Water conditioning for industrial purposes

If water as it occurs in nature were “pure” water and nothing else, there would be no need for water analysis
and water conditioning. Whatever the source, water always contains impurities in solution or suspension. It is
the determination of these impurities that makes water analysis necessary and the control of these impurities
that makes water conditioning essential.
Water, used directly in an industrial process, is classified as industrial water. The use of water in steam
generating boilers (for example) is an obvious industrial use. Cooling water, either on a once-through basis or
with cooling towers, is a prominent industrial use. Water is essential to large air conditioning systems.
What is industrial water conditioning?
To many people, Industrial water conditioning is shrouded in an air of mystery. Much of this confusion is due
to the lack of understanding of what industrial water conditioning is- and what it is supposed to accomplish.
Basically, industrial water conditioning embraces the broad field of “Fitting Water to the Job”. It has two
purposes which are
 First, it involves removing or minimizing the undesirable characteristics of water, such as removing
hardness by softening to avoid scale.
 Second, it involves adding desirable properties to water, such as adding phosphate ion to give
corrosion inhibitory properties.

Similarity between water softener and water conditioner

Water conditioners and water softeners are both used to address the common problem of water hardness.
Hard water is water that is rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium and silica. These minerals can cause
serious problems for heat-exchange surfaces, pipes and water fixtures throughout your home and business.
Over time, pipes could become completely clogged by scale buildup. When lime scale builds up on a heating
element, it insulates it and prevents it from doing its job efficiently. Hard water can cause ongoing, everyday
problems, too. It's no wonder that homeowners and businesses alike want to find a way to combat this issue.

Difference between water softener and water conditioner

The confusion about the two systems brings the questions like “Is a water conditioner the same as a water
softener?”
The difference between a water softener and a water conditioner is
that the conditioner will alter hard water minerals, but doesn't remove
them. A water conditioner will reduce scale but a water softener will
eliminate scale from calcium and magnesium by using salt in the
regeneration cycle
Water softening is the removal of Ca, Mg and certain other metal
cations in hard water. So TDS increases but calcium hardness decreases. The presence of certain metal ions
like Ca and Mg principally as bicarbonates, chlorides and sulfates in water causes a variety of problems. Hard
water leads to the buildup of lime scale, which can foul plumbing, and promote galvanic corrosion. In
industrial scale water softening plants, the effluent flow from the re-generation process can precipitate scale
that can interfere with sewage systems.
Water conditioner is not a softener or filter. A conditioner helps to minimize the adverse effects of many of
the undesirable substances in water. Water conditioning aims to address three major issues that are present
in most water sources such as lime-scale, bacteria and algae. These problems can cause a whole host of issues
in water systems, including on the insides of pipes, on heat exchangers, on fixtures and more.

When it comes to the issue of hard water, a traditional water softener actually removes calcium, magnesium
and silica ions, leaving it with small quantities of what is known as “temporary hardness”. The softener
replaces these ions with salt through a process called ion exchange.
A water conditioner, on the other hand, is a more innovative solution that manipulates the way, the hardness
minerals in a liquid solution behave. The result is that they are still present, but they don't build up on
surfaces and cause problems. Since calcium, magnesium and silica are healthy minerals to humans and other
animals, keeping them in the water is a great advantage, as long as they aren't damaging your plumbing
system.
While both water softeners and water conditioners are designed to address the
problem of water hardness in some way, a water conditioner typically tackles other
water issues too, such as biological contaminants, including bacteria and algae,
which can collect on surfaces. When these substances build up, it is referred to as
biofilm. A water softener alone is not designed to address the issue of biofilm but
only scale.
 Note that "water conditioner" is often used as a fairly broad term that may refer to
any type of water purification or treatment system. There are different methods of
conditioning water, but the result should be a liquid solution that does not allow
buildup of any kind to damage the plumbing system.

