Ozone Helps Business and Industry Be "Cool"

Many commercial and industrial processes depend on cooling towers to maintain temperature in a designated range. The one most people are familiar with is building cooling (HVAC systems), but many important industrial processes also require cooling towers such as electrical power generation.

Cooling towers use the principle of evaporative cooling to reduce the temperature of water. The human body uses the same principle. As we heat up we sweat, as this water evaporates from the surface of our skin we cool down. In a building the air conditioning system uses cooling heat transfer fluid to carry heat from inside the building to the outside. This fluid in turn needs to be cooled so it can return to the building and pick up more heat. Water is used for this purpose. The cooling water is then taken to a cooling tower where it is allowed to evaporate cooling the water so it in turn can lower the temperature of the heat transfer fluid used inside the building.

Since the cooling water is constantly evaporated more water must be added to the tower (make-up water) to maintain the volume. In addition, because the minerals in the water concentrate with evaporation, some water has to be released to reduce the concentration of the minerals (blow down). Since the cooling tower water is warms, oxygenated and constantly exposed to the environment, it is a good medium for the growth of bacteria. Some of these bacteria can be harmful such as the Legionella bacteria that can cause illness in humans. Other bacteria can form surface films (biofilms) on the heat exchange equipment that reduce the efficiency of the cooling system and thus waste energy. Some of the organism can also cause the materials in the cooling system to corrode requiring replacement of expensive equipment. As a result the growth of micro organisms in the cooling water must be controlled.

Ozone generators have been used extensively for the treatment of cooling water. This is due to the fact that ozone is a powerful, but environmentally friendly biocide. Ozone's effectiveness has been studied by the various agencies of US government and shown to be effective. For example, NASA uses ozone to treat cooling water at the Kennedy Space Center where they conduct racket launches.

Ozone is a powerful biocide, which, when compared to conventional chlorine based biocides, not only combats microbial growth processes but also reduces organic impurities often found in the cooling water reducing potential discharge problems with the blow down. In addition, by reducing the concentration of these impurities the amount of water blown down or wasted can also be reduced.

Ozone is produced in an ozone generator and usually injected continuously into the cooling water system in a branch stream. The microorganisms in the systems are thus under permanent attack and micro organism counts are held at a very low level. This also applies to the bio films in the systems, so the tendency for coatings to form is kept to a minimum. This means that intervals between overhauls and maintenance sessions can be extended.

A residual ozone concentration of 0.1 to 0.2 ppm is typically effective in keeping the cooling tower and the cooling circuit clean.

Advantages of ozone generator use in cooling towers include:

• Lower Corrosion Rates
• No Toxic Chemicals in Blow Down (ozone breaks down to oxygen).
• Lower Overall Chemical Use
• Eliminates Storage of Biocides (ozone is produced on site from air)
• Effective in a Wide pH Range
• Improved Heat Transfer Efficiency
• Reduced Water use

Ozone use in cooling towers requires consideration of the following factors:

• Make-up Water Quality (Hardness, COD Levels)
• Dead Spots in the Circulation System
• Water Temperature
• Materials of Construction

When applied properly and in the proper circumstances ozone can improve the operation of cooling towers while saving money and protecting the environment.

Anthony Sacco is a director of Spartan Environmental Technologies, LLC. Spartan supplies ozone generators, ozone water treatment systems and other advanced oxidation processes. You can learn more about Spartan at http://www.spartanwatertreatment.com and ozone cooling water treatment at http://www.spartanwatertreatment.com/cooling-water-treatment.html

Water Treatment by Using Ozone

No water is ever pure. It is a little bit of a fairy tale when you think that water can be. Water is a universal solvent. When water is given to the environment, it becomes immediately contaminated with many different organic and inorganic substances.

Not every one of the contaminants is bad for you. Some of them can be toxic for humans to consume. The water treatment systems are designed and necessary for removing these substances from your water and giving you clean and safe water to drink.

There are many different water treatment systems to choose from. It will depend on the water that you are trying to get treated. One of the water treatment methods that you may want to try is known as the ozone water treatment method.

What is meant by ozone?

