Oxygenated Treatment

OT, which was described in chapter 2, is basically a feedwater treatment. Its

effectiveness in boilers stems from the fact that OT greatly reduces iron transport. This is
quite important, as iron oxide usually makes up the bulk of boiler tube deposits. European
utilities that have been using OT for a long time have found that chemical cleanings have
been significantly reduced. This provides a great economic incentive, when one considers
that the recommended chemical clean- ing frequency of a supercritical unit is every 18
months.
Case History 3-4 provides some specific details on the startup and initial observations
of an OT program at a supercritical steam generating unit. An important point to remember
is that the oxide layer formed in an OT program is orange in color. This can come as a
surprise when plant personnel open up a feedwater system after initiating oxygenated
treatment.
OT is currently being tested in one drum boiler in the United States. The program has
been in progress for over three years and results so far seem to be promising. Iron transport
has definitely been lowered. Look for this treatment to be tested in other drum boilers.
The concept of oxygenated treatment can be difficult to accept, especially con- sidering that for years all
of the chemistry manuals emphasized removal of oxygen from boiler feedwater. However, positive
reports about the treatment are proliferat- ing. OT has even been recommended for circuits in heat
recovery steam generators.