has high hardness or silica, and your boiler is experiencing greater than normal deposits and scale on internal piping.

Can a boiler cause corrosion?

But when heated and used to created steam, they can cause scaling, fouling, and corrosion of your machinery. The best way to be sure you’re boiler is running correctly is to be aware of the boiler manufacturer’s water quality recommendations and consult a boiler feed water treatment expert.

Does a boiler run at a higher pressure?

Your boiler runs at a higher pressure. The higher the pressure a boiler runs, the more pure the water source needs to be. Again, the precise boiler feed water chemistry needs to be calculated by a boiler feed water specialist and cross-referenced with the recommendations given by the boiler manufacturer, but for a general sense ...

What is the primary step in boiler water pretreatment?

The primary step in boiler water pre-treatment is ion exchange to remove hardness. A sodium zeolite softener removes soluble hardness in the form of calcium and magnesium through ionic exchange with sodium. The removal of hardness prevents scale and helps to maintain continuous heat exchange and efficiency.

What is external boiler treatment?

External boiler treatment consists of the mechanical and chemical removal of suspended solids, dissolved solids, and dissolved gasses. The main objective of external treatment is to significantly improve the quality of feedwater before entering the boiler. Ion exchange/softening, demineralization, and reverse osmosis are mechanical methods used ...

What is the best way to increase alkalinity in a boiler?

Sodium hydroxide, or caustic, is used to increase alkalinity. Maintaining an alkalinity range of 300-600 ppm measured as p-alkalinity helps to minimize the corrosive effects of heated water on the boiler metallurgy. Alkalinity is consistent to pH, maintaining proper boiler alkalinity will ensure that boiler pH is also in range.

When was the first potable water treatment plant?

Already in 2001, the first potable water treatment plant using a MIEX® -DOC process was launched in Australia. In this plant, the MIEX ® -DOC step was introduced prior to conventional treatment, and a significant improvement in water quality was observed.

What is centralized water treatment?

Centralized water treatment plants are based on coagulation, flocculation and disinfection processes and found to be most cost-effective in treating large quantities of water.

What is the water used in CMF-S?

Raw (surface) water is pre-screened, and dosed with lime and carbon dioxide in a contact reactor to control alkalinity and corrosion. Next, water is dosed with a coagulant, liquid aluminium chlorohydrate (ACH) prior to entering the CMF-S plant to remove colour, some organic content, and dissolved metals.

What is the Bendigo water treatment plant?

I. Bendigo water treatment plant (BWTP). The 12.54 × 10 4 m 3/day (33 MGD) BWTP has been producing drinking water for nearly 1 million people in central Victoria, Australia since 2002. It is one of the largest if not the largest MF plant in the world. The plant combines submerged microfiltration (CMF-S), ozonation and biological activated carbon (BAC) to treat a variable and difficult raw water. Raw (surface) water is pre-screened, and dosed with lime and carbon dioxide in a contact reactor to control alkalinity and corrosion. Next, water is dosed with a coagulant, liquid aluminium chlorohydrate (ACH) prior to entering the CMF-S plant to remove colour, some organic content, and dissolved metals. The coagulant dosage is typically 5–6 mg/l. The coagulant precipitate is removed by MF. The coagulant/CMF-S process removes up to 15% of the dissolved organic carbon.64

What is water treatment automation?

Automation of water treatment plant involves the control system opening and closing valves and starting and stopping equipment in predefined sequences to complete specific tasks or to provide the desired process plant output. To achieve these results the automation system relies on signals from correctly selected and placed instruments, devices such as actuators and motor control circuits and reliable control logic. The degree of automation to be used is fundamental to developing an automation system.

What is make up water treatment?

Make up water treatment. Treated raw water is mixed with potable water and pumped to the boiler feedwater treatment system. The system is designed to remove 99% of the dissolved minerals and provide high-purity water to the boiler.

What is raw water pretreatment?

