Having efficient and reliable water management in place while operating cooling towers is essential. The water management program creates systems that use less water, energy and chemicals and at the same time experience far fewer failures and periods of downtime, which ultimately contributes to extended equipment span reducing the liability of human illness that is caused by water-borne pathogens. In order to achieve this level, you would require a lot more than just control equipment or monitoring technology and the right feed.
Cooling tower water treatment helps in the prevention of biological growth, scaling and corrosion. What kind of treatment would go into it generally depends on the water quality that feeds the tower. Evaporative cooling towers or even cooling towers, in general, evaporate a certain amount of water; it is in their nature. It causes the impurities into the water to concentrate or cycle up. Shooting up the concentration level of cycles in a cooling tower will conserve water. It is possible to set a limit on the number of cycles to run while also balancing the water chemistry in order to prevent scaling, corrosion and biological activity.
Cooling tower manufacturers use several methods to treat the chemistry of water in cooling towers. There are some conditions that need to be monitored and controlled irrespective of the method that is being used for the treatment, whether it be mechanical or chemical or a combination of both. One of such methods is the use of industrial control and automation systems. The controllers used in cooling towers are likely to monitor the tower basin water for some conditions and provide feedback to the treatment method that is being used to react to the changing conditions. However, some main sensing technologies are broadly used in cooling tower water chemistry monitoring. Advanced technologies like monitoring a trace component added to the water treatment chemicals have given reinforced sensing methods.
In the past, cooling tower operations required significant human resources, which sometimes required testing 3-4 times per shift. As the workforce reduced, most industries demanded more reliable sensors and new sensing technologies. However, this has pushed the industry to develop monitoring methods to control remotely and notify developing conditions.
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Following are some different ways facilities can contribute to reducing operating costs in cooling towers:
Maximize cycles of concentration
Bleeding cooling tower water at the correct rate is important for carrying out a cost-efficient operation. High-level bleed will likely increase water and chemical use costs, whereas low-level bleed will likely result in problems like a deposition, corrosion, etc. In order to increase cycles of concentration of recirculating cooling tower, it is best to consult your water treatment partner that will help you determine the most effective ways to do so for your facility.
At times, in many industries, round cooling tower systems can account for up to 80% of a facility’s water usage. There is enormous potential for water savings, and some of the best practices include:
- Softening of makeup water
- Automating chemical feed and tower bleed
- Removal of solids with the installation of side-stream filtration
- Controlling alkalinity and pH with feeding acid
- Looking for improved quality makeup water
Keep heat exchangers free of build-up
In order to keep heat transfer components free of build-ups like corrosion, scale and biofilms, it requires a well-planned chemical treatment program. Such a program will include corrosion inhibitors, antiscalants and disinfectant chemicals along with the periodic cleaning programs. Biofilms and scaling act as an insulator in the cooling towers, which demands more energy to cool water to its desired temperature. The costs can quickly escalate due to scale formation on evaporators.
Make use of minimum effective dosage of chemicals
A good, cost-efficient operation of cooling towers requires proper dosing of chemicals. Many a time, overfeed starts to cause issues with sludge build-up, corrosion and environmental discharge problems; overfeed is an actually pricey waste of chemical. That said, an underfeed will result in scale formation, microbiological growth and corrosion issues.
In Summary
Performing regular energy inspections and management can be one of the most critical steps to take in order to reduce the operating costs of cooling towers. It is imperative to know where the energy costs are coming from to minimize them. Tower tech India is one of the leading cooling tower manufacturers in the country; we ensure that you have elevated functionality of the cooling towers, despite their ability or age. Get in touch with us to understand and get the maximum from your cooling towers.
