WATER

CONTENTS
❏ Water as a utility
❏ Sources of water
❏ Soft water & Hard water
❏ Methods of softening of water
❏ Characteristics of drinking water
❏ Purification of water
❏ Selection of treatment method
❏ Treatment of cooling water
❏ Treatment of boiler feed water (fire water system)
❏ Reverse Osmosis
WATER AS A UTILITY
❏ Water is used in many process operations like chemical reactions, dissolving,
extracting etc. also for general cleaning, sanitation, drinking, fire hydrant etc.
❏ Sources of industrial water: plants own source, municipal corporation.
❏ For larger demands, it is economical for the plant to provide its own water
source: drilled wells, rivers, lakes, dammed streams, etc.
❏ When municipal water is used , the price of water varies strongly with
location, depending upon freshwater availability.
Water as a utility
❏ Process heating – steam
❏ Process cooling – cooling water, chilled water
❏ Process water – water for general use, demineralized water.
 SOURCES OF WATER
❏ Surface Water
❏ Rain water
❏ Purest form of water.
❏ Obtained by natural process of evaporation and condensation.
❏ It dissolves gases like carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc. from the
atmosphere and carries suspended solid particles with it.
❏ River water
❏ River gathers water mostly from rain and some part from spring water.
❏ When water flows over earth’s surface, it dissolves minerals from soil.
❏ River water thus contains dissolved salts like chlorides, magnesium, iron, etc.
❏ It also carries suspended soil particles and organic matter derived from decomposition of
plant and animal bodies.
❏ Lake water
❏ Water stored above earth’s surface.
❏ It contains lower quantities of dissolved salts or minerals than well water, but quantity of
organic matter suspended is quite high.
❏ Lake water can be used directly for domestic and industrial purpose.
❏ Sea water
❏ Most impure form of natural water.
❏ Continuous evaporation of water from surface of sea increases concentration of
dissolved impurities.
❏ Sea water contains about 3.5% of dissolved impurities, out of which about 2.% is sodium
chloride.
❏ Underground Water
❏ A part of rainwater, which reaches earth’s surface or water from river that percolates into the
earth.
❏ Water continues to flow downwards till it meets the hard rock; along with it various mineral
salts, present in the soil, get dissolved in the flowing water.
❏ It retreads upward and may come out in the form of spring.
❏ Spring and well water is generally clear in appearance as it is filtered through soil layers, but
contains considerable quantity of dissolved salts.
❏ Water from well and spring contains more hardness.
❏ Underground water is suitable for domestic use.
❏ Some spring water contains colloidal sulphur and shows medicinal value.
 SOFT WATER & HARD WATER
❏ Soft water
❏ Water which does not contain any of the calcium or magnesium salt dissolved in it is called as soft
water.
❏ Soft water may contain salt like sodium or potassium dissolved in it.

❏ Hard water
❏ Water containing dissolved salts or calcium and magnesium is called as hard water.
❏ Due to presence of these calcium and magnesium salts, hard water cannot produce good lather or
foam with soap.
❏ Hardness in water is that characteristic which prevents the lathering of soap.
❏ A soap is generally a sodium salt of long chain fatty acids such oleic acid, palmetic acid and stearic
acid.
❏ The soap consuming capacity of water is mainly due to reaction of hardness causing calcium and
magnesium ions with soap i.e. sodium salt of long chain fatty acids. They form insoluble salts of
calcium and magnesium soaps which do not have detergent value.
❏ Hard water
❏ The soap consuming capacity of water is mainly due to reaction of hardness causing calcium
and magnesium ions with soap i.e. sodium salt of long chain fatty acids.
❏ They form insoluble salts of calcium and magnesium soaps which do not have detergent
value.

2C17H35COONa + CaCI2 [C17H35COO]2Ca + 2NaCl

Soap Impurity Calcium Serate Salt

2C17H35COONa + MgSO4 [C17H35COO]2Mg + Na2SO4

Soap Impurity Magnesium Serate Salt

❏ Types of Hardness:
❏ Temporary Hardness
❏ Permanent Hardness
❏ Temporary Hardness:
❏ It is the,hardness developed in water due to presence of dissolved bicarbonates of calcium
and magnesium.
❏ The temporary hardness is mostly destroyed by boiling of water.
❏ Due to boiling of water, the bicarbonates are decomposed and formation of insoluble
carbonates or hydroxide take place.