Ozone or O3 is a gas that has no color or smell to it. The ozone gas will have a reaction with anything that it comes in contact with. Because of this reaction, the ozone is used largely for cleaning and disinfecting things. The ozone gas is so highly reactive that it will cause corrosion on the things that it meets. Ozone is a great way to disinfect and clean but, for living tissue contact, it can be damaging in great ways.

Why Use Ozone Gas To Treat Water?

It is a very easy answer; ozone is the greatest biocide that is available. It reacts in a big way with the water and this makes it a great thing for water treatment. Ozone gas will kill viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, and fungus in the water. It can also stop scale deposits from forming and causing hard water to occur.

In certain research studies, legionella has also been destroyed by ozone gas. Legionella is a bacterium that is found to thrive in cooling towers. Every test that has been done shows that by sending ozone gas into the cooling tower will lower the bacteria counts and will provide standards for drinking water that is of a better quality. Ozone gas has also been shown to impact corrosion in the heat surfaces in a positive way.

Good Things For Ozone Water Treatment Use

The main good quality of using an ozone water treatment system is that it is able to get rid of the microorganisms that are found in water. Biological films ore one of the worst problems facing today’s supply of fresh water. By getting the biological agents under some sort of control, the ozone water treatment system can make sure that the water is free form viruses, bacteria, and other substances.

The ozone water treatment system will also help to eliminate the problem of scale deposits in the pipes. Because it inhibits the gathering of scale deposits, it will help to improve the work quality of the heat transfer surfaces. This ozone gas will make the system very good for industrial use and especially good for those systems that use water to heat or cool.

You can also find more info on water treatment and extensive water treatment. eWaterTreatmentSystems.com is a comprehensive resource for water treatment with information on reviews, reverse osmosis and how it works.

Cottonwood Air Intake Filter Screens

When you think of chiller and cooling tower maintenance the first thought is usually about how much of a hassle it is to perform this important but unpleasant task; power washers, cleaning solvents hoses, buckets and other cleaning accessories need to be assembled and moved from unit to unit, up and down off of rooftops, behind buildings and other out of the way locations; chillers and cooling towers need to be opened, housings need to be removed and internal components power washed (all the while getting the debris from the cleaning process all over you) then the equipment needs to be reassembled before moving to the next one - WOW, what a hassle!

As unpleasant this job is, ensuring that the cooling equipment which supports your production process stays clean and running efficiently is one of the most mission critical jobs there is because if your process cooling equipment fails due to system fouling, then production will fail - costing the business thousands of dollars in maintenance, repairs, downtime and lost productivity.

In most regions of North America, cottonwood seed is a major contributor of cooling equipment fouling. This naturally occurring airborne contaminant (generated by the Poplar Tree) usually effects operations from May thru early August, hence, companies that rely upon process cooling must clean their equipment frequently during this period or risk failure. Then comes the dog days of summer when insects, paper, construction debris, birds and just about everything that blows in the wind seems to find its way into your cooling equipment, then comes the final seasonal assault during the fall season when the trees drop their leaves, scattering them to the wind where they always seem to find their way to your condenser coils and cooling towers.

Keeping up with HVAC maintenance during the spring, summer and fall is nearly a full time job for most production operations and as the economic realities of business cause maintenance budgets and staffing to be reduced, it is increasingly important that companies find effective maintenance solutions that will streamline their day to day HVAC maintenance activities and enable them to more effectively handle work loads with fewer people and with fewer budget dollars.

Think about it, if you are in a lean maintenance staffing situation and you had five things to do on any given day and one of the tasks was cleaning condenser coils and cooling towers, how high on the "To Do List" would it rank? Given that it's time consuming and hard, dirty work, most people would rank it pretty low; Unfortunately, if the equipment is in need of cleaning and maintenance continues to be delayed, no reason for delaying it will change that fact and the equipment will continue to operate at an increasing level of inefficiency until the equipment can no longer support the cooling requirements.

Now consider the same list of five things to do except this time cleaning cooling towers and chiller coils only took a few minutes per unit using a broom, now where would this task would fall on the "To Do List"? Well, there's no real way of knowing, but the likelihood of it ranking high on the list is pretty good. Furthermore, if cleaning the equipment was as easy as using a broom or rinsing with a garden hose and it didn't require opening or disassembly of the equipment, then nearly anyone could perform the maintenance and that would change the dynamics of the HVAC / Cooling tower maintenance process.

