Water Log
Quarterly Newsletter for the Global Technical Expertise Center
IN THIS ISSUE
What’s New in Waste
Treatment....................................1-4
Evaluation of Filter Aid
Treatments for Media Filters...1-3
New Metals Removal
Technology................................4
What’s New in Boiler
Water Applications....................5-11
Optimum Boiler Cycle of
Concentration.........................5-7
A Professional View of
Boiler Chemical Cleaning.....8-10
What’s New - Continuing
Progress in Alkaline
Boil-out Procedures............10-11
What’s New in Cooling Water
Applications............................12-14
Why Stainless Steel Stains
Part 2..................................12-14
Galvanized Steel and
White Rust..........................14-17
Did you KNOW THIS...................17
What’s New in Membranes........18-21
The Perils of Peroxide............18-19
Considerations for RO
System Quotations..................19
Examples of Integrated
Solutions Success..............20-21
Knowledge Management...........22-24
Finding Product Information...22-24
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
An Ecolab Company
No. 10, January 2013
What’s New in Waste Treatment
EVALUATION OF FILTER AID TREATMENTS FOR MEDIA FILTERS
By Miguel Videl, PAC-1 Sales Accelerator, EMEA; F. Reigosa, District Rep. III, EMEA;
H.Taouani, Account Manager, EMEA, and Jeroen Koppes, Innovation & Solution
Manager – Wastewater, EAME
Introduction
Media filter efficiency is critical to downstream operations such as Reverse
Osmosis (RO), demineralizers and many manufacturing processes. RO
systems are particularly susceptible to fouling from small suspended solids
because membrane systems are designed to remove dissolved solids from
water and they are intolerant of significant concentrations and sizes of
suspended solids. Membrane fouling from suspended solids can result in
reduced permeate flow, lower flux rates and higher pressures. If allowed to
progress without corrective action, RO membranes can be damaged, resulting
in significant capital expense for new membranes.
Fouling in RO systems is most often due to the inefficiencies of the media filter
that is upstream of the RO. While coagulants can significantly improve the filter
efficiency, evaluation of treatment products is usually very difficult due to the
very low solids loading and small particle sizes commonly encountered in raw
water.
The direct filtration test procedure can be used to provide information to identify
the best treatment program for filters. However, if an evaluation is required to
produce water for a Silt Density Index (SDI) test, then a larger volume of water
is needed and a pilot filter test would need to be run. Examples of these test
procedures and how they can be used to generate data are presented below.
Background
Media filters are used in water treatment to remove suspended solids in the
5 to 50 ppm concentration range. Conventional media filters are limited in the
particle size range where they are most effective. Thus, Multimedia Filters
(MMF) are often used in applications where a broad range of particle sizes
need to be removed from the water.
MMF can efficiently remove particle sizes down to 10-15 microns and some-
times smaller depending on the media used in the filter. Suspended particles
in the range of about 0.5 to 2-microns are most problematic in RO systems
and require coagulant treatment to shift the particle size up where the filter can
remove them from the water. Measuring the amount of 0.5 to 2 micron size
particles remaining in the treated water is difficult and requires both a turbidity
and SDI test. While turbidity requires a small sample of test water, the SDI test
can require as much as 200 L of water.
→ Continued on page 2
Water Log
→ Continued from page 1
Thus, two steps for product evaluation
may be required. The first step is using
the direct filtration test procedure for
selecting the best product and dosage
using turbidity as a measure of perfor-
mance. The second step would use a
pilot filter to produce sufficient water
for turbidity and SDI testing.
Filter Aid Bench Testing
The first step in approaching a new
application is to survey the system.
The second step is to bench test
potential products and select the best
performing treatment program. When
starting with relatively clean raw
water, the difficulty is in measuring
small changes in turbidity between
0 and 2 NTU, so very clean glassware
and consistent sample preparation is
required. Since the small coagulated
particles do not settle well in a reason-
able amount of time, filtering the test
water is necessary prior to measuring
turbidity. Typical filters used for the
direct filtration test would include
Whatman Number 40 or Number 43
filter papers. For ease of use in the
field, disposable syringe filters with a
filter pore size of 5 microns will work
well. The direct filtration test procedure
is presented below.
Direct Filtration Jar-test for RO
Pre-Treatment
This test procedure describes how to
select the most appropriate chemical
treatment program for a MMF treating
water going to a RO system. Often
surface water is used as the source
water and initial turbidity may be
2 NTU or lower.
Select the potential product to
evaluate from your current product
selection guide. For example, the
following Nalco products may be
considered for evaluation:
• 8108 Plus • 8130
• 8799 • PC306T
• 8100
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Procedure to evaluate
coagulants for multi-media filter:
Add the coagulant to the fast mix step
of a jar test (e.g. 200 rpm) using an
appropriate dosage range. Adjust this
range based on the initial water clarity
and test results. The initial fast mix
time should be 30 or 60 seconds. To
determine a fast mix time that better
represents the customer’s system,
estimate the time it takes the filter-aid
to travel from the addition point to the
filter inlet. Use this estimated lag time
as the fast mix time, or a minimum of
30 seconds whichever is longer.
After the fast mix, remove a 60 ml
sample from the jar with a large
syringe. Filter through a 5-micron
syringe filter. It is best to use dispos-
able syringe filters. A Millipore-type
vacuum filtration setup can also be
used with ca. 5-micron nominal pore
size filter. Graph results with the
product dosage on the X-axis and
turbidity on Y-axis (Figure 1). The
test jar with the lowest filtered water
turbidity would be the optimal product
and dose.
Evaluate the identified optimum
dosage several times and on a
second sample of test water to
ensure repeatable results.
Figure 1 –Bench Test Results
January 2013 | Page 2
Filter Aid Treatment Evaluation
Once the filter aid treatment product
has been identified, the next step is to
evaluate the treatment program using
either a pilot scale filter or run the treat-
ment program on the customer’s full-
scale filter. Evaluation of your treatment
program on the full-scale MMF is best,
but sometimes the client will require
more data. In this case a pilot MMF
can be run to generate the data.
Pilot MMF Evaluation
Operating a pilot MMF to generate
data for a full-scale MMF requires
the pilot filter to be a sufficient size
to produce enough water to run the
required tests for the most critical unit
downstream of the MMF. For example,
for a Reverse Osmosis (RO) system,
turbidity and a Silt Density Index (SDI)
tests are the most appropriate tests
to run and a typical SDI test requires
from 150 to 200 L of water. Thus, the
pilot filter must be large enough to
supply the required volume of water
and simulate the full-scale MMF. For a
specific application it is best to use
the same media that the customer
is using. Apply a simple mathemati-
cal ratio of filter diameter to height to
determine the amount of media to use
in the pilot filter.
→ Continued on page 3
Water Log January 2013 | Page 3

→ Continued from page 2

The pilot filter (Figure 2) size used

for this study was 0.2 m in diameter
and 0.8 m high. The filter media was
layered in the pilot filter starting with
5 cm of garnet and then 20 cm of
sand followed by 30 cm of anthracite.
There was 25 cm of freeboard above
the media to allow for feeding the test
water and maintain flow rate through
the filter.

Test water was treated with the

optimum chemical dosage as deter-
mined with the bench test in a larger
external tank. The treated water was
then pumped to the pilot MMF, al-
lowed to gravity feed through the filter
and effluent from the pilot MMF was
collected for turbidity, color and SDI Figure 2 – Pilot MMF
testing. Double filtration was evalu-
ated to determine if the filtered water
quality would improve significantly with Table 1 – Pilot MMF Test Results
the second pass through an identical
pilot filter. The filtration test results are
presented in Table 1.

