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Water
Treatment
Bio-based cooling tower water treatment: A sustainable alternative – Part 1
In this 3-part series of articles, ODYSSEE Environnement presents feedback on using a bio-sourced product for anti-scaling treatment in cooling tower water, compared to conventional products.
By Amaury Buvignier, Frédéric Bertrand, Fabrice Chaussec, Xavier Labeille at ODYSSEE Environnement and Logan MANARANCHE at ODYSSEE USA INC.
I. Introduction Water treatment programs strive to ensure the sustainability of water networks and thereby ensure the continuity of industrial production. These treatments are particularly aimed at preventing biofouling, corrosion, and scaling. In line with the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2008, a UN summit was held in 2015 during which 17 Sustainable Development Goals( SDGs) for the horizon 2030 were adopted by world leaders. These goals aim to end poverty and build a more sustainable world based on three pillars: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. In line with Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15, which aim to combat climate change and promote sustainable development, efforts have been made to explore innovative alternatives to reduce the environmental impact of chemicals. A particular focus has been placed on developing natural or bio-sourced scale inhibitors. Currently, the available products for industrial water conditioning are mainly derived from mining( phosphates) or petrochemicals( polyacrylates). However, around 75 % of the world’ s phosphate production is concentrated in just three countries: Morocco, China, and the United States. These resources, primarily used in agriculture, are considered critical, and their depletion could potentially disrupt the global food balance. Polyacrylates, sourced from petrochemicals, present long-term environmental concerns.
While studies on natural scale inhibitors have been conducted since the 1950s, it has only been in the last decade or so that research in this area has intensified. Belarbi et al. [ 1,2 ], initiated research into new natural scale inhibitors for industrial water treatment. They hypothesized that plants traditionally used in the treatment of urinary lithiasis could also act as inhibitors of scale formation. Through electrochemical methods, they notably demonstrated that aqueous extracts of Paronychia argentea exerted an inhibitory effect on the formation of calcium carbonate precipitates. Additionally, Cheap-Charpentier et al. and Horner et al. have shown the potential effectiveness of plant extracts from Herniaria glabra, Spergularia rubra, or Parietaria officinalis in preventing scaling [ 3,4 ]. Based on these observations, previous published works by ODYSSEE Environnement focused on selecting plant sources and a specific eco-extraction method [ 5 ]. After many years of research, ODYLIFE, a bio-sourced antiscalant substance, was developed. Its development required overcoming various challenges, such as identifying and quantifying active substances, ensuring continuous quality control of plant raw materials, developing an eco-responsible industrial extraction process, and optimizing formulation. The culmination of ODYLIFE’ s development is its recent deployment and in-situ testing, ensuring the product’ s operational effectiveness. In a 3 episodes series, we will highlight the importance of identifying tracers correlated with the antiscalant effectiveness of a plant extract, address the major challenge inherent in using a natural raw material of agricultural origin, namely, the variability in the quality of the supply. We will present the optimization approach of the industrial extraction process, developed by ODYSSEE Environnement, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of ODYLIFE as well
Figure 1: Representation of the efficacy of 3 antiscalant products( P) petro-based,( B) bio-based,( N) natural.
32 Heat Exchanger World June 2025 www. heat-exchanger-world. com