Ca(HCO3)2 CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

Mg(HCO3)2 Mg(OH)2 + 2CO2

❏ The calcium and magnesium carbonate or hydroxide being insoluble in water are deposited at
the bottom and carbon dioxide is vent out and in this way hardness is removed.
❏ Permanent Hardness:
❏ It is the hardness developed in water due to presence of chlorides, sulphates of calcium and
magnesium or other heavy metals.
❏ The hardness developed due to chlorides and sulphates or Salts other than bicarbonate
cannot be removed by boiling.
❏ It requires some chemical process to remove these salts.
❏ Disadvantages of hard water:
❏ Cooking:
❏ The presence of calcium and magnesium salts in water increases the boiling point of
water.
❏ Hence more fuel and time are required for cooking certain food material such as pulses,
beans, peas, etc.
❏ Also tea and coffee prepared in hard water have changed taste and muddy appearance.
❏ The dissolved salts, bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium are developed as
carbonates on the inner walls of water heating container.
❏ These deposits being bad conductor of heat result in overheating of container and so
decreases life.
❏ Drinking:
❏ Hard water is not suitable for drinking because presence of salty impurities have bad effect on
digestion process.
❏ Due to continuous use of hard water for drinking, the possibility of calcium oxalate crystals in
track is increased.
❏ It is possible that some calcium oxalate crystals get accumulated either in kidney or bladder
leading to formation of stones.
❏ Washing:
❏ Hard water if used for washing purposes does not produce lather freely with soap.
❏ It produces white precipitates of calcium and magnesium salts of fatty acids.
❏ The formation of precipitation continues till all the calcium and magnesium salts present in
water are precipitated.
❏ The precipitate formed adheres the fabric cloth giving yellowish spots on ironing.
❏ The presence of salts of iron give stains on cloth.
❏ Bathing:
❏ The hard water does not produce lather with bath soap, but produces precipitate.
❏ The precipitate is deposited on the skin and hairs, which leads to the decrease cleaning
quality of soap and it is wasted.
❏ Textile Industry:
❏ In textile industry, water is used for washing of yarn and.cloth.
❏ If hard water is used, precipitate makes the yam-fabric threads to adhere each other.
❏ During dying process, it does not produce uniform and exact shades of colour.
❏ Iron and magnesium salts produce spots on fabric and spoil the glaze of the fabric.
❏ Paper industry:
❏ The calcium and magnesium salts from hard water react with different chemicals and other
reagents used to provide smooth and shining finish to paper.
❏ It affects the bleaching of paper and uniformity of thickness.
❏ Sugar Industry:
❏ If water containing sulphates, nitrates, alkali carbonates are used in refining of sugar, it creates
difficulties in bleaching and crystallisation of sugar.
❏ The sugar containing calcium and magnesium salts has lower sweetness.
❏ Chemical and Dying industry:
❏ The calcium and magnesium salts on reaction with different chemicals produce undesired
compounds.
❏ This affect the quality of product purity of product and shade of colour.
❏ Similar effects are observed if hard water is used in pharmaceuticals, photography, battery
acid, laundry and similar industries.
❏ Requisite of Industrial Water:
❏ The quality of water required for industries is so variable that some of them install their own
water supply plant. Some industries require specific care e.g.,
❏ Artificial Silk:
❏ The water should be clear, bright and absolutely free from colour.
❏ It should be soft and should contain only a small amount of saline constituents in solution.
❏ Drying:
❏ It should be free iron, colour and turbidity and should have the smaller quantity of the salts.
❏ Paper Industry:
❏ The water must be free from colour, sedimentary matter and traces of iron and manganese.
❏ The saline constituents should be present in such quantity that no appreciable amount is deposited
in the dried paper.
❏ However the water of any quality can be used for the manufacture of coarse brown paper.
❏ Photographic Films:
❏ There should be sufficient supply of pure water which is colourless and absolutely free from
suspended matter and metals such as iron, zinc and manganese
❏ Tanning:
❏ The water should be free from iron and lime salts should be minimum.
❏ Steam raising:
❏ The water should be free from sedimentary matter and should contain little free carbonic acid.
❏ The salts which can easily be removed by heating should be preferably absent.
❏ Calcium and magnesium chlorides should be absent.
 METHODS OF SOFTENING WATER
❏ The process of removing the hardness causing salts from water is called as
softening of water.
❏ Pre-boiling of water:
❏ Generally water feed to boilers is passed through heat exchanger and it is reboiled.
❏ During pre-boiling the dissolved gases are removed.
❏ The bicarbonates of calcium and magnesium causing temporary hardness are decomposed to
insoluble carbonates and are removed from water.

