Processes in Boiler Water Treatment

Treating boiler feed water is essential for both high and low-pressure boilers. Ensuring the correct treatment is implemented before problems such as fouling, scaling, and corrosion occurs is very crucial. Implementing the right boiler water treatment program ensures customers in avoiding costly replacements/upgrades down the line.

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The following methods are incorporated across industries in treating boiler water:

Oxygen Scavenging:

Oxygen dissolved in water supports corrosion of the boiler drum and tubes when under extremely high pressure and temperature settings. If not handled correctly, it may eventually lead to boiler tube damage, leakage issues, or corrosion concentrated in tiny areas.

Oxygen scavenging is the chemical process by which dissolved oxygen in the water flowing into the boiler and in the boiler environment is removed. Both inorganic, as well as organic types of scavengers, can be used. These products reduce oxygen, to form non-corrosive compounds, thereby minimizing the possibility of pitting.

Condensate Treatment:

Steam condensate is formed when the steam produced liquefies, cooling down into impurity-free water. While this may be beneficial when added back as boiler feed water, due to the absence of contaminants and its high temperature, condensates also act as another agent accelerating pitting in the boiler system, due to their highly corrosive properties.

Condensate treatment is the chemical process applied to mitigate condensate corrosion. Amine processing is the most common method of condensate treatment as it is relatively easier to implement. With a regulated procedure of chemical dosing, amine treatment also represents a cost-effective procedure.

Internal Treatment:

Irregular chemical properties of boiler water also pose a substantial hindrance to boiler internals. Low pH levels of water propagate the pitting of boiler pipes &tanks, resulting in increased costs of equipment maintenance.

Internal treatment of boiler water is the process by which the hardness of water is managed, thereby protecting the boiler pipes from scaling and from the accumulation of suspended solids. This is done through the introduction of chemicals that help increase the pH of water, maintaining its alkalinity and thus its corrosive tendency.

The integration of eLIXA®, Haber’s SaaS-incorporated device in boiler water treatment helps in improving the efficiency of the process. Data is collected in real-time at multiple touchpoints, and parameters influencing the process are determined. eLIXA®’s AI/ML algorithm guides the detailed analysis of the data, to ensure that optimal chemical dosing results are at peak efficiency.

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