These results show the coagulated

particles are removed in the first pass
through the MMF. A second pass
through a second filter showed no
improvement. While the turbidity and
color measurements were significantly
improved, the SDI results were still
greater than the required maximum
value of 5 min-1. While the bench
testing and pilot MMF demonstrated
the chemical treatment performance,
a full-scale evaluation would still
be necessary to fully optimize the
chemical dosages and determine if
the produced water would meet the
standard SDI requirement.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log January 2013 | Page 4

NEW METALS REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY

By Melanie D. Solmos, Innovation Manager, Wastewater Innovation Marketing, NA

Increasing environmental concerns 1691 1689

about heavy metals continue to fuel General Information
legislative action toward more strin- Appearance Clear yellow-orange Brown
ODOR Sulfurous Sulfurous
gent metal discharge limits on waste
Specific gravity (g/mL) 1.16 1.1-1.35
streams in the chemical and metal pH 12 – 13.2 11.5-13
processing industry, refineries, and ◦
Viscosity at 75 F (cP) 10.3 @ 60rpm and 8.2 @ 30 rpm Benchmark
◦
coal-fired power plants. Lower limits Viscosity at 32 F (cP) 23.2 @ 60 rpm and 24.6 @ 30 rpm Benchmark
Product Replacement
require operators to optimize their Ratio –
existing waste treatment strategies or (WW dependent; based
invest in new ones. on jar tests) 0.5-0.9 1.0

Nalco has been instrumental in provid- PROs

ing treatment programs that help to Production Control In-house Backbone tolled
meet metal discharge requirements Stability- Appearance Extended (> 1 year) Short (< 6 months)
Application Patent 2012, chemistry Patents exp. 2010 &
through the utilization of a set of Intellectual Property patent pending 2011
polymeric polydithiocarbamate Self-fluorescence being
Potential Automation investigated Non-fluorescent
products called NALMET®. Over the
Composition No chlorides Contains chlorides
last two years, our researchers have
Hazard Class/Packing Non-hazardous 8/III
been working to exceed customer Group
expectations by developing the next Aquatic Toxicity (EPA) Practically Nontoxic Slightly Toxic
generation of heavy metals removal Toxicity - German WGK 1 3
National Fire Protection 110 2 1 0
technology. Our new polymer, Act (H/F/R)
NALMET 1691, unlike its predecessor,
can be manufactured entirely within Things to Watch
Nalco and significantly reduces both Freezing point 14 F (-10C) -5F (-21C)
our manufacturing environmental foot-
Effluent pH sensitivity Application specific Broad range
print, as well as that of our customer.
Figure 1 – Here is how the new NALMET 1691 compares to NALMET
This new polymer exhibits improved 1689.
performance in mixed metals applica-
tions, creates less waste, is TSCA
listed, is significantly less toxic, and
has performed well in global technical Wastewater Quick Tips
field trials in various industries. The Cold Weather: The cold weather is finally here so you may see reduced secondary
system performance. For every 10°C drop in aeration basin temperature, the BOD
new technology will provide Nalco removal efficiency is reduced by 50%. So, in preparation for lower BOD removal
with continued success in the heavy efficiency, an increase in Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) can offset the lower
metals removal market and maintain BOD removal rate. How much of an increase will be required is system dependent. Start
with small MLSS adjustments of 10% or less.
our competitive edge while helping
Emulsion Product Handling: To maintain product consistency, the product should be
our customers to meet ever-tightening
mixed once a day. When using a drum or tote mixer, 15 to 30 minutes of mixing should be
discharge requirements. sufficient. Larger recirculation systems commonly found on bulk tanks should be operated
once a day to recirculate a minimum of one tank volume.
This new polymer performs better in
New Product Selection Guide: The new Select Product Line Compendium is posted in
current applications and allows Nalco Connections. https://connections.nalco.com/sites/Offerings/Chemistry/Documents/Q1%20
to enter new applications such as 2012%20Select%20Product%20Line%20Compendium.pdf
mixed metal treatment in the Printed Analytical Test Procedures: Analytical test procedures that were in Media Center
Circuit Board industry where we are are now available in Connectons and can be accessed using this link https://connections.
nalco.com/sites/Offerings/Services/AnalyticalServices/pages/default.aspxC
currently not competitive.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
 Boiler Water

Water Log January 2013 | Page 5

What’s New in Boiler Water Applications

OPTIMUM BOILER CYCLE OF CONCENTRATION
By Philippe Lignon – EMEA TEC

As we strive for water and energy pressure boiler without heat recovery system, much like we see in many of our
savings in steam boilers we should customer locations. We have used the Water and Energy Savings tool (F-963)
never forget why we need to limit to make the comparison. It is located in your System Manager, Figure 1, under
the boiler water cycles and the the name of Nalco eROI Tools – Boiler Technology to make the comparison.
consequences of exceeding those See below the path to accessing this tool for doing your own calculations of
limits. The PAC-2 Technical Manual this type.
(see page 432 Boiler Scale &
Deposits) tells us that in routine
operation our best practice is to
recommend a maximum for the boiler
water cycle of 50 (2% blow down) for
industrial boilers and 100 (1% blow
down) for electric utility boilers. The
main reason for that is to keep good
iron control in the boiler.

With expensive high-purity feedwater,

boilers often operate at 50-100 cycles
of concentration (2% to 1% blow-
down). Some utilities operate at up to
200 cycles or 0.5% blowdown. This Figure 1 – Screen Shot of System Manager and Boiler Technology Software
means very long residence times for
each molecule of water and chemistry
The data below was used to do the calculation in both metric and
in the boiler. Even when boiler water
US units applying values widely seen in our customer location:
temperatures do not actually exceed
upper limits for some treatment
chemicals, holding times may need
to be reduced by increasing boiler
blowdown to 2% or more to achieve
good results. However, blowdown
capability may be limited by the
amount of makeup water available.

Nalco consultants spend a lot of time

in EMEA boiler houses and have
always been surprised to see many
boilers exceeding these limits. When
customers are asked why they main-
tain such high boiler water cycles, the
most frequently provided answer is to
save water and energy.

We would like to share with you an

example for which we have estimated
Table 1 – Water and Energy Saving Tool Data Input for Example 1
the savings of water and energy on
cycles of concentration. It is a low → Continued on page 6

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log January 2013 | Page 6

→ Continued from page 5

Table 2 – Water and Energy Saving Tool for Data Input, Comparison of 50 vs. 75 Cycles

Here is the mass balance calculated by the tool:

SI Units

US Units

Figure 2 – Flow Diagram and Mass Balance Output from Energy Saving Tool

→ Continued on page 7

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Water Log January 2013 | Page 7

→ Continued from page 6

Savings from moving from 50 to 75 cycles of concentration calculated by the tool:

Table 3 – Example Saving Tool Results 50 vs 75 Cycle Results Comparison

Let’s analyze the potential savings by exceeding the
recommended limit of boiler cycles of concentration from
the example:
The savings potential is approximately 5 k$/year. We
can conclude that those savings are not significant. A
comparable series of calculations done on a higher pressure
boiler (not shown) shows similar minimal savings. The
additional challenge with higher pressure boilers is that
operating risks increase, making the savings even less
attractive. Those risks include:

• Iron-based boiler waterside deposition resulting in an

energy efficiency drop, or put another way, a fuel
consumption increase
• Increased frequency of boiler cleaning, specifically
manpower, chemical and disposal costs
• Potentially more boiler tube failures: manpower and parts
cost for repair, plant downtime
• Boiler operating life reduced: amortization cut short.
Low pressure boiler (w HR)
Conclusion
Figure 3 – Example Savings Results Good boiler water cycles control with a maximum for the
boiler water cycles of 50 (2% blow down) for industrial
boilers and 100 (1% blow down) for electric utility boilers
will help your customer to keep his boiler clean and efficient
without losing money and energy. We recommend you
do your own calculations with your customer values and
talk with him/her about the results. This is all about value
communication. Good selling.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log January 2013 | Page 8

A PROFESSIONAL VIEW OF BOILER CHEMICAL CLEANING

By Frank Gall and David Rodman – AP TEC and George Totura, Principal Consultant NA TEC

One of the more interesting additions to the list of offerings under the Nalco name that came about as a result
of the Ecolab merger is a chemical cleaning company doing business in Australia. Because boiler chemical
cleaning operations are a stressful time for the water treatment sales engineer, we wanted to use this opportunity
to ask a series of what we think are relevant questions to a chemical cleaning professional now inside the Nalco
organization. Technical Expertise Center PAC2 team members David Rodman and George Totura recently engaged
Frank Gall in an electronic interview. Frank is an Industry Technical Consultant of the Asia/Pacific CoRE team who is
assigned to the Australia-based cleaning unit.