How to Change the Dynamics of the Maintenance Process.

Air Intake Filtration specifically engineered for use on condenser coils, cooling towers and other HVAC equipment is one of the best ways to prevent fouling of your equipment. Unlike window screen, bug screen, shade screen and conventional filters including roll media, pleated filters and electrostatic filters which are largely designed for internal use on air handling units and forced air heating systems, Air intake filters are specifically designed to mount to the outside of the equipment where it stops airborne debris before it enters your system and where it can be easily seen and quickly removed using a broom, brush, shop vacuum or by simply rinsing with a garden hose - Even the rain has a cleansing effect on air intake filters and they never need to be removed for cleaning. Furthermore, because of the critical airflow requirements on cooling towers, and air cooled chillers, air intake filters are specifically engineered to be nearly invisible to the airflow on high volume / high velocity air flow systems (static pressure drop is less than 1/10" w.g. at 600 fpm air velocity).

So What's The Big Deal About Air Intake Filtration? Air Intake Filters help eliminate the "hassle factor" by dramatically reducing HVAC maintenance time and effort - but the benefits don't end there; here's what else they will do to save budget dollars and change the dynamics of your maintenance process:

Condenser Coil Filter Screens -Benefits

• Prevents debris from getting into coils.
• Reduces / eliminates annual pressure washing
• Reduces / eliminates need for cleaning chemicals
• Helps reduce energy cost because coils stay clean all season long.
• Dramatically reduces maintenance, repairs, downtime and lost productivity.

Cooling Tower Filter Screens - Benefits

• Reduces / eliminates sludge build-up in the basin by significantly reducing bio-loading.
• Prevents fouling of fill.
• Prevents plugging of strainers, blow-down valves and heat exchangers.
• Helps reduce algae growth by diffusing sunlight, which supports photosynthesis.
• Reduces water treatment chemical consumption due to reduced bio-loading.
• Dramatically reduces maintenance and repair cost, downtime and lost productivity.

Air Solution Company developed and patented the first Air Intake Filter specifically engineered to mount to the outside of cooling towers and other HVAC equipment for purposes of stopping the debris before it entered into the system. Since that time, Air Solution Company has been manufacturing and has introduced a variety of other innovative filter systems including its new Fine Mesh Filter which is engineered for use on small and medium size refrigeration coils and machine fan intake housing units. Air Solution Company Randy Simmons is with Air Solution Company, author of articles can be reached at http://www.airsolutioncompany.com

Types of Evaporative Air Coolers

Evaporative air coolers include a system of cooling in which the evaporation of a liquid, typically into the surrounding air, cools the object or a liquid in contact with it. There are number of evaporative designs that people can purchase.

* Direct Evaporative Coolers - this open circuit is used to lower the temperature of air by using what is referred to as a latent heat of evaporation, changing water into vapour. The energy in the air does not change. During the process the warm dry air is changed to cool moist air.

* Indirect Evaporative Cooling - This is a closed circuit system. It is similar to a direct evaporative cooling system. However in this case some sort of heat exchanger is needed. The cooled moist air never comes in contact with the conditioned environment.

* Two-stage Evaporative Cooling - this system is also referred to as an indirect cooling system. This is a traditional system of cooling that uses only a fraction of energy of vapour compression air condition systems. There are drawbacks to using this system however as they tend to make the air very humid which can make people very uncomfortable.

* Cooling towers - cooling towers are structures that are used for cooling water. This process works in a similar way as the evaporative air cooler system. Cooling towers are typically used on large and tall buildings or in industrial sites. They work as they transfer heat to the environment from chillers, for example in the Rankin power cycle.

For more information on heating and air conditioning and other related topics, visit Homeclimate at http://www.homeclimate.biz

Learn How to Prevent and Solving Scale and Scum in Cooling System

Having headache with your cooling tower scum and scaling problems. Check out this simple technique to avoid all those problems using an environtally friendly and biodegradable chemical. Micro-nice® D-5 is the product for preventing and solving scale and scum in cooling tower. Without using any petrochemical-solvents, but made from Phytochamical mixtures instead.