Water Softener Working

A water softener typically removes excess minerals from water through a process called ion exchange. To
understand this process, you need to first understand that minerals are ionic. In other words, they are
electrically charged. It's also important to understand that ions of opposite charge are attracted to each other.
Minerals such as calcium and magnesium both have a positive charge. Sodium, the mineral that water
softeners use to replace hardness ions, also has a positive charge, so none of these ions are attracted to each
other. However, sodium's charge is weaker than that of calcium and magnesium. If ions aren't attracted to
each other, how can an exchange take place? There is one other crucial element needed to make the process
work: a resin bed consisting of lots of tiny, negatively-charged beads.
The salt added to a water softener clings to these beads since opposites attract. Then, when the calcium and
magnesium-rich water flows through the water softener, the negatively-charged resin attracts the positively-
charged ions of calcium and magnesium. Since these ions
have a stronger positive charge than sodium ions, the
sodium ions get displaced and are exchanged for calcium
and magnesium. The water that flows out of the tank now
contains dissolved sodium chloride (salt) instead of
dissolved calcium or magnesium, resulting in water which is
called “soft water”.  To keep this process up, you have to
periodically add bags of salt to the water softener. This
recharges the beads, so the ion exchange process can
continue to work.
Some of the downsides of this process are that it wastes
water since the excess minerals need to be flushed out and
requires the addition of salt every so often to keep it going. This represents an ongoing maintenance task as
well as a financial cost. It also makes this type of water treatment less environmentally-friendly and unhealthy
to humans and other animals.

Water Conditioner Working and their affects on water

There are different kinds of water conditioners. They use various methods to create a catalytic reaction that
changes the way minerals and biological contaminants behave in a liquid solution. The end goal is to keep this
matter from building up on surfaces and causing serious issues like biofouling and scale buildup.
 The exact way a water conditioner achieves this depends on what type of conditioner it is and what the
system is capable of. The goal may be to reduce the formation of lime scale, to slow the rate of scaling or to
change the makeup of the scale so that it precipitates and doesn't adhere to surfaces at all.
 No matter how a water conditioner manipulates the behavior of minerals, they all have some key things in
common. Conditioners, as opposed to traditional water softeners, do not actually remove mineral ions, but
they do prevent those ions from building up around the insides of pipes, on the heating element, nozzles, and
plumbing fixtures. This solves one of the major problems hard water presents without adding salt. This is why
you'll sometimes hear water conditioners referred to as "no-salt softeners”. This water treatment option is
preferable for many people since water conditioners tend to be much lower maintenance and lower cost than
traditional water softeners and do not add sodium to the water.
 Another advantage of the water conditioning process is that it can address biological contaminants, as well.
Water conditioners can break up biofilm so that it doesn't adhere to surfaces. Some conditioners can even
deactivate these biological contaminants.