TEC: Since we always address
safety as a primary concern in
whatever we do, what safety
precautions should a cleaning
contractor be taking to protect the
unit and the people?
Frank: The chemical cleaning contrac-
tor must be experienced and have a
proven industry safety record both for
staff and asset protection. Just like for
every other Nalco business unit, there
is data to demonstrate our commit-
ment to being safe at the customer
location and during our travels. The
cleaning contractor’s staff must have
experience, training and certification
for the use of hazardous reagents and
equipment as hazardous chemicals,
high pressures and elevated tempera-
tures are often required.
Next, the cleaning process must be
well planned, coordinated with the
customer and conducted to the plan
without deviation. During the planning
stage a Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is
completed for all operations, including
hazardous cleaning reagent storage
and eventual waste solution disposal.
All personnel involved in the cleaning
must have a clear understanding of
their respective roles and limitations.
The chemical cleaning contractor must
have appropriate equipment, making
sure it is in good condition and come
with appropriate certifications. We are
talking about trucks, transfer hoses,
heating boilers, air receivers and the
like. The cleaning contractor’s staff
must have experience, training and
certification to use any transporting
equipment such as trucks, forklifts,
and cranes that may be needed during
the job.
TEC: It is always a customer con-
cern about what keeps the % acid
concentrations that you use from
attacking the base metal as the
cleaning proceeds? How do you put
customers at ease?
Frank: When acids are used, they are
inhibited. The inhibiting reagent de-
creases the reaction rate of acid with
base system metal, reduces poten-
tial H2 ingress into metal (preventing
hydrogen cracking), usually increases
dissolution rate of scale via increased
acid penetration of hydrophobic scales
through surfactancy. We also make
sure to use the correct acid for the job.
The correct acid (or other chemistry,
such as a chelating agent) is selected
during pilot lab testing to dissolve the
scale before the metal. Monitoring
the progress of the cleaning process
through analysis of the cleaning solu-
tion to determine the cleaning end-
point has the solvent in the system for
the minimum amount of time.
TEC: What is the one thing that
most often “goes wrong” with a
chemical cleaning?
Frank: Amateur cleaning contractors
do not have the large pumping equip-
ment required to achieve sufficient
flow during cleaning. Also, amateur
operators seldom perform pilot lab
studies on representative tube sam-
ples and hence do not select the most
effective cleaning strategy or do not
bring sufficient chemicals to site. We
also observe that amateur operators
seldom leave units/boilers in a protec-
tive passive state or fully document
the results in complete post-cleaning
reports.
TEC – You mentioned monitoring
of the cleaning operations before.
That seems really important. How
do you know/decide that the clean-
ing is complete?
Frank: Our pilot lab testing defines
cleaning chemistry changes as a
function of time. We test cleaning
solution samples during the cleaning
operation and compare the results
to the pilot studies. Plotting the
concentration of metals of interest
in cleaning solution, usually iron, to
reach the maxima of those contained
in scale deposit concentration.
Figure 1 – illustrates the instrument panel
(foreground) connected to the inlet/outlet
manifold of a large chemical cleaning
pump skid containing twin diesel driven
centrifugal pumps during the cleaning of a
660MW coal fired boiler.
→ Continued on page 9

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log
→ Continued from page 8
We can also use online instrumenta-
tion to detect the concentration (or
some other relevant parameter) of
a chemical species being dissolved
from the boiler scale as the clean-
ing process proceeds. For example,
metallic copper is often found in power
boiler scale deposits and a specific
copper removal process using oxidiz-
ing agents is employed for copper
removal. To enable us to monitor the
progress of the copper dissolution
process, we measure the ORP of the
cleaning solution as oxidizing agent is
added until we achieve a consistent,
positive ORP mV reading. We then
know that all of the metallic copper
has been dissolved. Chemical analy-
sis of the cleaning solution is used to
verify a maximum copper concentra-
tion has been reached and that the
cleaning process has concluded. We
can also use the oxidation state of iron
in solution to determine when all the
iron contained in boiler scale deposits
has dissolved and the dissolution of
base metal is starting to commence.
TEC: What do customers
(unintentionally) do that makes
it more difficult for you to do
your job?
Frank: (Laughs) Customers will some-
time schedule shifts and operations
that conflict with planned cleaning
operations elsewhere in the plant. You
would be surprised that sometimes
customers do not know specifics about
their own equipment, usually vessel
volumes. And they also engage the
services of an amateur cleaning
operator, leaving a remediation
operation for the professional when
things go wrong.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
TEC - Can a water treatment sales
engineer help out during a cleaning,
or would you just want them out of
the way?
Frank: Sales engineers can help out
by connecting the chemical cleaning
contractor with key customer staff,
arranging pilot cleaning tube samples.
We can definitely share those
relationships.
Figure 2 – illustrates the scale chemical
cleaning operations being conducted on a
natural gas fired utility HRSG. The chemi-
cal cleaning pump skids, holding tanks and
personnel are just visible in the foreground
Once commenced, cleaning operations
continue 24/7 until complete. Sales
engineers can assist (if they desire)
during this time to staff shifts and
otherwise help out. This can be a great
learning experience for steam or power
plant sales engineers.
TEC: What equipment is required to
do these cleaning jobs and how do
you manage the movement of this
gear around the country? easily cleans 660MW coal units. If
Frank: It obviously starts with the
pumping equipment, and then we use
long pipe-work runs and flexible hoses
rated to pressures used and compatible
with reagents used to connect to
the customer’s equipment. We carry
our own PPE and chemical transfer
equipment to the job site. For larger
January 2013 | Page 9
cleaning operations we like to establish
an onsite office and a field laboratory
for on-site testing. Sometimes we have
to bring our own boiler and compressed
air sources.
Most of our pumping equipment is skid
mounted for transport via road/rail.
Loose equipment is packed in shipping
containers. Our site office is mobile via
road/rail.
Figure 3 – Illustrates a typical mobile
cleaning set-up. Visible are (rear to fore-
ground) mobile boiler, site office, diesel
powered chemical recirculation pumping
skid, reagent loading area
TEC: Are there limits to what you
can clean, in terms of cleaning
equipment that you have? Is there
a maximum size of equipment that
you have cleaned?
Frank: We have no specific limits –
equipment can be upgraded as jobs
require. Our current equipment is the
largest in the country (Australia) and
a boiler design does not allow for
circulation by pump, nitrogen bubbling
is used. We currently choose not to be
involved in cleaning of nuclear cycles.
→ Continued on page 10
Water Log
WHAT’S NEW - CONTINUING PROGRESS IN ALKALINE BOIL-OUT PROCEDURES
By George Totura Principal Consultant, NA TEC
Alkaline cleaning of new boiler and
retubed boiler internal surfaces
remains an important step towards
getting these units off to a good start
for our customer’s steam plants. When
we last addressed this subject in the
Q2 2010 Water Log, we announced a
change in the recommended duration
of the boil-out process, if it could be
confirmed that oily preservatives had
not been applied to the surfaces at the
point of manufacturer. This article is
intended to report the success of that
recommendation, plus share some
other issues regarding boil-outs that
have been frequently asked questions
to the North American TEC team.
Reduced Boil-out duration is
successful
In the two years that the reduced boil-
out duration has been the standard,
we have had zero reports of incom-
plete or unsuccessful boil-outs using
the Nalco boil-out recommendations.
So you should have complete
confidence in making this recom-
→ Continued from page 9
TEC: What types of cleans do you
mostly carry out – Restorative,
preventative (e.g. boiler pre-
cleaning), other?
Frank: Pre-commission cleaning of
HRSG’s is a big market for us. Our
Australian chemical cleaning team has
been formally endorsed by a European
Union HRSG manufacturer, which
brings us a good bit of business.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
mendation for every new boiler and
significantly retubed boiler in your
customer locations. We still see value
in doing these boil-outs just to be sure
that the internal surfaces are oil and
grease free and that water chemistry
will not be disrupted by the presence
of organic contaminants during start-
up operation.
Nalco 2567 is the product of choice
to provide the boil-out chemistry in
firetube and most low-pressure boil-
ers, and BT-2600 provides the alkaline
phosphate solution recommended
for higher operating pressure units.
The CPP for N2567 has an excellent
boil-out procedure that is applicable in
most all situations.
Nalco 2567 and BT-2600 are the North
American products for alkaline boil-
out. Check with your regional Product
and Solutions Management team to
assure product availability to your
customer.
Nalco 2567 is available for the North
American Market.
Figure 4 – Illustrates another mobile
cleaning set-up in typical linear fashion.
Visible are equipment lockers, bundled
reagent storage, utilities and recirculation
pump skids.
January 2013 | Page 10
Phosphate concentrates
can also be used for alkaline
boil-outs
A concern we often hear about for
those boilers that want to use the
BT-2600-based phosphate boil-out
procedure is the seemingly excessive
volume of product that is required for
larger units. BT-2600 is a pretty dilute
product, so to get to the 1800 ppm
as PO4–3 concentration in the boil-out
solution seems to require a lot of
product containers.
This makes the logistics of getting
all of that solution into the boiler a
hurdle that sales engineers and plant
operating teams would like to avoid.
If it seems too challenging to get the
required volume of BT-2600 into the
boiler, consider the use of a phosphate
concentrate, such as CL-50 as the
phosphate source for your boil-out,
remembering that some 50% caustic
will have to be added to produce
the desired alkaline condition needed
for the boil-out to be effective.
→ Continued on page 11
As you might expect, planned
maintenance cleanings of coal and
gas-fired conventional cycle power
plant and remediation cleanings after
repair of failure also occupy us a good
bit of the time. We also catch some
cleaning jobs for smaller boilers located
in refineries, petrochemical plants,
alumina mills and other non-power
industries.
Water Log January 2013 | Page 11