The raw water pretreatment plant is designed principally for solids removal from the incoming Hanover county sewage effluent (grey water), backwash water and wastewater from the oily water collection system. Raw water enters a coagulation/flocculation chamber followed by a clarifier and dual media depth filters. Backwash water from the filters is periodically returned to the clarifier. Clarifier sludge is dosed with polymer before being thickened and then sent to the filter press for dewatering. The cake is sent to landfill and the recovered water returned to the clarifier.

How much phosphate is needed for a boiler?

To assure that the calcium + phosphate reaction goes to completion, there must be at least 20 ppm excess phosphate in the boiler. If phosphate rises much over 60 ppm, it can contribute to boiler carryover.

Where should sulfite be fed in boiler?

To eliminate oxygen corrosion and assure that the sulfite/oxygen reaction is complete before the feedwater reaches the boiler, sulfite should be fed as early as possible in the boiler cycle – preferably to the deaerator storage tank, feedwater storage tank or feedwater line – rather than directly to the boiler drum.

Why is chloride used in boiler tests?

The chloride test is used (often in conjunction with the conductivity test) to regulate boiler blowdown. Blowdown is necessary to keep boiler solids (both dissolved and precipitated) from building up to the level where they might cause scale and carryover. Boiler water chlorides limits are set on the ideas that:

Why is boiler water treatment important?

Boiler Water Treatment is necessary to Producing quality steam on demand depends on properly managed water treatment to control steam purity, deposits and corrosion. There are two main types of boiler feed water treatment Internal boiler Water Treatment method and external boiler water treatment. A boiler is the sump of the boiler system. It ultimately receives all of the pre-boiler contaminants. Boiler performance, efficiency, and service life are direct products of selecting and controlling feedwater used in the boiler.

What is boiler system?

A boiler is the sump of the boiler system. It ultimately receives all of the pre-boiler contaminants. Boiler performance, efficiency, and service life are direct products of selecting and controlling feedwater used in the boiler. When BFW boiler feedwater enters the boiler, the elevated temperatures and pressures cause the components ...

What are the chemicals in water that affect the formation of deposits in boilers?

The most important chemicals contained in water that influences the formation of deposits in the boilers are the salts of calcium and magnesium, which are known as hardness salts. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonate dissolve in water to form an alkaline solution and these salts are known as alkaline hardness.

How do deposits affect boilers?

Deposits in boilers may result from hardness contamination of feed water and corrosion products from the condensate and feedwater system. Hardness contamination of the feed water may arise due to a deficient softener system. Deposits and corrosion result in efficiency losses and may result in boiler tube failures and inability to produce steam. Deposits act as insulators and slow heat transfer. Large amounts of deposits throughout the boiler could reduce the heat transfer enough to reduce the boiler efficiency significantly. Different type of deposits affects boiler efficiency differently. Thus it may be useful to analyze the deposits for its characteristics. The insulating effect of deposits causes the boiler metal temperature to rise and may lead to tube-failure by overheating.

What is external water treatment?

External treatment is used to remove suspended solids, dissolved solids (particularly the calcium and magnesium ions which are major causes of scale formation), and dissolved gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide).

What happens when BFW feedwater enters the boiler?

When BFW boiler feedwater enters the boiler, the elevated temperatures and pressures cause the components of water to behave differently. Most of the components in the feedwater are soluble. However, under heat and pressure, most of the soluble components come out of the solution as particulate solids, sometimes in crystallized forms ...

Why is it necessary to remove suspended solids and turbidity from raw water?

Before any of these are used, it is necessary to remove suspended solids and turbidity from the raw water, because these may foul the resins used in the subsequent treatment sections. Methods of pre-treatment sedimentation, clarification, coagulation, and aeration of water will be discussed later. Save as PDF.

What is the most important function of a boiler water treatment program?

Arguably the most important function of a boiler water treatment program is scale control.

Why use phosphonates in boilers?

