Corrosion
Don ’ t wait for a ruptured tube !
Scale , like many things in life , is easy to ignore until it becomes a problem . For boilers that produce hot water and steam for industrial activities , the situation can become serious before the scale is even noticed . Cortec ® therefore encourages boiler owners and operators not to wait until a melted boiler tube forces them to face the facts of scale .
Text by Cortec
Scale impacts boiler performance Scale forms when certain minerals such as calcium carbonate in the water combine and create scale deposits on boiler internals . The thicker the buildup , the harder it is for water or steam to flow through the pipes . Heat transfer efficiency also drops , demanding more energy to heat the boiler water and create steam . Scott Bryan , CWT , and Technical Sales Manager – Water Treatment at Cortec ® Corporation , summarized , “ Whenever . . . scale is forming in any system , . . . if you are starving that system of its needed heat transfer efficiency , you are hurting the performance of that whole process .”
Overlooked scale leads to catastrophic breakdown Unfortunately , good boiler monitoring information that signals a change in flow or heat transfer efficiency is usually hard to come by , so a plant may experience scale buildup problems long before realizing them . Bryan explained that , if this proceeds too far , it could result in a boiler pipe that ruptures without warning , leading to major problems . He noted , “ A boiler will blow a tube and cause the whole system to come down , and that could create a catastrophic event at worst and an unplanned maintenance shutdown at best .” In either case , at least some plant operations will grind to a halt , leading to production losses as well as repair costs .
Best practice 1 : Scale prevention To avoid such serious problems , it is important that boiler owners and managers take pre-emptive steps . The best plan is to minimize the formation of scale deposits by adding an anti-scalant to the normal water treatment program . These chemistries keep dissolved minerals such as calcium carbonate from combining and depositing on the metal . The S-14 Series is a good option that can be added to standard water treatment formulations and easily combined with Cortec ’ s Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor additives .
Best practice 2 : Scale removal The second step is to periodically remove scale that has formed . This should be done whenever pressure increases and heating demands rise . However , since these indicators can be difficult to detect in a boiler , it is a good plan to conduct scale removal every few years during routine maintenance . A product such as EcoClean ® Biodegradable Scale and Rust Remover powered by Nano-VpCI™ is a great option because it is a USDA Certified Biobased Product that is good at dissolving scale and is much safer than harsher options like muriatic acid . www . heat-exchanger-world . com Heat Exchanger World October 2024
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