Ca(HCO3)2 CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

Mg(HCO3)2 MgCO3 + H2O + CO2

❏ Lime-Soda process:
❏ This is most widely used method of water softening.
❏ In this process, all the soluble hardness causing impurities are chemically converted into
insoluble precipitate which can be removed by setting or filtration.
❏ In this method, hard water is treated with calculated quantities of slaked lime [Ca(OH)2] and
soda ash [Na2CO3] in reaction tanks provided with stirrer.
❏ A slight excess of lime and soda ash are mixed for fast reaction.
❏ The chemicals and water are mixed using stirrer.
❏ Water gets softened and the precipitates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and magnesium
hydroxide settle down as sludge at the bottom of tank.
❏ To remove suspended particles, water is filtered.
❏ The chemical reactions taking part are as follows:
❏ Lime reacts with free acids to neutralize.
2HCl + Ca(OH)2 CaCl2 + 2H2O
H2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 CaSO4 + 2H2O

❏ Lime removes temporary hardness.

Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O
Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + Mg(OH)2 + 2H2O

❏ Lime removes magnesium, iron and aluminium salts.

MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2
MgSO4+Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4
FeSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Fe(OH)2 + CaSO4
AI2(SO4)3 + 3 Ca(OH)2 2AI(OH)3 + 3 CaSO4
❏ Lime removes carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2O
Ca(OH)2 + H2S CaS + 2H2O

❏ Soda ash reacts with all calcium salt present in water.

CaCl2 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + 2NaCl
CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2SO4