→ Continued from page 10

See below the calculations contrasting

the product requirements for a 10,000
gallon (38,000 L) boiler volume:
BT-2600 product requirement
= 425 gallons ≅1600 L
CL-50 product requirement
= 40 gallons ≅150 L
+ 50% as NaOH requirement
= 16 gallons ≅60 L
It is essential that a Risk Assessment
be conducted to assure that the ben-
efit of the reduced volume of chemical
required for the concentrates is not
exceeded by the potential dangers
posed by these materials, especially
the 50% caustic.

Use of other BT series products

Some plants use another BT series
product, such as BT-2611 for example,
as their standard boiler internal treat-
ment program and want to use this
product as the boil-out solution so that
another product does not have to get
environmental or regulatory approval
for use in the plant. While it may seem
convenient to use one of the BT series
products that contains TRASAR®
technology or dispersant as the
boil-out solution, this approach is not
recommended. At the use rate recom-
mended for boil-out the concentration
of PMA dispersant that would be
present in the boiler is clearly exces-
sive, and undesirable. Of the BT series
products only BT-2600 and BT-3000
are recommended for use as boil-out
additives.
Figure 1 – Conducting a proper boil-out results in clean sur-
faces like this that establish a good starting point for a boiler’s
service life
Adapting boil-out timing to
accommodate refractory curing
There are a number of actions that
need to be completed for a new boiler
to be brought into service, not just the
alkaline boil-out. We have been asked
if the boil-out timing can be adjusted,
so that the refractory on the boiler fire-
side can be cured simultaneously with
the waterside cleaning. The answer to
this is almost always yes, we can
accommodate what is typically a
longer exposure of the boil-out solu-
tion to the waterside to allow com-
plete refractory curing to take place.
Because the solution is alkaline, it is
not corrosive to the steel surfaces,
so the risk to the unit is minimal. The
only prerequisite is that whenever the
refractory curing process is complete,
the boil-out solution must be drained
out when still hot. It is strongly rec-
ommended that for optimal boil-out
success that the boil-out solution be
drained out when the solution tem-
perature is at least 180°F (82°C).
Draining the boil-out solution this hot
provides the best assurance that all
oils and organics are fully solubilized
and will not coat the metal surfaces
during the draining step.
For a number of years we have had a
document called Boil-Out FAQ posted
to provide helpful hints towards com-
pleting a successful alkaline boil-out.
This document has been revised and
is now called Boil-Out FAQ2 to include
the issues discussed above. Look for
it in Connections to gain this additional
information and insight.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved

Water Log
What’s New in Cooling Water Applications
WHY STAINLESS STEEL STAINS – PART 2
By Pau Casasus ITC, EAME TEC edited by Dawn Ray ITC, EAME TEC
This article addresses a misconception
set in the minds of Nalco employees
and their customers since childhood
(or at least mine): Stainless Steel does
not corrode. Does it?
In the first part of this article (published
in Water Log No. 9) we reviewed
the Stainless Steel alloys and their
properties including a condensed list
of the types of corrosion that we can
find. In this second part we will focus
more on Stress Corrosion Cracking,
which is becoming more common as
our customers seek our support to
reduce water consumption and costs
(lower quality water, recycle, zero
discharge initiatives…) resulting in
increased chloride levels.
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is
one of the most common and danger-
ous forms of corrosion. It happens un-
expectedly and rapidly after a period of
satisfactory operation, and can cause
catastrophic failure of structures or
leaks in pipe work. It is not unique to
stainless steel. Other metals can also
suffer from it. To be named as such it
needs to happen by the combination
of some mechanical tensile stress and
a corrosive substance specific for the
material (if it is not specific, then we
are talking about a fatigue corrosion
mechanism) and all this in the right en-
vironment (temperature, related to the
critical pitting temperature; concentra-
tion; low pH; and oxygen).
SCC is often associated with other
types of corrosion that create the
right environment to concentrate
the specific corrosive (for example
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Cooling Water
January 2013 | Page 12
Table 1 – Examples of Metals and the Specific Corrodents that Participate in
Stress Corrosion Cracking
Metal Specific Corrodent
Austenitic Stainless Steel (300 Series) Chlorides
Hot concentrated caustic
Hydrogen sulfide
Carbon Steel Concentrated Caustic
Concentrated nitrate solutions
Anhydrous ammonia
Carbonate and bicarbonate solutions
Copper-based alloys Ammonia (vapors and solutions)
Amines
Sulfur dioxide
Nitrates, nitrites
Titanium Ethanol
Methanol
Sea water (only certain alloys)
Hydrochloric acid (10% solution)
under deposit corrosion, pitting). The to be formed by the cathodic corro-
stress can be from an external source sion reaction and to enter the steel.
(operation, vibration) or residual stress The last mechanism is film induced
from the metal manufacturing process cleavage. This happens when a
(welding, transportation). ductile material gets a brittle film
coating formed by some corrosion
There are three basic mechanisms process (like steel and magnetite). The
discussed for SCC. The most com- tensile stress will break the more rigid
mon is called active path dissolution film, exposing the material that will
which means general or intergranular corrode again, initiating the process.
corrosion accelerated by the presence
of tensile stresses. The next one is Focusing on Stainless Steel, the
hydrogen embrittlement, and is grades having nickel are especially
related to the diffusion of atomic susceptible to chloride induced SCC,
hydrogen through the metal. Hydrogen especially in the range of 7% to 20%
solubility and diffusion coefficients Ni. Common steels like 304/304L,
are key here, and due to the different 316/316L, 321, 347, etc. are very
ferritic vs. austenitic crystallographic susceptible to failure. In austenitic
properties, makes this mechanism steels, the SCC resistance is related
rare in austenitic steels. to the amount of Mo in the alloy. 304
does not have Mo and the usual limit
Hydrogen embrittlement processes is about 200 ppm Cl–, 316 has 2% and
are not strongly influenced by the can go up to 600-900 ppm and other
environment, and all that is required more resistant alloys go over 6% and
are conditions that allow hydrogen
→ Continued on page 13
Water Log
→ Continued from page 12
then are able to work with sea water
and chlorides up to 20,000 ppm. (Note
Ferritic types are considered immune).
Mo always provides better resistance
to Cl-.
Now we know Mo protects against
chlorides. It is not just about the kind
of metal or the chloride level – we also
have to consider the Stress -Tension
and the temperature as other main
parameters in the equation. Other
important considerations are oxygen
content and pH, but in cooling tow-
ers we know there is O2 and we know
the pH is fairly neutral. In addition
there are some Stress Multipliers to
consider. Due to all these parameters,
the prediction becomes complicated,
and requires a great amount of study
to discuss and recommend the best
alloy. There are calculations that can
be used to determine the probability
of failure, and calculating the Stress
Intensity Factor as:
K = σ √πaY
Where
σ = Applied Stress, the risk is low based on Nalco and
a = Crack length, industry standards and as discussed,
Y = Geometrical correction factor
Whether or not a SCC generated
crack will occur depends on whether
or not the calculated K value is higher
than a critical value. In other words, if
the existing cracks are small, SCC will
not happen. But with time these cracks
can and will grow, arriving to a point
where it will initiate a growing crack
and SCC.
This is what the design engineers work
out to decide whether or not there is
high risk of SCC (or they should!).
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
January 2013 | Page 13
Table 2 –Chloride Limit (ppm) in the 3D TRASAR Cooling Water Optimizer
Chloride limit (ppm) in the 3D TRASAR CW Optimizer
Temp (ºC) SS 304 SS 316
40 275 2623
45 188 1462
50 163 900
55 155 629
60 153 498
65 152 434
70 152 404
75 152 389
80 Out of range of model Out of range of model
On practical terms, some tables and Ultimately, all that is important is to
models have been developed from know the limits from the manufacturer
different water treatment companies / engineering company (because
and equipment suppliers, as well they do know the stress expected in
as alloy manufacturers. Ideally this the equipment). If you believe this is
should consider the stress, the pH, too low, and if there is no guarantee-
the temperature, the chloride level related limitation as often happens in
and the kind of alloy. Usually just the new plants, then you can suggest the
last three parameters are considered Nalco limits to the customer. This is
in order to simplify. The model Nalco the customer’s decision. WE CANNOT
uses is included in the 3D TRASAR® SAY IT WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM
Optimizer software in your computer, TO WORK AT A CERTAIN LEVEL
and is based on this data: OF Cl–. We can tell the customer that
These values are conservative, as the
exact stress in the metal, the water
there are different limits and views.
condition (pH, deposits), and the metal
morphology (crevices, welding, pits…)
are unknown.
Table 3 – Non-conservative Values
Temperature, Chloride Limit,
Material °C ppm Comment
304L 15 200 Do not use above 60°C in the
60 20 presence of chlorides because
316L 15 500 of risk of stress corrosion
60 120 cracking
2205 15 3800 Do not use above 100°C in the
60 520 presence of chlorides because
100 100 of risk of stress corrosion
cracking
→ Continued on page 14
Water Log January 2013 | Page 14

GALVANIZED STEEL AND WHITE RUST

By Patrick van de Peer ITC, EMEA TEC

Galvanization is the process of common method in current use is hot-

applying a protective zinc coating dip galvanization, Figure 1, in which
to steel or iron, in order to prevent steel parts are submerged in a bath of
rusting. molten zinc.

The zinc serves as a sacrificial anode, Hot-dip galvanizing is a form of

so that it catholically protects exposed
steel. This means that even if the
coating is scratched or abraded, the
exposed steel will still be protected
from corrosion by the remaining zinc.
Galvanizing is also favored as a
protective coating because of its
low cost, ease of application and
comparatively long maintenance-free
service life. Although galvanization
can be done with electrochemical and
electrodeposition processes, the most
galvanization. It is the process of
coating iron, steel or aluminum with a
thin zinc layer, by passing the metal Figure 1 – Thermal-Pak coil HDG process
through a molten bath of zinc at a (Evapco)
temperature around 860°F (460°C).
There are actually two methods for the
When exposed to the atmosphere, the
“Hot-dip” process: HDG and HMG.
pure zinc (Zn) reacts with oxygen (O2)
to form zinc oxide (ZnO), which further Hot-dip galvanizing (HDG) is still used
reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) extensively for coating large structural
to form zinc carbonate (ZnCO3), a parts (i.e., pre-fabricated cooling
usually dull grey, fairly strong material tower structural parts, evaporative
that stops further corrosion in many
circumstances, protecting the steel
→ Continued on page 15
below from the elements.

→ Continued from page 13

Table 4 – Conversative Values • In Wikipedia there is a good

Temperature, Chloride Limit, overview of SS alloys and grades:
Material °C ppm Comment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_
304L 15 50 Do not use above 50°C in the grades and http://en.wikipedia.org/
50 5 presence of chlorides because wiki/Stainless_steel.
316L 15 125 of risk of stress corrosion
50 30 cracking • The “Guide to Stainless Steel” from
2205 15 1000 Do not use above 100°C in the CSI Alloys (http://www.csidesigns.
50 130 presence of chlorides because com/PDFs/SSSguide.pdf)
100 25 of risk of stress corrosion cracking
• The “Stress Corrosion Cracking
To learn more you can check: Guide” from The National Physical
• The Nalco Guide to Cooling and Water System Failure Analysis and the Laboratory (http://www.npl.co.uk/)
Nalco Guide to Boiler Failure Analysis, for general (including Stainless steel
especially in the cooling water) corrosion mechanism and resulting failures. • Graham Ford Presentation (ppt)
about SS SCC in Connections.
• The Cooling Water Technology Technical Manual (book 3) https://connections.
nalco.com/sites/Offerings/Applications/CoolingWaterTechnology/Documents/ • Grundfos and Alpha Laval
Forms/PAC%203%20Technical%20Manual.aspx information.

• The Cooling Water Application Best Practices (book 313) https://connections. Or contact your nearest TEC expert!
nalco.com/sites/Offerings/Applications/CoolingWaterTechnology/Documents/
Forms/PAC%203%20Application%20Best%20Practice%20Manual.aspx For more details and for the full article,
please search Connections for
• This manufacturer has some interesting data about different alloys, “Why Stainless Steel Stains”
indicating critical conditions for SCC and other issues:
http://www.sandmeyersteel.com/2304.html

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log January 2013 | Page 15

→ Continued from page 16

condenser bundles, etc.) and for small

miscellaneous parts. This zinc coating
is rough and heavy with an average
thickness of 3 – 6 mils (0.076-
0.15 mm) applied to the exposed
surface (per side).
Heavy mill galvanizing (HMG) is
a hot-dip process, but instead of
postfabrication and batch galvanizing,
the raw, prefabricated rolled steel
sheet is put through a continuous
Figure 3 – HMG Process (Arcelor Mittal)
galvanizing process. The galvanized
sheet roll still needs to be cold-
worked by the tower manufacturer for
the fabrication of cooling towers (in
general the metal construction panels).
The HMG process will produce a more
uniform, thinner coating of zinc and
zinc-steel interalloy (relative to the
post manufacture galvanizing process)
with at least 3.0 mils (0.076 mm)
thickness total or 1.5 mils (0.038 mm)
Fig. 44.– Zn
Figure Zn layers
layers in
in hot-dip
hot-dip Galvanizing
Galvanizing process
process (AWT)
(AWT)
on each side.
 
