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Prevent Contamination and Corrosion in Demineralized Water Storage Tanks Using Nitrogen
Sparging and Blanketing
38
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The electric power generation industry relies heavily on demineralized and deionized water
during process operations. Managing the water supply is critical not only under normal
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When scheduled or unscheduled outages occur, many boiler and pre-boiler systems are
drained. After the outage, they are refilled with water that has been held in large storage
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tanks and is therefore aerated, typically with high concentrations of dissolved carbon dioxide,
carbonates, and oxygen. When aerated water is introduced at startup, components can get
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corroded, thereby harming the boiler system. Many demineralized water storage tanks are
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dosed with ammonia and hydrazine to reduce the oxygen content. These mitigation practices,
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however, increase by about 10 times the concentration of carbonate due to the formation of
ammonium carbonate.
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pure nitrogen into the water tanks and maintain a protective layer of nitrogen. In other words,
nitrogen sparges the water to remove any dissolved oxygen and CO2, and humid air in the
headspace of the tankcontaminated with oxygen and CO2is replaced by pure, inert
nitrogen. This may be maintained by a precise valve-control system that automatically adjusts
the nitrogen content to maintain the protective blanket as the tank is filled or emptied, or by
simply having a continuous purge of low-pressure nitrogen.
Typically, when a water tank is sparged, sintered stainless steel plates or rods, called sparging
elements, are used to purge the water on a continuous basis. Advantages of nitrogen
sparging and blanketing are many. First and foremost, by filling the boiler and feedwater
system with deaerated water with low concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide,
corrosion and iron and copper oxide scale are minimized. Furthermore, faster startups are
possible because of less iron and copper. These practices also reduce energy costs because
they eliminate auxiliary steam for deaerators, and they eliminate storage tank contamination.
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There are four ways industrial plants may obtain nitrogen. The nitrogen can be received from
a supplier as a gas in high-pressure cylinders, received as a liquid in microbulk tanks (dewars),
received as a liquid delivered to bulk liquid tanks, or produced on demand at the facility.
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High-pressure cylinders typically do not contain enough nitrogen for sparging and would
need to be replaced often. Microbulk tanks may contain enough nitrogen for sparging, but
they continuously evaporate nitrogen and would need to be regularly replaced. Bulk delivered
nitrogen is transported by tanker truck and stored in a large insulated vessel mounted to a
poured concrete slab and protected by a fence. The generating company would typically need
to pay for the slab and fence, but the gas company usually owns the tank.
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Delivered nitrogen requires very little maintenance and creates the perception that there is an
endless supply. Gas companies offer five-year delivery contracts, ensuring a steady source of
nitrogen. However, these contracts do not guarantee price, and cancellations are often
required one year in advance.
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Alternatively, nitrogen can be created by pressure swing adsorption nitrogen generators for
an electrical cost of about $0.15/ccf (hundred cubic feet) versus delivered nitrogens cost of at
least $0.70/ccf (prices vary depending on servicecylinders or dewarsand distance from
efficiency/)
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supply). One thing to consider in cold climates is that an on-site nitrogen generator must
usually be installed in a weather-protected area and may take up indoor space, so site
planning is a must.
Nitrogen generators are capable of producing up to 99.999% pure compressed nitrogen at
dew points to 70F from nearly any compressed air supply. The generators are designed to
continually transform standard compressed air into nitrogen at safe, regulated pressures
without operator attention, thereby eliminating unexpected shutdowns due to bad or
empty cylinders. It should also be noted that in order to comply with the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) corrosion prevention specification CRTD-66, systems must
generate nitrogen of at least 99.6% purity.
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Such generators also use high-efficiency pre-filtration to remove all contaminants down to
0.01 micron from the compressed air stream. The filters are followed by dual-pressure vessels
filled with carbon molecular sieve (CMS). In one vessel at operating pressure, the CMS
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adsorbs oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. The other vessel, operating at low pressure,
releases the captured oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water.
Cycling the pressures in the CMS vessels causes all contaminants to be captured while letting
the nitrogen pass through the online vessel and contaminants to be released to regenerate
the CMS in the standby vessel. A final sterile-grade filter ensures removal of any microbial
contamination, which is important to prevent microbial growth in the boiler feedwater.
Nitrogen purities can be set with a flow control valve. Reducing the flow increases purity,
while increasing flow decreases purity.
On-site nitrogen generators are typically freestanding, housed in a cabinet, or skid-mounted.
They come as complete packages with pre-filters, final filters, and a nitrogen buffer tank. They
are also simple to install, maintain, and operate. The plant only needs to connect a standard
compressed air line to the inlet of the generator (after ensuring that a sufficient supply of
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the water into the generator in the event compressed air is lost. A check valve may be used,
but a more reliable method is to run a vertical leg above the level of the water overflow pipe
(the highest water level in the tank) and then back down again into the nitrogen generator.
With this plumbing configuration, if the compressor goes down, water in the line would only
archive/)
rise as high as the level of the water in the tank. Therefore, water would not flow back into the
generator and cause damage to the generator (Figure 3).
July 24, 2015
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3. Typical sparging system. Extending the vertical riser above the highest possible liquid level in the tank
prevents backflow into the nitrogen generator. Source: Parker Hannifin Corp.
(http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/638518.ht
However, theres more to installation than simply running a nitrogen line to the overflow. To
get the real benefit, the water would have to be purged with nitrogenrequiring a
(http://transportationandstorage.energy-
business-review.com/news/engie-signsliquefied-natural-gas-deal-with-kansaielectric-220715-4631126)
(http://utilitiesretail.energy-business-
lockout/tagout procedure for any confined space should be to physically isolate the source of
review.com/news/sagemcom-to-deliver-
nitrogen from all downstream piping. This is typically accomplished using a spool piece in the
electricity-and-natural-gas-smart-metering-
piping that can be easily removed prior to maintenance and reinstalled following completion.
Nitrogen should never be added to a confined space that will later be entered by plant
Besides following strict confined space procedures where nitrogen is concerned, part of the
system-230715-4631114)
personnel during an outage. Nitrogen should only be used where the equipment is left full of
business-review.com/news/duke-energy-
acquires-20mw-shawboro-solar-power-plant
-in-carolina-220715-4631119)
Handling and working around nitrogen requires several precautions to ensure safety. The
following come courtesy of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board:
Use ventilation systems, retrieval systems, and atmospheric monitoring equipment, and
50mw-solar-power-plant-in-china-220715-
train workers how to use them and how to determine when they are not working properly.
4631125)
Massachusetts (http://solar.energy-business
-review.com/news/sunedison-build-solarpower-plant-in-massachusetts-2207154631118)
Implement good hazard communication, including information on safe handling of air and
nitrogen delivery systems.
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Prevent Contamination and Corrosion in Demineralized Water Storage Tanks Using Nitro... Page 5 of 7
Establish mandatory safety practices and procedures for entry into confined spaces, such as
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Ensure workers take precautions when working around equipment that may contain
elevated levels of nitrogen.
727143/)
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2015/07/26/earth
-to-environmentalists-celebrate-floridas-turn
-to-natural-gas/)
Training should cover new and revised procedures for confined space entry and should
INDUSTRY PRESS
be trained.
With proper safeguards in place, nitrogen sparging and blanketing practices offer a method
to ensure high-purity demineralized water is maintained at power plants. The choice between
on-site nitrogen generation and relying on a gas supplier should be investigated based on the
advantages and disadvantages presented in this article. Whatever the choice, only safe system
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David J. Connaughtonis product manager for the Filtration and Separation Division of Parker
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