❏ The reaction of lime with calcium and magnesium salts are slow.
❏ They produce very fine particles which require sufficient time for settling.
❏ But water generally obtains large proportion of temporary hardness, which can be effectively removed by
lime.
❏ Lime is cheap and does not introduce new soluble salts to water.
❏ Magnesium hydroxide produced precipitates as insoluble and reaction with calcium salts gives calcium
carbonate precipitate.
❏ These precipitates can be coagulated faster by using coagulating reagent like sodium aluminate or alum.
❏ The precipitates then can be removed by filtration.
❏ Cold lime soda process:
❏ In this method, a calculated quantity of lime and soda ash are mixed with water at room
temperature.
❏ At this temperature, the precipitates formed are very fine and require more time for setting
which may be about 24 hours.
❏ Also it is not possible to remove them completely by filtration.
❏ Some coagulants like alum or sodium aluminate or aluminium sulphate are added to water.
❏ These coagulants hydrolyze to flocculent, gelatinous precipitate of AI(OH)3 which bring
together fine precipitate particles.
❏ Use of sodium aluminate as coagulating agent removes silica and oil present in water.
❏ This process can be carried out in batch and continuous operation modes.
❏ Batch process:
❏ This is also known as intermittent process.
❏ It consists of two tanks used alternately for softening of water.
❏ Each tank is provided with inlets for raw water, inlet for chemicals, outlet for soft water and
outlet for sludge.
❏ It is provided with a mechanical stirrer as shown in figure below.
❏ Raw water and calculated quantities of soda and lime are simultaneously added to tank and
calculated quantity of coagulating reagents is added to tanks, thoroughly mixed by the stirrer.
❏ When the tank is full, reaction is almost complete.
❏ The contents of the tank are kept undisturbed for few hours which allows coagulation and setting of
precipitate.
❏ The clear softened water is collected through a float pipe and sent to filtering unit.
❏ The sludge formed in the tank is removed through sludge outlet.
❏ The tank is washed with water and used for another batch of water.
❏ Conventional type continuous process:
❏ In this process, the raw water and calculated quantities of chemicals are continuously fed from
the top into an inner chamber of vertical circular tank provided with a paddle stirrer.
❏ The raw water and chemicals flowing down the chamber come into close contact because of
continuous stirring and the chemical reaction takes place to soften the water.
❏ The sludge formed settles down to the bottom of the outer chamber from where it is removed
through sludge outlet.
❏ The softened water rising up passes through the fibre filter which removes traces of sludge
and filtered soft water passes through outlet provided for it.
❏ Soft water obtained from cold lime soda process still contains about 50 - 60 ppm. of residual
hardness.
❏ Hot lime soda process:
❏ In this process, raw water is treated with softening chemicals at a temperature of 80oC to 100oC.
❏ At this temperature, the chemical reactions are much faster than in cold process.
❏ Also for the cold soda process, large size storage tanks are essential and process requires some
hours to complete.
❏ The hot lime soda softeners are much faster in operation and require less storage capacity tank.
❏ Elevated temperature accelerates the rate of actual chemical reaction, but reduces the viscosity of
water and increases the rate of aggregation of particles.
❏ Thus, rate of setting and filtration is increased.
❏ The sludge formed settles down rapidly, hence there is no need of adding coagulating reagents.
❏ In this process, the dissolved gases are driven out due to high temperature.
❏ The hot lime soda water softening unit consists of reaction cum setting tank and a filter.
❏ The water softened by hot lime soda process contains residual hardness of about 15 to 30 ppm.
❏ Zeolite or Permutit process:
❏ The name zeolite is used for certain graph of naturally occurring minerals which release their
water by hydration in the form of steam.
❏ The chemical structure of sodium zeolite can be represented as Na2OAl2O3 . SiO2 . H2O
❏ These are capable of exchanging their sodium ions for multivalent ions of calcium and
magnesium present in water.
❏ Hence, zeolites can be used for softening of water for domestic and industrial purpose.
❏ The zeolites are of two types : natural and synthetic.
❏ Natural zeolites:
❏ They are non-porous.
❏ They are obtained from green sand by washing, heating and treatment with caustic
soda.
❏ These are more durable.
❏ e.g. Natrolite [Na2OAl2O, 4SiO2 H2O]
❏ Synthetic Zeolites:
❏ These are porous and possess a gel structure.
❏ These are prepared from solutions of sodium silicate and aluminium hydroxide.
❏ Commercially they are obtained by heating together china clay, feldspar and soda ash
followed by cooling and granulating the resulting mass.
❏ They can also be obtained either from heating solution of sodium silicate and aluminium
sulphate with sodium aluminate or heating solution of just sodium silicate and aluminium
sulphate.
❏ These synthetic zeolites have higher exchange capacity per unit mass than natural zeolites
but are not durable.
❏ The zeolites are now replaced by high capacity resins having greater stability.
❏ The silicate holds sodium ions loosely and can exchange their sodium ions with other such as
Ca++ or Mg++ present in hard water.
❏ Hence when hard water passes through a bed of active granular sodium zeolite, the Ca++ and
Mg++ ions are taken up by zeolite releasing Na+ ions.
 Zeolite structure
● Synthetic zeolites Natural zeolites
❏ The reactions taking place can be represented as

Ca(HCO3)2 + Na2Ze CaZe + 2NaHCO3

Mg(HCO3)2 + Na2Ze MgZe + 2NaHCO3

CaSO4 + Na2Ze CaZe + Na2SO4

MgSO4 + Na2Ze MgZe + Na2SO4

CaCl2 + Na2Ze CaZe + 2NaCl

MgCl2 + Na2Ze MgZe + 2 NaCl

FeCl2 + Na2Ze FeZe + 2 NaCl

Mn(HCO3)2 + Na2Ze MnZe + 2NaHCO3

❏ Regeneration of Zeolites:
❏ Once the zeolite is completely converted to calcium and magnesium zeolites, these zeolites
cannot soften water (i.e. the zeolite is exhausted.)
❏ The zeolite can be regenerated and reused for softening of water.
❏ The supply of hard water is stopped and the exhausted zeolite is reclaimed by treating the bed
with a concentrated brine solution.

CaZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze + CaCl2

MgZe + 2NaCl Na2Ze + MgCl2

❏ The washing containing higher proportion of CaCl2 and MgCl2 is led to drain and regenerated
zeolite is used for softening of hard water.
❏ Zeolite water softener
❏ These are of two types : (a) Gravity type, (b) Pressure type.
❏ Both the units operate on the same principle involving alternate cycle of softening and
regeneration of zeolite.
❏ During softening hard water is passed over sodium zeolite bed when Ca++ and Mg++ ions are
replaced by Na+ from zeolite.
❏ Regeneration process consists of back washing, salting and rising of zeolite bed.
 Demineralized Water
❑ Demineralized water, from which all the minerals have been removed by
ion-exchange, is used where pure water is needed for the process use.
❑ This is also used as boiler feed water.
❑ Mixed and multiple-bed ion-exchange units are used, one resin converting the
cations to hydrogen and the other removing the anions.
❑ With this water with less than 1ppm of dissolved solids can be produced.
❑ Ion- exchange resins:
❏ Ion Exchange Process
❏ Ion exchange resins are insoluble cross-linked long chain organic polymers with a microporous
structure and the functional groups attached to chains are responsible for the ion exchanging
properties.
❏ The resins containing acidic functional group such as - COOH, - SO3H are capable of exchanging their
H+ ions with the cations coming in their contact and the resins containing basic functional group - NH2
= NH2, are capable of exchanging their anion with other anion coming in their contact.
❏ Hence, there will be two types of ion exchanges and ion exchangers in ion exchange process.
❏ Cation exchange resins
❏ Anion exchange resins
❏ Cation exchange resins: These are capable of exchanging cations in water by hydrogen ions. The
resins such as sulphonated coals, tannin formaldehyde represented as RH2 are the examples.Their
exchange reaction with cations can be represented as
RH2 + Ca++ RCa + 2H+
RH2 + Mg++ RMg + 2H+
❏ These cation exchange resins when exhausted can be regenerated, by passing through their bed,
an excess of strong acid solution.
RCa + 2HCl RH2 + CaCl2
RMg + 2HCl RH2 + MgCl2
❏ Anion exchange resins: These are capable of exchanging anion in water by hydraulic ion. The
functional groups in anion exchangers are - N(CH3)2+, OHNH2. The - N(CH3)2+ and - OH groups are
stable and react fast. These exchangers are represented by R(OH)2. Their exchange reaction with
anion can be represented as
R'(OH)2 + SO4 R'SO4 + 2OH
R'(OH)2 + Cl2 R'Cl2 + 2OH
❏ These anion exchangers when exhausted can be regenerated by passing through their bed of
strong alkalies solution.
R'SO4 + 2NaOH R'(OH)2 + Na2SO4
R'Cl2 + 2NaOH R'(OH)2 + 2NaCl
❏ Thus, if hard water is passed first through cation exchange bed and then through anion exchange bed, the
resulting water will be free from both cations and anion i.e. it will be deionized or demineralized water.
❏ The process of deionization consists of passing hard water first through cation exchange bed where all the
cation exchange bed where all the cations like Ca+, Mg++, Na+ are replaced by H+ ions.
RH2 + Ca++ RCa + 2H+
RH2 + Mg++ RMg + 2H+
RH2 + 2Na+ RNa2 + 2H+
❏ Thus sulphates, chlorides, bicarbonates of calcium, magnesium and sodium are converted to the acids
H2SO4, HCl, H2CO3.
❏ The solution is free from cations, but contains acids.
❏ The water is then passed through anion exchange bed where all anions Cl, SO4, CO3 are converted to
water.
R'(OH)2 + H2SO4 R'SO4 + 2H2O
R'(OH)2 + 2HCl R'SO4 + 2H2O
R'(OH)2 + H2CO3 R'CO3 + 2H2O
❏ Thus the water obtained is free from all ions. To make water from dissolved gases like CO2 and O2,
it has to be passed through degasifier.
❏ In gasifier tower, the sides are heated by steam and the tower is connected to vacuum pump.
❏ The higher temperature and lower pressure in tower reduces proportion of CO2 and O2 in water.
❏ The water obtained by this process has hardness less than 2 ppm.
❏ Regeneration of cation and anion exchange resins is carried out when they are exhausted i.e.
almost of the H+ and OH- ions are used up.
❏ The supply of water is stopped and exchanger is regenerated by passing dilute solution of HCl or
H2SO4.
RCa + 2HCl RH2 + CaCl2
❏ The washing containing CaCl2, MgCl2, CaSO4,MgSO4 are drained.
❏ The exhausted anion exchanger is regenerated by treating it with dilute solution of caustic soda.
RCa + 2NaOH R(OH)2 + 2NaCl
❏ The washing containing NaCl is drained.
❏ The deionization processes can be used to purify highly acidic or alkaline waters.
❏ The water obtained can be used in high pressure boilers, manufacture of photographic material,
synthetic rubber, plastics, ceramics, explosives, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, soaps, batteries,
electroplating, oil refining, etc.
❏ But the process is costly.
❏ The equipment and resins as well as regenerating chemicals are costly as compared with ,.olit"
process.
❏ Hence, final water is treated with zeolite or lime soda

(Diagram for the process is provided in the next slide.)

