What Can Be Done To Optimize The pH Balance Of Cooling Tower Water

Having proper chemistry for the cooling tower water is an integral part of maintaining it well. The maintenance of cooling tower quality is a multi-step approach to the process. Below mentioned steps will make sure you have good enough chemistry in the cooling tower water.

This is an ongoing process; practising it once is not enough; you have to keep using the same method periodically to maintain the water chemistry in a cooling tower, for it requires constant vigilance and control.

Here’s what you can do to optimize the pH balance of cooling tower water

1. Determine Water Quality

Measure your cooling tower’s pH, hardness, alkalinity and conductivity. The measurements of these elements will create a baseline for where the water started before the treatment. The numbers play a huge part in scale formation or corrosion; you should measure the cooling tower water, hardness, alkalinity, and conductivity.

2. Set up target cycles of concentration

Use the makeup water quality when you want to set up target cycles of concentration. The makeup water value quality usually depends on either the municipality or the company treating your cooling tower water.

Identify the Cycles of Concentration (COC) for COC and water efficiency are usually directly linked; hence keeping track of COC pays off in terms of seeing if your facility is losing water. It is of utter importance to balance the requirement of keeping out scale formation and the need for efficiency through a number of cycles of concentration. The increased number of cycles will give more room to dissolved minerals for accumulation in the water, which becomes the leading cause of scale and corrosion. In Evaporative cooling towers, evaporation will do the same, but with COC, it is possible to increase water efficiency.

3. Keep track of COC and water performance.

Constantly monitoring the chemical balance in your water is an essential part of maintaining your cooling tower water treatment. Make use of real-time monitors, which will get you the most accurate and up-to-date information reflecting changes in evaporation and water use. Get the most out of the data you collect by attaching these monitors with automated devices. Periodic monitoring of the COC and water quality can tell if your water is at the optimum balance in order to prevent the formation of scale, bacterial formation and corrosion.

4. Automate your processes

Install an automated chemical dispenser to cut down the needless chemical usage which is present in your cooling tower water; it will help regulate the water chemistry automatically. Devices like this help chemicals to treat the water in response to chemical levels outside preset values. When water chemistry is real-time, it improves the efficiency of these devices while sticking to the requirement of frequently monitoring the water.

Other ways you can use to automate maintenance of your cooling tower water include flow meters, conductivity controllers and pH monitors.

5. Protect your cooling tower

You have to take measures to protect your equipment despite having adequate monitoring of water chemistry and automatic chemical controls. Cooling towers tend to experience corrosion time and again, even in a well-controlled environment. Verify how well the water treatment works measure wear rates using coupons. Make sure you don’t skip any regular inspections and repairs of your equipment. If you miss out on the equipment’s periodic monitoring, you will not have the essential data required to make accurate changes to the water chemistry.

6. Work with your vendor

Work with your water treatment company after establishing the parameter to optimize your cooling tower’s water quality. Your cooling tower vendor will have all the necessary supplies and methods which will help get your cooling tower water within your established chemical ranges. It is vital to keep the communication channel clear with your vendor and ask all you need to without any hesitation.

A reputable water treatment vendor will most likely design a customized plan to help you reach the best chemistry for the cooling tower water, which will eventually prevent scale and corrosion. Be prepared to answer all the questions regarding your facility and cooling tower; the more accurate the answers, the better the water treatment will be to ensure the ideal water quality to prevent damage to the equipment. Get in touch with Towertech, one of India’s leading industrial cooling tower manufacturers, for all your cooling tower needs.