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Important Information On The Cooling Tower Water Treatment

When you have chosen to use the cooling tower water treatment system, it is most important to remember to not ignore the maintenance required. The water carries bacterial growth in it whether it flows through the faucet or if it is flowing through a cooling tower. If this water is not treated as soon as possible, it can rust and corrode and deposits will form inside the water treatment equipment. This reason makes the cooling tower water treatment system so very important.

Problems From Not Maintaining The Cool Tower

When you do not keep up the proper maintenance on you cooling tower water system, you will find that many different problems will come up. These problems can include scale formation, corrosion, and biological fouling.

Problems With Scale Formation

Scale is what is formed when wet solids get clogged in the pipes. This scale is made from heat and cold water that contains a very high mineral content. These deposits will continue to build up over time. If these scale deposits start to form on a heat exchange surface, they will eventually clog the passages and slow the system down. The cooling tower can also be affected by the scale deposits. If the deposits block the flow of the basin or fill in the cooling tower, problems arise.

Choosing to use a cooling tower water treatment system will help to stop the problems of scale deposits. It is a very budget friendly way for you to treat the problems you are having but also to lower the maintenance and the cost of maintenance on the cooling tower system itself. The majority of money that is spent each year is on the removal of the scale deposits from the inside.

Inside Corrosion

When metal starts to dissolve, you have what is known as corrosion. Oxidation effects break the metal down significantly. The breakdown will cause the system to degrade at a faster rate than normal. The major point being that when the metal starts to break down, the strength of the metal and the thickness off the metal are reduced. The structure of the metal can no longer stand up to the pressure that it was designed for and pits and craters can form in the metal.

A cooling tower system will help to stop the corrosion from happening. The better of the treatments for corrosion is the ozone treatment. There are also other methods that work just as good.

Problems With Biological Fouling

Problems with biological fouling occur when the water has not been used and left for long periods of time. When the water is left unattended, it has the potential to form bacteria, fungus, algae, and protozoa. The microorganisms will eventually get to large proportions in the water and will cause a biological film to form on the surface of the water. This film is very hard to get rid of. This is what is known as biological fouling.

The biological fouling problems are commonly known to be the worst problem that you can encounter with the cooling tower system. The problems that can occur with biological fouling are low heat transfer, the fill can stop working properly, the water flow can be restricted or blocked, or corrosion can occur from the microorganisms present. It can also result in health problems for the humans that are using it.

The use of a cooling tower water system helps to get rid of this particular problem. When you purchase a good system, it will remove the bacteria, viruses, fungus, and any other organisms that should not be in the water. The cooling system will help the fouling that is a problem with the biological affects in the water to not occur. When these nasty things are removed from the water, it will definitely improve the quality of the water and also the flow of the water through the tower.

You can also find more information on drinking purification and water treatment. eWaterTreatmentSystems.com is a comprehensive resource for water treatment with information on reviews, reverse osmosis and how it works.

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What is Cooling Tower Target Nozzle?

Target nozzles are very important device for a cooling tower. A target nozzle looks like the image attached. That is a "Counterflow Nozzle Orifice" (sizes available from 1/2" - 1 1/2). A target nozzles function is to sprinkle the warm cooling water to increase its surface area (for heat transfer with air) before it goes down from the deck to the water basin. It is usually an injection molded polypropylene unit consisting of two parts—the main body with integral target diffuser and a snap-on insert or orifice cap. A cooling tower deck may have up to 200 or more target nozzles.

All this while I only know this type of target nozzle. After researching in the internet, I found there are various other types of target nozzles.

The first type (left) is a Counterflow Nozzle - 2" NPT Thread, (Orifice sizes 1/2" - 2"); the second (mid) is the a counter-flow down-spray nozzle; Square-Pattern, Full Coverage Type, 1-1/2" Standard Pipe Thread Connection; and the third (right) is a counter-flow up-spray Nozzle, fits 1-13/16" Diameter Hole in PVC pipe. There are more types of target nozzles at CoolingTowerNozzles.com.