The Zn layer from the hot-dip Electrogalvanizing is a third
galvanizing process will consist of galvanizing process where zinc is
several layers with increasing zinc deposited on steel in a relatively thin
content to the outside (Figure 4). layer by a process of electroplating.
There is no interalloy layering with
Hot-dip galvanizing deposits a thick this process and the weight of zinc
robust layer that may be more than applied is thin compared to hot-
is necessary for the protection of the dip galvanizing. Consequently,
underlying metal in some applications. electrogalvanized steel product would
The size of crystallites in galvanized have a fairly short life expectancy if
coatings is a visible and aesthetic used for the manufacture of wetted
feature, known as spangle. By varying cooling tower parts.
the number of particles added for
heterogeneous nucleation and the The practical difference is that hot-
rate of cooling in a hot-dip process, dip galvanization produces a thick,
the spangle can be adjusted from an durable and matte gray coating
apparently uniform surface (crystallites - electroplated coatings tend to be
too small to see with the naked eye) thin and brightly reflective. Due to
Figure 2 – HMG Process (Arcelor Mittal)
to grains several centimeters wide
(Figure 5).

→ Continued on page 16

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Water Log
→ Continued from page 15
Figure 5 – Galvanized steel panel with
“spangles”
Fig. 5. Galvanized steel panel with “spangles”
  thinness, the zinc of electroplated
its
coatings is quickly depleted, making
them unsuitable for outdoor applications
(except in very dry climates).
 the galvanized steel is a necessity.
Thermal diffusion galvanizing provides
a zinc coating on iron or copper-based
materials partially similar to hot dip
galvanizing, but the final surface that
results is different from that yielded with
hot-dip galvanizing in that all of the zinc
is alloyed.
 
Passivation
When exposed to the atmosphere, zinc
reacts with oxygen to form zinc oxide,
which further reacts with water molecules protective of the substrate, while
in the air to form zinc hydroxide. In
turn, zinc hydroxide reacts with carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere to yield a
thin, impermeable, tenacious and quite
insoluble dull gray layer of zinc carbonate
which adheres extremely well to the
underlying zinc, protecting it from further
corrosion. This is similar to the protection with zinc to create such deposits
afforded to aluminum and stainless steels like zinc carbonate, zinc phosphate,
by their oxide layers.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
January, 2013 | Page 16
White Rust
White rust is actually the reaction
between the unreacted or uncured
zinc and impurities in the cooling
water. White rust corrosion is often
identified by the white, gelatinous or
waxy deposit that can be observed.
This deposit is a zinc-rich oxide,
reportedly 3Zn(OH)2 - ZnCO3 - H2O
and can be quite similar chemically
to the protective zinc oxide typically
identified as a dull-gray passive
oxide. Figure 7 – White rust on galvanized steel
(Evapco)
The best way to prevent white rust is
Fig. 7. White rust on galvanized steel (Evapco
not to allow it to start. Properly curing
When a new system that contains
galvanized steel is initially put into
service, the protective ZnCO3 is not
completely formed yet (still relatively
shiny surface instead of dull grey)
and a preventative maintenance
Figure 6 – White rust on guardrails as a procedure to assure the continuous
result of rals being nested and stored in
Fig. 6. White rust on guardrails as a resultzinc oxide layer is formed must be
of rails
wet conditions
being (Ingal)
nested and stored in wet conditions followed
(Ingal) closely (see also Waterlog 7).
To ensure proper passivation of the
galvanized steel, keep the pH of the
One critical difference between the
two oxides is that the white rust circulating water between 7.0 and 8.2
oxide is porous and generally non- for four to eight weeks, or until new
zinc surfaces turn dull gray in color.
the passive oxide is dense and
non-porous effectively protecting
the substrate from exposure to the Corrosion control
environment. Corrosion control of galvanized steel,
Impurities in the water such as as with any standard mass balance
phosphate or carbonate will react analysis of cooling waters to determine
if a white rust problem is occurring, is
generally not usable as the corroded
and zinc sulfate. Zinc carbonate is zinc will deposit as corrosion product
the most common reaction product (i.e., white rust) and thus is not
and is primarily responsible for the measured in the cooling water.
white color.
→ Continued on page 17
Water Log January 2013 | Page 17

“DID YOU KNOW THIS?”

By Pau Casasus Vazquez, ITC, EMEA TEC

• Did you know that if you add about 1 ppm NaNO3 for each ppm
Chloride you can inhibit SS304 pitting corrosion even with sea
water? This is used in hydrotesting and some special situations in
the industry.

• Did you know that about 150 ppm 3DT180 (PSO) can passivate a
cooling system even under head load?

• Did you know that side stream filtration enhanced with a coagulant
may be required if high iron levels are present.

→ Continued from page 16

The exception to this is where
sufficiently aggressive treatments are
used such that zinc is dissolved into
cooling water. This may occur during
the initial start-up phase, routine
operational phase or during post-
operational cleaning events. In these
cases, measuring zinc in the makeup
and recirculating water and comparing
with the calculated values via tower
cycles to determine zinc pick-up can
help monitor zinc oxide stability. For
example, based on zinc measurement
(i.e. zinc blow-down/zinc makeup),
one can determine if zinc pick-up
is occurring at the expense of the
galvanized steel surface. It is expected
that zinc oxide pick-up may be high to
start, but it should level off with time
and eventually approach theoretical
tower cycles. Note, this monitoring
method will not be effective if zinc is
fed as part of the treatment program.
Corrosion coupons and, to a lesser
extent, corrosion probes outfitted with
zinc coated tips have long been used
to monitor for white rust corrosion.
Two material options to consider when
using corrosion coupons are hot dip
galvanized steel or pure zinc corrosion
coupons.
Galvanized coupons are available
at Nalco. Coupon examination is,
and should be qualitative. If the
zinc layer is intact, the program
should be considered to have been
effective in controlling corrosion
of the galvanized materials. More
information can be found in the
interpretation guides in “Connections”
(offerings>services>analytical
services> coupon analysis) and
search for “galvanized.”
What if it’s too late, and there is
already white rust on the tower? Well,
there is an array of options, including
attempting to re-passivate the
galvanized surfaces (if the galvanized
layer is still intact), complete
galvanization (coil / bundle) or a full
refurbishment applying a polymer or
epoxy coating of the basin.
In many cases, the galvanized steel
panels used for cooling towers have
a special coating like the “Baltibond”
and “Baltiplus” for the BAC towers,
so bare galvanized steel is not the
exposed surface. But the coil or the
condenser bundles in evaporative
condensers are in general galvanized
with the HDG method, in general a
thick layer of zinc on the tubes of the
bundle.
Sources: Wikipedia, BAC, Evapco,
AWT (association of water
technologies), Ingal (industrial
galvanizers), Arcelor Mittal.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved

Water Log
What’s New in Membranes
THE PERILS OF PEROXIDE
By Randy Majerle ITC – Membranes NA TEC
On occasion, most membrane sys-
tems will become fouled with bacteria,
algae, or bacterial metabolic products.
When this occurs there are a limited
number of disinfectant products that
can be applied to thin film membranes
to disinfect the system without incur-
ring membrane damage. The guide-
lines for applying these products are
generally established by regulation
(usually by the EPA or local PCA),
discharge limitations for downstream
waste disposal, or by tolerance
limits established by membrane
manufacturers to minimize risk for
membrane damage.
In strictly industrial applications such
as boiler feed water, products such
as PC-11 and PC-56, which are non-
oxidizing biocides, may be applied
without risk to thin film membranes.
The use of these biocides in industrial
applications is generally limited by
downstream waste treatment and
the ability to dilute or de-activate
the products on completion of the
procedure determines the feasibility
of their use.
In potable applications the number
of available products that are
approved for use in membrane
systems diminishes. In many
circumstances, PC-11 and PC-56,
both certified by the National
Sanitation Foundation (NSF) to ANSI
60 standards for potable water use
as an off-line treatment method, may
be approved for use by municipalities
for disinfection of membrane systems
for potable water production. Unfortu-
nately, neither of these products can
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
be used for membrane applications in
the Food and Beverage, Pharmaceuti-
cal, or Electronics industries.
The quality requirements determined
by the end use of the permeate in
these industries requires a disinfec-
tant that has membrane compatibility,
contains no specific ions which could
interfere with downstream processes,
and has the appropriate regulatory
approval. Disinfectants in this applica-
tion are applied periodically as part of
a defined maintenance procedure. A
biocide that fits these criteria is a mix-
ture of Peracetic Acid and Hydrogen
Peroxide. Although an oxidizer, this
chemistry has been studied by mem-
brane manufacturers and is accepted
as a disinfectant that poses minimal
risk to thin film membranes if applied
within recommended guidelines.
Failure to adhere to the guidelines
can result in membrane oxidation
which, like chlorine exposure, will
cause irreversible damage to thin film
membranes. This type of damage is
characterized by increased permeate
production or reduced feed pressures
(Normalized Permeate Flow or
NPF) and increased salt passage
(Normalized Salt Passage or NSP)
usually noted after the application of
the disinfectant. Even slight deviation
from recommended application
procedures can result in a gradual
increase in these parameters since
damage of this type is cumulative, and
will eventually lead to catastrophic
membrane failure.
Membranes
January 2013 | Page 18
The environmental factors that can
accelerate the oxidative damage are
temperature, concentration of the
disinfectant, and the presence of
transition metals (Fe and Mn). Of
these, temperature and transition
metals have the greatest impact on
membrane degradation. In order to
safely and effectively apply this
chemistry the following limits should
be strictly observed:
1. If iron and/or manganese are
present in the feed water at a con-
centration of greater than 2 ppb, a
thorough CIP with an acidic cleaner
is required to remove any metal or
metal oxide deposits from the
membrane surface. Failure to
perform this step prior to the intro-
duction of the disinfectant will result
in localized oxidation (at the site
of the deposit) of the membrane
catalyzed by the metal.
2) The maximum recommended dis-
infectant concentration (Hydrogen
Peroxide or mixture) is 0.2% in RO
permeate. The use of other waters
to make the disinfectant solution
may decrease the effectiveness
of the active product resulting in
incomplete disinfection.
3. The maximum solution temperature
during application must be limited
to no more than 77°F (25°C). If
the solution temperature exceeds
this temperature rate, membrane
degradation will increase substan-
tially. When applying Peracetic
Acid – Hydrogen Peroxide as a
batch application using the system
→ Continued on page 19
Water Log
CONSIDERATIONS FOR RO SYSTEM QUOTATIONS
By Kevin Kaiser, Account Coordination Manager, WPS Light Conversion
One issue often overlooked when
proposing new RO systems is how to
handle permeate once it is produced
by the RO unit. There have been many
instances when we didn’t even con-
sider what would happen and had to
scramble at the last minute to come up
with an idea.
Among the problems we encounter are:
• If the RO makeup is for a boiler, you
cannot feed the RO water directly to
a deaerator. The problem with direct
feed to a deaerator is that the level
controls cannot manage RO water
because of constant on/off cycling.
In these situations it is necessary
to feed to an RO tank with level
controls and the tank sizing needs
to be appropriate for the volume of
water being used. A typical tank-
design is to provide about 2 hours
of run time, but this target will vary
depending on the installation.
• If the RO is for a cooling tower, you
probably will still need a tank be-
cause you probably cannot control
the RO on/off cycling with a cooling
tower basin float level controller.
→ Continued from page 18
CIP equipment, it is important to
continuously monitor the solution
temperature during the sanitizing
step. If the temperature approaches
the recommended limit it is neces-
sary to discontinue the application
and either re-batch the solution
with cooler water, or wait until the
solution temperature drops before
completing the treatment.
4. Membrane exposure should be
limited to 20 minutes, ideally at
a solution pH of 3 to 4 in order
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
• For beverage applications and
drinking water, sometimes the RO
water is circulated through UV light
and back to the tank or it could
be put into a storage tank where
further disinfection may take place.
We would often have the customer
take responsibility for meeting any
disinfection standards, but this
could vary by customer preference,
industry standards and contractual
requirements.
• In another case, Nalco provided a
quotation for the installation of a RO
unit downstream of softeners in or-
der to reduce alkalinity and improve
steam quality. The softeners were
hard piped to two different tanks
that fed two different deaerators for
boiler systems in different buildings.
– We couldn’t simply tie the RO per-
meate piping into the same system
because the RO permeate would
not have the same pressure; you
could not manage the on/off cy-
cling the same; there were sepa-
rate level controls from each make
up tank for one RO unit; and the
makeup requirements varied from
100 to about 300 gpm, and RO
to maximize effectiveness. The
reduced pH will optimize the ef-
fectiveness of the disinfectant. The
half-life of the active will be reduced
as pH increases. Application to
the membrane for more than the
recommended time can also result
in membrane damage.
In most cases, adequate upstream dis-
infection will protect systems against
excessive microbial contamination. If
increased counts are experienced, a
thorough alkaline cleaning is gener-
ally sufficient to remove established
bacterial colonies. If it is demonstrated
January 2013 | Page 19
systems are not designed to pro-
vide variable permeate flow. In this
situation we will have to either put
in another RO tank; run dedicated
RO permeate lines; or possibly
have two separate RO units feed
to the two existing tanks.
• Because RO permeate contains
very little in the way of ion content
it is important to determine what
materials are on the permeate side
of the system due to the corrosivity
of the water. An example of a case
where this was not considered is
a system that used an aluminum
valve in the distribution system
after the permeate tank. To prevent
premature failure of this valve it was
necessary to treat the permeate be-
fore reaching distribution to prevent
early failure of the valve.
The listed items are only a few of the
more common scenarios that need to
be addressed when preparing a quota-
tion for RO equipment. It is important
to remember that the use of the per-
meate is an important part of the total
water treatment design and needs to
be considered in each potential RO
application.
that these steps are not sufficient the
use of a mild oxidizing agent such as
Peracetic acid – hydrogen peroxide,
when applied within the proper guide-
lines, is an effective disinfectant that
may be applied to thin film membrane
systems.
Note: Products containing Peracetic
acid – Hydrogen Peroxide are
oxidizers. Even at the reduced
concentrations used for membrane
system disinfection chemical burns are
possible. All storage, handling, and
PPE recommendations found on the
MSDS must be strictly followed.
Water Log
EXAMPLES OF INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS SUCCESS
By Vince Herrera, Product Manager, NGES Equipment Division
Food manufacturer optimizes
membrane system performance
Following recommendations
from Nalco’s sales team and new
membranes to improve permeate
quality
Situation
A food manufacturer was experiencing
decreased permeate flow and
quality from their 10-year-old 435
gpm reverse osmosis systems.
Membrane performance was not
within specification for some time and
the customer was looking for technical
support to develop a membrane
management program to extend
membrane life and optimize operation
of their existing reverse osmosis
system.
Solution
The Nalco local sales team and
membrane sales accelerator provided
consultative services to work with
the customer to develop a 3-step
membrane management program
that consisted of a design review,
implementation, and program
execution. Rather than the customer
going to an online membrane supplier
for replacement, they leveraged
Nalco’s technical expertise to develop
a custom membrane optimization
program that included a new CIP
(Clean In Place) regimen, and
modification to piping manifold to
enhance onsite membrane cleaning
efficacy and extend membrane
life. Nalco also recommended the
replacement with 108 new membranes
which, along with the current Nalco
antiscalant program, enhanced
permeate flow and quality to the
customer’s specification requirements.
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
Customer Benefit
The food manufacturer could go to
a number of channels for membrane
replacement, but they chose Nalco for
our expertise, competitive membrane
pricing, and overall customer oversight
to develop a custom solution to meet
their reverse osmosis needs. Since the
3-step approach has been initiated,
the customer’s reverse osmosis
system has provided consistent quality
and quantity permeate flow.
Midwest University provides
Ultrapure water for R&D
Maintaining consistent quality &
quantity for researchers, students, and
faculty were key drivers in developing
a water solution.
Situation
A large Midwest university requires
ultra-pure water. The water is used to
support heavy research, faculty, and
student laboratories, and the water
must meet rigorous specifications.
The university had several critical
needs, which were:
• Service commitment – routine
service and emergency service,
highly qualified service technicians
• System reliability – minimal
downtime, proven technology
• Water quality – to meet rigorous
specifications for laboratory use
• Minimize upsets – no reduction in
water quality or lack of water
January 2013 | Page 20
Solution
An integrated water solution was
developed combining Nalco’s
equipment (softeners, reverse
osmosis, service exchange bottles,
pumps and storage tank systems) and
service capability. Softeners reduced
hardness in the incoming city water,
allowing the reverse osmosis unit
to remove 99.5% of the remaining
total dissolved solids. Additional
polishing of the RO permeate was
accomplished by service exchange
bottles to produce the ultra-pure water
requirements needed by the university.
Service visits were scheduled on a
routine basis to perform preventative
maintenance and system checks.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
were maintained and reviewed with
the university during each visit. A
24/7 emergency service line was
provided to ensure the highest
levels of customer satisfaction and
reliability. Finally a weekly continuous
improvement program conducted by
Nalco’s service team was provided
to the university’s operations staff
focusing on their key applications.
Customer Benefit
Since Nalco’s integrated water solution
was implemented, the university has
met and exceeded expectations for
water quality and quantity. There have
been no upsets or reductions in water
quality across 40 R&D applications
across campus. This provides
tremendous value to the university,
and its researchers, faculty, and
students.
→ Continued on page 21
Water Log January 2013 | Page 21