❏ Ion Exchange Process:
❏ Phosphate treatment:
❏ The zeolite process and ion exchange methods remove most of the calcium and magnesium
ions from water.
❏ The traces of these impurities in water may cause scale formation in boiler.
❏ In high pressure boilers, scale formation can be avoided by addition of phosphate to boiler
water.
❏ The soluble phosphates for this purpose are:
Disodium hydrogen phosphate - Na2HPO4
Sodium dihydrogen phosphate - Na2H2PO4
Trisodium phosphate - Na3PO4
Sodium orthophosphate - Na2P2O7

❏ These sodium phosphates react with calcium and magnesium impurities to convert them to
their insoluble phosphate as Ca(PO4), which are deposited and removed as sludge.
❏ This avoids scale formation.
 3CaSO4 + 2Na2PO4 Ca3(PO4)2 + 3Na2SO4

3CaCO3 + 2Na2PO4 Ca3(PO4)2 + 3Na2CO3

❏ For effective phosphate treatment, pH of water should be in the range of 9.5 to 10.5.
❏ Depending on the original pH of water sample, suitable phosphates are used for treatment.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF DRINKING WATER
❏ It should be clear and colourless.
❏ It should be odourless.
❏ It should have pleasant taste.
❏ It should have temperature between 7oC to 20oC.
❏ The turbidity present should be less than 10 ppm.
❏ It should be free from objectionable dissolved salts
❏ It must be free from poisonous or objectionable dissolved salts.
❏ The pH of water should be near about 8.
❏ It should not contain hardness causing ions.
❏ It must be free from all types of diseases causing microorganisms.
❏ The total dissolved solids should be less than 500 ppm.
 PURIFICATION OF WATER
Sr. No. Method Impurities Removed
1 Screening Floating matter, plant bodies, wooden pieces,
animals, etc.
2 Sedimentation Dust and clay particles, insoluble salts, etc.
3 Coagulation Colloidal matter particles of clay, light materials.
4 Filtration Micro-organisms, sand particles.
5 Sterilization Pathogenic bacteria.
 SELECTION OF TREATMENT PROCESS
❏ Factors that should be included in decisions on water treatment processes
include:
❏ Contaminant removal
❏ Source water quality
❏ Reliability
❏ Existing conditions
❏ Process flexibility
❏ Utility capabilities
❏ Costs
❏ Environmental compatibility
❏ Distribution system water quality
❏ Issues of process scale
 COOLING WATER
❑ When process stream requires cooling at high temperatures,various heat recovery techniques
should be considered such as transferring heat to a cooler process stream, raising steam,
preheating boiler feed water etc.
❑ Cooling water is the most commonly used cold utility in the temperature range of 120°C to 40°C.
❑ Air cooling system is preferred where water is expensive or the ambient humidity is too high for the
cooling system to work efficiently.
❑ If the process stream is to be cooled below 40°C, cooling water or air cooling would be used to cool
down upto 40°C to 50°C, followed by chilled water or refrigeration down to the target temperature.
❑ Natural and forced draft cooling towers are generally used to provide cooling water on the site.
❑ The minimum temperature that can be reached with the cooling water depends on ambient
temperature and humidity. (If high then less effective cooling tower)
❑ When cooling tower is not efficient air cooling or refrigeration should be used.
 TREATMENT OF COOLING WATER
❏ The presence of any biological growth can be detrimental to cooling tower operations.
❏ Problems include fouling, corrosion, and loss of efficiency.
❏ These problems can lead to downtime, higher operating cost, and even premature replacement of
equipment.
❏ Microbiological organisms are composed of three classes: algae, bacteria, and fungus.
❏ ALGAE:
❏ The term algae refers to algal, microbiological, tiny, stringy blue and blue-green plants, which
are usually found growing in masses on top of and on sides of cooling towers.
❏ Algae grow only in sunlit areas.
❏ They will slough off and become part of the suspended matter in the circulating water, a
situation which may cause fouling and plugging of water sprays.
❏ Algae also provide a breeding place, and are a nutrient, for bacteria.
❏ BACTERIA:
❏ The term bacteria refers to a large group of one-celled microorganisms.
❏ Bacteria can grow in either the absence or presence of sunlight.
❏ In a cooling water system, one can categorize bacteria as either sessile or planktonic, which are terms
that describe whether the bacteria are, respectively, either free floating or found growing on surfaces
(stickers).
❏ Planktonic bacteria are suspended in the water, sometimes referred to as free floaters or swimmers,
and are aerobic bacteria that thrive in an oxygenated environment. They are not harmful to the cooling
system since they do not cause deposits or corrosion.
❏ Sessile bacteria are stickers, or non-swimming bacteria, and can cause deposits and corrosion.
Sessile bacteria types include slime-formers and anaerobic (corrosive) bacteria.
❏ Slime-formers can grow and form gelatinous deposits on almost any surface in contact with the
cooling water. These deposits can grow so large that they restrict water flow and interfere with
heat transfer; they also may promote under-deposit corrosion. Feeling the sides of the cooling
tower basin just below the water level is one way to detect the presence of slime-formers.
Usually if there are slime formers in the system, you can feel deposits.
 ❏ Anaerobic bacteria thrive in oxygen-deprived environments and often establish colonies beneath slime
deposits or under other types of deposits. One type of anaerobe is sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB),
which produce hydrogen sulfide, a chemical that is very corrosive to metals. This type of corrosion
attack is very localized and can result in pipe and tube failures. The presence of SRB should be
suspected in a water system if the underside of a slime layer is black or if you detect the odor of rotten
eggs. Any type of microbiological corrosion is referred to as microbiologically influenced corrosion
(MIC). Bacteria cause most of the MIC found in cooling water systems.