Phosphonates are also often used to keep the sludge particles fluid and non-adherent. With good control of a phosphate/polymer/phosphonate program, the boiler internals can be maintained completely free of scale. Another important component of a good boiler treatment program is oxygen corrosion control.

What are the two types of condensate return treatments?

Two types of condensate return treatments are available – neutralizing amines and filming amines. Of the two types, by far the most commonly used are the neutralizing amines, which are volatile alkaline liquids. A neutralizing amine is fed to the boiler, where it volatilizes and is carried off with the steam.

What causes corrosion in boilers?

Oxygen levels as low as one ppm or less in the boiler feedwater can cause pitting type corrosion on boiler tubes and other internal surfaces. Oxygen pits can quickly penetrate a boiler tube, shutting down the boiler and requiring tube repair or replacement.

What is the primary fuel for a boiler?

Most boiler systems today burn natural gas as the primary fuel. Many systems are also set up to burn an alternate fuel if the natural gas supply is curtailed or cut off. In most cases, the alternate fuel is No. 2 fuel oil, a light distillate that is the same as diesel fuel.

What happens if a chemical treatment program is not a good fit for the system?

If the chemical treatment program is not a good fit for the system, overall efficiency can be reduced, with a corresponding increase in operational costs. In today’s uncertain economic environment, this can put a company or facility at a competitive disadvantage, even threatening its very survival. How do you know if your water treatment chemical ...

Is No 6 oil good for boilers?

No. 6 oil is not a good “fit” for a boiler set up to burn no. 2. Just as the type and quality of the fuel affects a boiler system combustion efficiency, the type and quality of the water treatment chemical program has an impact on the overall efficiency of the boiler system. If the chemical treatment program is not a good fit for the system, ...

How does a boiler work?

In a boiler, energy in the form of heat is transferred from a fuel source to the water across a heat transfer surface. When subjected to temperature and pressure, the composition of the boiler water undergoes radical changes; Solubility's are exceeded, the effects of dissolved gases are magnified, and the efficiency of the heat-transfer process is affected.

What are the problems with a boiler system?

There are several problems which can occur within a boiler system. The major problems are; scale and sludge deposition, corrosion and boiler water carryover. If left untreated these problems can in extreme cases cause steam boilers to explode and it is for this reason that standards have arisen on how to treat and maintain boiler systems. This course specifies the chemical conditions required to be maintained in the boiler water to avoid scale and corrosion and to ensure that the steam produced is pure and dry.#N#This 3-hr course material is based entirely on the US Army Corps of Engineers document TM 5-650 " Central Boiler Plants" and covers Chapter 4; "Water Treatment for Boiler Plants".#N#The course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Your Water Source Likely Carries Harmful Impurities

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Whether you’re using raw or municipal water sources for your boiler, chances are some sort of treatment needs to be implemented to remove suspended and dissolved minerals, hardness, and gasses. When it comes to heating water for creating steam and energy, even trace amounts of certain substances, such as ox…
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Your Boiler Runs at A Higher Pressure

  • The higher the pressure a boiler runs, the more pure the water source needs to be. Again, the precise boiler feed water chemistry needs to be calculated by a boiler feed water specialist and cross-referenced with the recommendations given by the boiler manufacturer, but for a general sense of the figures you should be falling between, below are the American Society of Engineer…
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Save on Excess Energy Costs and System Replacements

  • When your boiler isn’t running efficiently, it can use excess energy to make up for energy loss. For example, let’s say your boiler feed water has high hardness or silica, and your boiler is experiencing greater than normal deposits and scale on internal piping. These deposits can inhibit the transfer of heat and reduce the boiler’s efficiency. In extreme cases, such deposits can lead t…
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Avoiding These Issues

  • When it comes to treating your boiler feed water, it’s best to jump off on the right foot to avoid any of these problematic issues from the start. A good place to begin is by consulting someone to perform a treatability study, where a chemist can thoroughly analyze what impurities might be present in your feed water stream. From there, consider your manufacturer’s boiler feed water q…
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