→ Continued from page 20

Bottled water manufacturer

eliminates taste issue in product
Following recommendations from
Nalco’s sales team for an integrated
water solution

Situation
A bottled water manufacturer had been
experiencing high levels of SDI in the
influent water to their 100 gpm reverse
osmosis (RO) system as a result of
microbiological (MB) growth upstream.
The MB growth led to an inefficient,
higher-than-normal cleaning frequency
of the RO membranes, impacting
their performance life. Membranes
had been replaced in the past through
a third party service to determine
if this would solve their dilemma,
yet the bottled water still fell out of Customer Benefit
Replacement membranes were
specification limits. Bottled water manufacturers strive
carefully selected that could be heat
sanitizable with high temperature for developing a product that meets
Solution water and yet meet FDA requirements. or exceeds tap water in the quality of
Nalco and the customer analyzed the A swabbing process involving bleach its clarity and taste. The Nalco team
issue and determined that the carbon and acid was developed to clean the successfully helped this customer in
media needed to be replaced prior to interior of the pressure vessels to meeting their goal; through improving
the RO system. Also recommended remove microbiological growth prior the quality of the reverse osmosis
was a membrane autopsy, a new to membrane replacement. Finally, a (RO) permeate water by expertise
set of replacement membranes, Nalco service technician provided the in RO antiscalant application,
along with a sanitization program expertise to shut the RO unit down, membrane selection, premiere RO
of the pressure vessels during the install the new membranes, and start membrane replacement service, data
membrane replacement to eliminate up the system within the allotted time normalization and continuous sales
the microbiological issue. without impacting further bottled water support.
production.

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
 Knowledge
Management
Water Log January 2013 | Page 22

Knowledge Management
By Dan Flynn, Principal Consultant NA TEC

FINDING PRODUCT INFORMATION

Some of the most highly sought after
information in Connections is content
around products. This might be
Product Bulletins, CPP’s etc. Being
able to easily and efficiently get to this
information is the focus of this article.
We will explore navigation, search,
MSDS and search mistakes and offer
up successful approaches.

Quickly by Navigation
If your comfort level to find content
is to navigate rather than search, or
if you want to see a list of all of the
content in a particular sub PAC, then
this tip is right up your alley. From the
Connections main page, hover over
Figure 1 – Navigate to the library that will hold the content you are
the Offerings button and then over the looking for
Chemistry/CPP button to show the fly
outs for the various PAC areas. Select
the one you want. (Figure 1)
Once you are at the PAC landing
page, from the left hand navigator
you can select a variety of items.
(Figure 2) The first item is the Main
Document Library holding all of the
product content for that particular
library. The second item is Product
Selection Guides. Third item on the list
are the various Sub-PACs. If you want
to look at all the products, you can
select the main library. If you just want
to look by Sub-PAC, just select the
one you want. Either choice will open
up a view to your desired content.
Now here comes the interesting part. Figure 3 – Select the product from the Product Number
Once you have the library open, use List
the Product Number column (Figure 3) Figure 2 – Left hand
to view all the content at once without navigator on the Cooling
having to page back and forth. To Water Landing Page
do this click the down arrow by the
Product Number heading and the

→ Continued on page 23

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
 Water Log January 2013 | Page 23

→ Continued from page 22

product list will appear. Use the scroll

slider on the right to move up and
down the list. When you find the
product you want, click on it and you
will display the CPP and PB for your
Figure 4 – Enter your search criteria into the Product Search field
selection.

Quickly by Search
The single best way to find product in-
formation is using the Product Search
function in Connections. This search
can be found on the main page of
Connections in the right hand column
(Figure 4). Key in the product you are
looking for and click the “Find a Prod-
uct” button. It will return to you a suite
of content related to the product. The
items that will come back are a CPP,
PB a Product Sheet, any alerts and
approvals (Figure 5). Use the refiners
in the left hand column to get to your
information.
Figure 5 – Search Results Page showing Search Scope, Refiners and Product Page
The Refiners allow you to quickly zero
in on the item you want. CPPs will be
word documents, Product Bulletins will the Search Center scope, one of the product you searched for (Figure 6).
be PDFs. items that will be returned to you is For example if you search for 1720,
the Product Page indicated by the one of the items returned in the
Product Pages are indicated by the
Erlenmeyer flask across from the search results is what you see below.
Erlenmeyer flask. You can access
CPP, PB and MSDS content from a
product page.

Finding MSDS in Connections –

It’s on the Product Page!
Figure 6 – To access MSDS open up the Product Page as indicated by an Erlenmeyer
One of the improvements we have flask
made based on your feedback was
to bring MSDS accessibility into
Connections. When you do a Product
Search using the search function from
either the Connections main page or

→ Continued on page 24

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved
 Water Log January 2013 | Page 24

→ Continued from page 23

Open up the product page by clicking on the product number, 1720 in this example. Basic Product Details are dis-
played in the top box. Available Product Bulletins and CPPs in the boxes on the left and links to the MSDS sheets
on the right. You will need to have a VPN connection open to access the MSDS through the links.

Figure 7 – Enter your search criteria into the Product Search field

Table 1
Winning Search Strategies
Failed  Search   Successful  Search   Comments  
Your search criteria play as much or
more of a role in getting quality search WT500   500   Searching  for  just  the  root  number  will  
results as anything else. Table 1 illus- return  the  result  WT-­‐500.  
trates some common product search 3DT  177     3DT177   All  3D  TRASAR®  products  do  not  have  a  
mistakes and a more appropriate way space  between  the  text  and  the  number,  it  is  
to execute the search. Something to all  1  name.  
consider here is the concept of ‘less N3935   3935   There  is  not  an  N  on  any  product  number.    
is more’ or ‘go for the root’. Examine Just  use  the  root  number  for  successful  
Table 1 to learn how to tighten your searches.  
product search criteria to obtain Trac  107  plus   Trac107   No  space  between  the  Trac  and  107  will  
successful results. return  Trac107  and  Trac107  plus.  

2895plus   2895   If  your  no  space  search  does  not  return  a  

result,  just  search  for  the  number.  

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY ©2013 Ecolab USA Inc. • All Rights Reserved