❏ FUNGI:
❏ The term fungi refers to classes of organisms made up of molds and yeasts, some of which attack
and cause wood decay in cooling towers.
❏ The control of fungi requires special preservative treatment of wood.
❏ Fungi also produce deposits in cooling water equipment.
❏ MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTROL:
❏ The term microbiological control refers to techniques used to minimize the presence of
microbiological organisms in cooling water.
❏ Chemical biocide treatment is the method used on many installations for microbiological
control in cooling water.
❏ Biocides that are used to control microbiological growth fall into one of two broad categories:
oxidizing and non-oxidizing micro-biocides.
❏ A cost-effective approach for control involves the regular use of oxidizers as a primary biocide,
augmented by selective use of non-oxidizing biocides.
❏ Important factors for the effectiveness of any biocide include using a proper dosage and
allowing adequate contact time with the microbiological organisms.
❏ Typical micro-biocides used in industries are namely chlorine, bromine, ozone, chlorine
dioxide, peroxide, etc.
❏ All micro-biocides are toxic and must be handled safely and with caution; use the MSDS for
safety instructions.
COOLING WATER SYSTEM
 TREATMENT OF BOILER FEED WATER
❏ For industries using a boiler for its facility, some type of boiler feed water treatment system is usually
necessary to ensure an efficient process and quality steam generation.
❏ The most appropriate boiler feed water treatment system will help the facility avoid costly plant
downtime, expensive maintenance fees, and boiler failure as a result of scaling, corrosion, and
fouling of the boiler and downstream equipment.
❏ A boiler feed water treatment system is a system made up of several individual technologies that
address your specific boiler feed water treatment needs.
❏ Ensuring the correct treatment is implemented before problems such as fouling, scaling, and
corrosion occur, will go a long way in avoiding costly replacements/upgrades down the line.
 TREATMENT OF BOILER FEED WATER
❑ An efficient and well-designed boiler feed water treatment system should be
able to:

Efficiently treat boiler feed water and remove harmful impurities prior to entering the boiler