To learn more about target nozzles, check out the following sites:
spxcooling.com
ceshepherd.com
coolingtowerresource.com

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Effective Cooling Tower Water Treatment

Whoever deals with a cooling tower will know the importance of effective water treatment system for the cooling tower. The cooling tower need to be protected from biocide, should have the correct pH, the right TDS and so on. I have experienced before a terrible disaster where my cooling tower were contaminated with oil due to a leaking heat exchanger. As a result a combination of heat exchanger isolation, massive blow down and effective chemical treatment is required.

The following article is about a cooling tower expert from Phoniex explaining the effective cooling tower water treatment.

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Here in the Phoenix metropolitan area, adverse water conditions require intelligent water treatment strategies to adequately maintain water cooled equipment. Proper management of the characteristics of the cooling tower sump water along with maintaining good tower hygiene in general accomplishes at least four positive things.

1) It avoids wasting excess water.

2) It inhibits scale formation.

3) It controls biological growth.

4) It reduces the corrosion rate of metal parts in the tower.

Let's discuss how a cooling tower operates to understand why proper water treatment is important.

Most residents in the valley are familiar with an evaporative cooler. Water from the evaporative cooler sump is circulated by a pump over pads in the evaporative cooler and outside air is drawn through the pads. As the air is drawn through the wet pads some of the water evaporates and cools the air. The cooler air is then circulated into the space where cooling is desired. In the process of cooling the air, the water being recirculated across the pads is also cooled.

That is exactly the same principle being employed in the cooling tower, but on a much grander scale. Rejecting large quantities of heat from a building's mechanical system requires a lot of water to be evaporated. For example, a one hundred ton water cooled chiller operating at full capacity for 24 hours would require the evaporation of more than four thousand gallons of water. That brings us to the subject of the characteristics of the make up water. Make up water is the water supply that replaces the water being evaporated in the cooling tower.

Here in the metro area, water conditions vary widely because our water comes from several different wells as well as surface sources. The water quality may change rapidly over a short period of time because different sources are utilized for the water supply. Each well has different water characteristics and they often vary widely from one side of town to the other. Water that comes from surface sources, like the Central Arizona Project will usually have significantly different characteristics than well water. Surface water quality may also be influenced by weather conditions such as drought or increased runoff.

As water evaporates in the cooling tower all of the non-volatile components stay behind in the sump of the cooling tower. There is actually a lot more in water than what we would call hardness (carbonates). There are also chlorides, suspended dust particles and biological microorganisms. As more and more water is added to replenish the water that is being evaporated, these dissolved and suspended components in the sump water continue to accumulate. If no measures are taken to control the concentration of these components in the water, the solution eventually increases in concentration to a point where "stuff" starts coming out of solution. This "stuff" ends up getting deposited on the surfaces that the water comes in contact with.

Have you ever seen an evaporative cooler where the pads haven't been changed for a long while? I've seen them so encrusted with mineral deposits that the blower could no longer pull air through them. I've also seen them produce a bounty of biological growth in the sump water. That is exactly what will happen in a cooling tower without adequate attention to hygiene and an appropriate water treatment strategy.

When solids that are dissolved in water come out of solution they are deposited first on heat exchange surfaces and surfaces where the water is being evaporated. Heat exchangers, water cooled condensers, drift eliminators, the tube bundle in closed circuit cooling towers and the fill in open cooling towers are a few examples of surfaces where this occurs.

Deposition of mineral scale, dirt and biological fouling on any heat exchange surfaces can result in reduced heat transfer, reduced tower efficiency and increased energy costs. While reducing deposition of these is important with regard to the cooling tower, it is absolutely critical to avoid scaling or fouling in the water cooled condenser. Scaling and fouling in the condenser significantly reduces heat transfer capability and will seriously impact energy costs, performance and reliability.

A two part strategy is usually employed to manage the mineral content of the sump water. Part one is to maintain the sump water pH within allowable limits and to feed the correct type and amount of chemicals to help the water keep more of the dissolved solids in solution. Part two is intentionally sending some of the sump water down the drain (blow down). Blow down reduces the highly concentrated mineral content of the sump water by diluting it with the fresh make up water being added to replace the intentionally wasted water.

