Boiler feed water

Boiler feed water

Steam generators are used 24 hours a day: breakdowns and downtime must be avoided or reduced. Correct conditioning of the makeup water plays a very important role in this respect. ProMinent provides different systems to achieve this.

As make-up water is vaporized, concentrations oftotal dissolved solids in the water increase. These impurities attack the steam boiler material to form deposits. By limiting the build up of salt using chemical treatment, these problems can be avoided. ProMinent offers several solutions for such applications.

Demineralization of the makeup water

High cycles of concentration in the boiler water can only be achieved if makeup water with a low mineral content is available.  Reverse osmosis and water softening systems are used to achieve this.

Conditioning the makeup water

The boiler water is normally treated with the following chemicals:

  • Hardness stabilizers
  • Deflocculating agents
  • Corrosion inhibitors
  • Oxygen binding agents (e.g. hydrazine)
  • pH value regulation (caustic soda, ammonia)
  • Defoaming agents

Metering of these chemicals into the makeup water tank is accomplished using metering pumps

Blowdown control

Increases in salinity in the boiler water is monitored by conductivity. When the maximum value is reached, blowdown occurs. The blowdown valve is opened and water is removed from the boiler.  Demineralized makeup water compensates for the loss in the boiler and reduces the boiler water conductivity. Part of the boiler water flow is guided across a cooler before reaching the conductivity probe, in order to avoid thermal overload of the probe. To reduce sample water losses, samples can be taken periodically making use of a motorized valve system.

ProMinent supplies the systems needed for this application:

Application ProMinent generators
Makeup water softening Dulcosmose® reverse osmosis systems

Metering of inhibitors:

  • Hardness stabilizers
  • Deflocculating agents
  • Corrosion inhibitors
  • Defoaming agents
Metering systems for metering of inhibitors
Oxygen binding agents Hydrazine decanting and metering systems
Blowdown control Cool control blowdown control
Regulating the pH value DULCOMETER® and DULCOTEST® measurement, control and sensor technology

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