Promote internal boiler chemistry control

Maximize use of steam condensate

Control return-line corrosion

Avoid plant downtime and boiler failure

Avoid plant downtime and boiler failure

❏ A basic boiler feed water treatment system typically includes some type of:
❏ Filtration/ultrafiltration
❏ Ion exchange/softening
❏ Membrane processes such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration
❏ Deaeration/degasification
❏ Coagulation/chemical precipitation
❏ Depending on the impurities present in your water, any combination of these treatments might best
suit your facility and make up your treatment system, and depending on the needs of your plant and
process, these standard components are usually adequate.
❏ A boiler feed water treatment system might be made up of the technologies necessary to remove
problematic dissolved solids, suspended solids, and organic material, including any number of the
following:
❏ Iron: either soluble or insoluble, iron can deposit on boiler parts and tubes, damage
downstream equipment, and affect the quality of certain manufacturing processes.
❏ Copper: can cause deposits to settle in high-pressure turbines, decreasing their efficiency and
requiring costly cleaning or equipment change-outs.
❏ Silica: if not removed to low levels, especially in high-pressure boilers, silica can cause extremely
hard scaling.
❏ Calcium: can cause scaling in several forms depending on the chemistry of the boiler feed water
(e.g. calcium silicate, calcium phosphate, etc.).
❏ Magnesium: if combined with phosphate, magnesium can stick to the interior of the boiler and coat
tubes, attracting more solids and contributing to scale.
❏ Aluminum: deposits as scale on the boiler interior and can react with silica to increase the likelihood
of scaling.
❏ Hardness: also causes deposits and scale on boiler parts and piping.
❏ Dissolved gasses: chemical reactions due to the presence of dissolved gases such as oxygen and
carbon dioxide can cause severe corrosion on boiler pipes and parts.
BFW TREATMENT PLANT
 REVERSE OSMOSIS
❏ Reverse Osmosis is a water purification technology.
❏ The most common use of RO is to reduce the water hardness and eliminate contaminants like fluoride,
arsenic, and lead.
❏ Reverse Osmosis is a technology that is used to remove a large majority of contaminants from water by
pushing the water under pressure through a semipermeable membrane.
❏ In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure a colligative property.
❏ That is driven by chemical potential differences of the solvent, a thermodynamics parameter.
❏ Reverse osmosis can remove many types of dissolved and suspended species from water, including
bacteria, and is used in both industrial processes and the production of potable water.
❏ The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is
allowed to pass to the other side.
❏ To be selective, this membrane should not allow large molecules or ions through the pores(holes), but
should allow smaller components of the solution (such as solvent molecules) to pass freely.
❏ Below is a diagram outlining the process of Reverse Osmosis.
❏ When pressure is applied to the concentrated solution, the water molecules are forced through the
semipermeable membrane and the contaminants are not allowed through.
❏ WORKING PRINCIPLE OF REVERSE OSMOSIS
❏ Reverse Osmosis works by using a high pressure pump to increase the pressure on the salt side of
the RO and force the water across the semipermeable RO membrane, leaving almost all (around 95%
to 99%) of dissolved salts behind in the reject stream.
❏ The amount of pressure required depends on the salt concentration of the feed water.
❏ The more concentrated the feed water, the more pressure is required to overcome the osmotic
pressure.
❏ The desalinated water that is de-mineralized or deionized, is called permeate (or product) water.
❏ The water stream that carries the concentrated contaminants that did not pass through the RO
membrane is called the reject (or concentrate) stream.
❏ As the feed water enters the RO membrane under pressure (enough pressure to overcome osmotic
pressure) the water molecules pass through the semipermeable membrane and the salts and other
contaminants are not allowed to pass and are discharged through the reject stream (also known as the
concentrate or brine stream), which goes to drain or can be fed back into the feed water supply in some
circumstances to be recycled through the RO system to save water.
❏ The water that makes it through the RO membrane is called permeate or product water and usually has
around 95% to 99% of the dissolved salts removed from it.
❏ It is important to understand that an RO system employs cross filtration rather than standard filtration where
the contaminants are collected within the filter media.
❏ With cross filtration, the solution passes through the filter, or crosses the filter, with two outlets: the filtered
water goes one way and the contaminated water goes another way.
❏ To avoid buildup of contaminants, cross flow filtration allows water to sweep away contaminant build up and
also allow enough turbulence to keep the membrane surface clean.
REVERSE OSMOSIS PLANT
 SOURCES:
❏ Plant Utilities by D. B. Dhone.
❏ Microbiological and Corrosion Control in Cooling Water Systems by J. Paul Guyer.
❏ All You Need to Know About Boiler Feed Water Treatment, a publication of SAMCO technologies.
❏ http://puretecwater.com/reverse-osmosis/what-is-reverse-osmosis