Types of water conditioners on the basis of source

On the basis of source, water conditioners are divided into two groups:
 External water conditioners  Internal water conditioners
External water conditioners or External Treatment
This phase of industrial water conditioning has many names. Whatever it is called, it means doing something
to water to make it more suitable for its intended application before it reaches the point of use.
External treatment usually requires the use of equipment, which may include hot or cold process lime-soda
softeners, zeolite, and other ion exchange systems; de-aerators, filters, clarifiers, etc. Such equipment used
for the purpose of reducing hardness and alkalinity, eliminating dissolved oxygen, and for the removal of
suspended solids. Regardless of the purity of the water provided by the use of such equipment, additional
chemical treatments normally are required for complete protection against scale, corrosion and a host of
other potential sources of trouble.
Internal water conditioners or Internal Treatment
Like external treatment, this phase of industrial water conditioning is known by several names. In this case, it
means doing something to water at the point of use to make it suitable for its intended application.
In boiler water systems, the objective of internal treatment is to make possible the control of scale formation
and corrosive action. It may also be necessary to use internal chemical treatment to prevent return line
corrosion due to dissolved gasses liberated in the boiler system. Internal chemical treatment is used also in
cooling water systems for the prevention of scale and corrosion, as well as conditions brought about by
biological growths. Proper application of internal treatment results in improved heat transfer by eliminating
these insulating deposits.
There are cases where internal chemical treatment is used in the solution of specific water problems other
than in boiler and cooling systems. Water conditioning is in many respects unlike any other field of
engineering. It demands an unusual variety of talents including those of the chemical, mechanical, corrosion,
and sanitary engineer, microbiologist, physical chemist, and bacteriologist. An Industrial Water Treatment
Company provides these services.
Types of water conditioners on the basis of nature
There are two types of water conditioners
 Physical conditioners  Chemical conditioners
As name depicts physical conditioners do not change chemical nature of materials, whereas chemical
conditioners affects chemical nature of materials. 
Physical water Conditioners
Physical treatment for water Conditioning includes
 Magnetism  Template-Assisted Crystallization (TAC)
 Electromagnetism  Electrical Induction
 Electrolysis
Magnetism
Some conditioners use magnets to create a magnetic field in your water that affects the way the hardness
ions behave. Normally, these ions are prone to forming clusters that stick to surfaces, but the magnetism is
intended to make them less likely to do this by changing the shape of the clusters.
Electromagnetism
This method is similar to using magnetism, but in this case, there is a source of electricity. Electromagnetic
conditioners have the same disadvantages as magnetic ones. Their only advantage over traditional magnetic
conditioners is that you can turn off the signal if need be.
Electrolysis
This method uses what is essentially a battery. Metal electrodes are immersed in the water and release
positive zinc ions, which also release electrons that move through the wire to the cathode. This process
eventually ceases when the zinc anode dissolves. When this conditioner is exhausted, it will no longer affect
your water, and you may not know this has occurred until the hard water has caused damage.
Template-Assisted Crystallization (TAC)
This method uses resin beads as a catalytic nucleation site where hardness mineral ions are changed into a
stable crystalline form that will not cling to surfaces. These crystals are microscopic and flow normally through
the water. Unlike with a softener that uses ion-exchange, this tank of resin beads does not require ongoing
regeneration.
Electrical Induction
 An electrical current can also be used to precipitate water hardness. This precipitate typically forms on an
electrode that requires periodic cleaning. The precipitate can create a layer of sludge on some surfaces.
However, this sludge can be easily removed by fast flowing water.

Chemical water conditioners

Some water treatment methods change the chemical makeup of water rather than manipulating the way of
ionic behavior. You may hear these treatment methods referred to as water conditioners, but they use
chemicals to treat the water and are not physical conditioners. A water softener that uses ion exchange is one
example of a chemical treatment process. Some other examples of chemical treatment methods include:
 Chelation  Clark's Process  Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Chelation
It is a method to introduce a chemical compound that acts as a chelating agent. Magnesium and calcium bind
to this chelating agent and remain suspended in the water rather than building up on surfaces. However, if
they remain in one place for long, as they might in a water heater, the buildup
could still occur.
Clark's Process
This process is also called lime softening. Calcium hydroxide, also called
limewater, is added to water, which causes the hardness ions to precipitate. The
alkalinity of the water is raised above 9.6, so carbon dioxide must be added to re-carbonate the water and
bring the pH back down.
In Clark's process, slaked lime, Ca(OH) 2 is added to temporary hard water. Insoluble calcium carbonate
precipitates out and no longer produces hardness.
Clark's process involves the addition of a controlled quantity of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide)
Ca(HCO3)2(aq) + Ca(OH)2(aq) → 2CaCO3(s) + 2H2O(l)
Mg(HCO3)2(aq) + Ca(OH)2(aq) → CaCO3(s) + MgCO3(s) + 2H2O(l)
Slaked lime is itself a source of calcium ions (and hence hardness) so care must be taken to avoid adding an
excess.

Reverse Osmosis (RO)

With reverse osmosis,
pressure forces water to pass through a semi-permeable membrane that
takes unwanted ions, molecules, and larger particles out of the water. RO
requires ongoing filter replacements, which can become costly. Acid is
usually introduced in order to reduce the fouling of this system.

Assignment
What is the basic difference
between water softening and water conditioning?

References:
Powell, S. T. (1954). Water conditioning for industry . McGraw-Hill Companies.
Berne, C. (1995). Industrial Water Treatment in Refineries and Petrochemical Plants . Gulf Professional
Publishing.