Biological growth can also become a significant health risk depending on the particular organism involved. Allowing mud and biological growth to accumulate in the sump of a cooling tower can accelerate corrosion of the sump and shorten the life cycle of the cooling tower. It can also provide a haven for microbes to escape the effects of a biocide.

Proper water treatment strategy and good cooling tower hygiene is not a one size fits all solution. The quality of the make up water will require an adjustment of the type of the chemicals and biocide utilized. It may also require changing feed and blow down rates for proper control. In addition, these requirements may be altered by the characteristics of each individual cooling tower installation.

According to Alan Bateman of DB Water Technologies, there are several things a good cooling tower water treatment program should address in order to be effective. They are total dissolved solids (TDS), hardness, pH, chlorides, suspended solids, an appropriate method for biological control and a proper blow down strategy. Each cooling tower manufacturer publishes recommendations for maintaining proper water conditions of the sump water. The advice of a qualified water treatment professional is advised to ensure that each item above is included in your overall strategy for cooling tower water treatment.

Mark Strahan is a 35 year veteran of the HVAC industry and is currently an account manager with Burt-Burnett, Inc., an HVAC mechanical service and EMS controls contractor. Mark can be reached with comments or questions at (480) 557-8593 or strahan@burt-burnett.com

Air Conditioning, Is It Really Necessary?

The advent of air conditioning has brought countless benefits to the world; human comfort being probably the main benefit we think of whenever we talk about air conditioning. The hot summer season spells inconvenience and a lot of sweat at work and at home without air conditioning. On the other hand, the coming of winter signifies torment with the unbearably frigid temperatures that come along with it if one is without air conditioning.

Most office buildings and industrial plants in most countries of the world have air conditioning facilities installed to provide good working environment for their work forces. In temperate countries, modern premises are well equipped with sufficient air conditioning systems to cool both workers and products, especially when the temperature is high all year round.

An office air conditioning system can provide full control of temperature, dust, humidity and air distribution unlike most home cooling systems. Basically, an office air conditioner resembles a room air conditioner where a refrigerant passes through a cooling coil and refrigeration occurs in a separate unit. Multi-storey office buildings on the other hand require larger units and use water-cooled condensers since air-cooled condensers are often not available. A separate cooling tower is usually included in water-cooled condensers in order to conserve water. The condenser water in the cooling tower is cooled by evaporation into the outside air. Sometimes offices have different temperature requirements for different sections. In cases where different sections demand varying temperature settings, two air ducts are used. One duct carries cool air while the other duct carries warm air. Upon entering a space, air is then mixed to the desired temperature as indicated by the thermostat setting. Since space is valuable in any office building, all possibilities are exhausted in order to save this. That's why duct systems with significantly much higher air velocity and air pressure compared with those used in home systems are being used specifically for office air conditioning.

Today's modern school buildings have been provided with cooling equipment as well. Some building designs expose the indoor environment to the heat of the sun especially during the summer season. There are many one-storey schools with huge east and west glass walls and a lot of solar exposure through the roof and windows. These types of buildings necessitate the use of air conditioning units for effective teaching and learning, especially during the hot and humid months of summer. Studies show that there is a correlation between the use of air conditioning and the significant decline in absenteeism during the hot summer days. There is also inconclusive evidence that points to the decrease in respiratory ailments where air conditioning is used in offices and schools.

Air conditioning, whether to provide cool air during hot weather or warm air during cold weather, has proven to be one of the most valuable discoveries of our time. It has provided us with comfort and ease in our daily lives. Those who work in offices and teachers and students in schools can concentrate on their respective tasks because of the comfort that air conditioning provides. Can you imagine working in your office without it? You might just freak out!

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Air Conditioning

Keeping Cooling Towers and Heat Exchangers Clean

Filtration Systems Can Reduce Maintenance and Downtime.

To strike an interesting analogy, your cooling tower and heat exchanger is what the lungs and heart are to the human body; when either aren't working properly, it effects other parts of the body and your health suffers. Similarly, when your cooling tower and heat exchanger isn't clean, the heat exchange process doesn't work efficiently and the health of your production and process cooling system suffers.

