POWER PLANT ADDS TOWERKLEAN®
Chemical Free Cooling Tower Water Treatment System Saves Time and Money
The
Zeeland Power Plant, owned and operated by the Zeeland
Board of Public Works, has installed a TowerKlean®
Cooling Tower Water Treatment System in its facilities.
The TowerKlean® - from TowerKlean LLC- eliminates
chemical costs as well as the maintenance of chemical
feeding and monitoring equipment. The result: a savings
of time and money.
Cooling tower water treatment systems are critical to power plants. Cooling towers control the temperature in heat exchangers. If a heat exchanger is not cooling properly, it can lead to a malfunction of the massive power equipment it services.
The object of a water treatment system is to control bio-fouling and prevent scale from building up -within the pipes. Scale causes a loss of heat transfer. making a heat exchanger less efficient.
Historically,
cooling water treatment systems have utilized chemicals
to fight bio-fouling and scale buildup. But that process
may be history. We had a fine chemical program.
says Rex Hodge. Zeeland Power Lead Mechanic. We
were doing as good of a job as could have been done
with chemicals. I had never seen a successful chemical-free
system. Then, I was introduced to the TowerKlean®
system.
We have three cooling towers that service seven heat exchangers, continues Rex. We connected the TowerKlean® to the cooling tower that gave us the most trouble. We installed it in July, a peak month of operating our generation plant, because so many businesses and residents are running air conditioners.
The results were surprising. Not only did it perform beyond our expectations, notes Rex, It even cleaned out mineral buildup that was there long before the TowerKlean® was installed.
The uniqueness behind the TowerKlean® is a patented, 100% recyclable media. The media creates the same chemical reaction as oxidizers and reducers, but without additional chemicals.
Chemical-addition systems face a huge disadvantage versus the TowerKlean®. Traditional chemical systems require the addition of fresh water to keep the dilution rate between the chemicals and water at an optimal level, points out Rex. The addition of fresh water means the old water must be bled. To bleed a system requires draining water into the city sewer systems. This not only wastes water, it also releases chemicals into the citys sanitary sewage system.
In addition to monitoring the bleeding, continues Rex. we had to spend fifteen minutes a day testing the three water cooling towers to see if we needed to add more or less chemicals, and every other year we had to take the heat exchangers apart to clean off the buildup. When a heat exchanger isnt functioning at its optimum, it means down time for the plant and overtime for employees to clean them.
With the TowerKlean®, the savings go beyond not having to pay overtime. Less maintenance frees employees to be productive in other areas. No additional chemicals equates to cost-savings of thousands of dollars annually. The TowerKlean® will pay for itself in a year and a half, states Rex, and saves additional money over the long run. Were talking about a piece of equipment that will be here for a long time.
Rex
Hodge used to be one of those skeptics. I didnt
believe it would work. Ive been here for ten years
and thought the only way to ever treat cooling tower
water would be with chemical-addition. Now, lm
a believer. Not only do I have a more efficient and
low maintenance product, its saving money. Its
a win - win.
The Zeeland Board of Public Works recently ordered their second TowerKlean® and plan on adding a third in the near future, completely eliminating chemical-addition systems from their facility.
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