Process cooling systems that rely on cooling towers to dissipate heat from process cooling water accomplish this by drawing massive volumes of air into the cooling tower as the water travels through the fill material on its way back to the basin. Through the natural evaporative process, heat is dissipated from the water before it reaches the water basin from which it is re-circulated through the chiller then through the heat exchanger and back again (kind of like when you sweat while working and letting the air evaporate the perspiration to cool you down). It is important to realize that cooling towers are gigantic air scrubbers that capture all airborne debris that happen to be floating nearby, and if your system doesn't have effective filtration, the debris can clog the fill and get circulated and trapped in the heat exchanger where it can build-up, restrict water flow and cause your process equipment to malfunction due to overheating.

An example of this is illustrated by a major automotive assembly facility that had faced periodic downtime due to their robotic welding systems not holding tolerances and causing quality problems. After the robotic technicians spent several days trying to initially solve the problem, one of the maintenance workers opened the heat exchanger and discovered that it was impacted with cottonwood seed, insects and other debris - flow had been reduced and the robotic equipment was running hot. Now you might be asking yourself, whey didn't they have some sort of filtration equipment? The answer is simple; at the time the facility was built, the ambient conditions in that area didn't require a filtration system. However, as the years went by and the area became more developed and cottonwood tree populations grew, the need eventually surfaced.

The interesting thing to note about this situation is that even though cleaning the heat exchanger got the robotic welding system back on-line and running at peak performance, it didn't solve the problem. In fact, cleaning heat exchangers is like taking a cold capsule to relieve the symptoms of a cold. Unless you treat the root cause of the problem, the cooling system will suffer time and again. The root cause in this case and in most heat exchanger fouling situations is the cooling tower - stop the debris from getting into the cooling tower and it will protect the entire process cooling system including fill, cooling water, chiller and heat exchanger. With the proper filtration technology, your process cooling system will stay clean and running efficiently all season long.

Selecting The Right Filtration System

It is important to realize that optimizing the ecology and operational efficiency of your evaporative cooling system is best accomplished by combining a chemical treatment regimen with some type of filtration. The reason is that chemical treatment specifically targets suspended solids and particulates of 40 microns and below, while filtration systems are designed to stop larger debris, especially the kind that causes system clogging and fouling.

For cooling tower filtration, there are two general technologies: Water Based Systems for which there are a few different variations and Air Intake Filtration Systems. With water-based systems, the choices include basic water strainers that remove debris by simply passing water through a mesh strainer; sand filtration systems that remove debris by passing the water through sand and centrifugal separators that spin the water and remove the debris through centrifugal action. In contrast, Air Intake Filter Systems remove the debris by filtering the air as it is being drawn into the cooling tower, keeping the debris out of the system in the first place. When considering your filtration options, the following questions should be asked.

• What is the cost associated with downtime due to heat exchanger or cooling tower fouling or clogging? (Knowing this will help you justify your filtration system cost)
• What type of debris is most problematic (can you see it or is it microscopic)?
• Specifically what part of the system does the filter protect?
• Which system provides the greatest filtration surface area (this can directly impact frequency of cleaning - the smaller the filter the more frequently it needs cleaning)
• Can the system be installed without shutting down the cooling tower? (If the cooling tower must be shut down for installation, you need to factor lost productivity into the cost of your filtration system if it's not being installed during shutdown periods.)
• What is the cost associated with both the filter and installation?
• How easy is the system to install and maintain?

Answering the above questions will help you to fully understand your options and to make the best choice for your operation.

In the case of the automotive manufacturer, the solution they selected was the Air Intake Filter system. The reason was that they needed a system that would protect their entire process cooling system including fill material, cooling water, chiller and heat exchanger. When they evaluated water-based systems, they discovered that the options provided varying degrees of protection for the chiller and heat exchanger but didn't protect the cooling tower where the root of their problem was. If they had selected a water-based system, their cooling tower would have still drawn airborne debris into both the fill and water where the water filter would have captured the debris before it circulated throughout the system. From a maintenance standpoint, that would have solved the heat exchanger problem but it would have done little to reduce maintenance on the cooling tower. Further, when they compared the cost of water based filtration versus air intake filtration technologies, Air Intake Filtration was found to be the more cost effective approach for their operation.

If you are not currently using a filtration system as part of your process cooling system, then any filtration technology will give you more protection than you have now, however, selecting a solution best suited to your operation requires that you know what kind of debris is the problem and where it is getting into the system. As a rule of thumb, " don't select a small debris solution to solve a large debris problem". Conversely, "don't select a large debris solution to solve a small debris problem". There is clearly a place for both water based filtration and air intake filtration - be sure you're selecting the right filtration for your specific need.

If you are looking to protect only your chiller and heat exchanger from airborne debris, then one of the water-based filtration technologies in combination with a good water treatment program can help you manage the debris that gets into the cooling water. If on the other hand, you're looking for full process cooling system protection, then you should look at Air Intake Filtration - It will stop the debris from getting into your system in the first place.

Air Solution Company developed and patented the first Air Intake Filter specifically engineered to mount to the outside of cooling towers and other HVAC equipment for purposes of stopping the debris before it entered into the system. Since that time, Air Solution Company has been manufacturing and has introduced a variety of other innovative filter systems including its new Fine Mesh Filter which is engineered for use on small and medium size refrigeration coils and machine fan intake housing units. Air Solution Company Randy Simmons is with Air Solution Company, author of articles can be reached at http://www.airsolutioncompany.com

Important Information On The Cooling Tower Water Treatment

When you have chosen to use the cooling tower water treatment system, it is most important to remember to not ignore the maintenance required. The water carries bacterial growth in it whether it flows through the faucet or if it is flowing through a cooling tower. If this water is not treated as soon as possible, it can rust and corrode and deposits will form inside the water treatment equipment. This reason makes the cooling tower water treatment system so very important.

Problems From Not Maintaining The Cool Tower

When you do not keep up the proper maintenance on you cooling tower water system, you will find that many different problems will come up. These problems can include scale formation, corrosion, and biological fouling.

Problems With Scale Formation

Scale is what is formed when wet solids get clogged in the pipes. This scale is made from heat and cold water that contains a very high mineral content. These deposits will continue to build up over time. If these scale deposits start to form on a heat exchange surface, they will eventually clog the passages and slow the system down. The cooling tower can also be affected by the scale deposits. If the deposits block the flow of the basin or fill in the cooling tower, problems arise.

Choosing to use a cooling tower water treatment system will help to stop the problems of scale deposits. It is a very budget friendly way for you to treat the problems you are having but also to lower the maintenance and the cost of maintenance on the cooling tower system itself. The majority of money that is spent each year is on the removal of the scale deposits from the inside.

Inside Corrosion

When metal starts to dissolve, you have what is known as corrosion. Oxidation effects break the metal down significantly. The breakdown will cause the system to degrade at a faster rate than normal. The major point being that when the metal starts to break down, the strength of the metal and the thickness off the metal are reduced. The structure of the metal can no longer stand up to the pressure that it was designed for and pits and craters can form in the metal.

A cooling tower system will help to stop the corrosion from happening. The better of the treatments for corrosion is the ozone treatment. There are also other methods that work just as good.

Problems With Biological Fouling

Problems with biological fouling occur when the water has not been used and left for long periods of time. When the water is left unattended, it has the potential to form bacteria, fungus, algae, and protozoa. The microorganisms will eventually get to large proportions in the water and will cause a biological film to form on the surface of the water. This film is very hard to get rid of. This is what is known as biological fouling.

The biological fouling problems are commonly known to be the worst problem that you can encounter with the cooling tower system. The problems that can occur with biological fouling are low heat transfer, the fill can stop working properly, the water flow can be restricted or blocked, or corrosion can occur from the microorganisms present. It can also result in health problems for the humans that are using it.

The use of a cooling tower water system helps to get rid of this particular problem. When you purchase a good system, it will remove the bacteria, viruses, fungus, and any other organisms that should not be in the water. The cooling system will help the fouling that is a problem with the biological affects in the water to not occur. When these nasty things are removed from the water, it will definitely improve the quality of the water and also the flow of the water through the tower.

You can also find more information on drinking purification and water treatment. eWaterTreatmentSystems.com is a comprehensive resource for water treatment with information on reviews, reverse osmosis and how it works.