Boiler water is liquid water within a boiler, or in associated piping, pumps and other equipment, that is intended for evaporation into steam. The term may also be applied to raw water intended for use in boilers, treated boiler feedwater, steam condensate being returned to a boiler, or boiler blowdown being removed from a boiler.
Impurities in water will leave solid deposits as steam evaporates. These solid deposits thermally insulate heat exchange surfaces initially decreasing the rate of steam generation, and potentially causing boiler metals to reach failure temperatures. [1] Boiler explosions were not uncommon until surviving boiler operators learned how to periodically clean their boilers. Some solids could be removed by cooling the boiler so differential thermal expansion caused brittle crystalline solids to crack and flake off metal boiler surfaces. Other solids were removed by acid washing or mechanical scouring. [2] Various rates of boiler blowdown could reduce the frequency of cleaning, but efficient operation and maintenance of individual boilers was determined by trial and error until chemists devised means of measuring and adjusting water quality to minimize cleaning requirements.
Boiler water treatment is a type of industrial water treatment focused on the removal or chemical modification of substances potentially damaging to the boiler. Varying types of treatment are used at different locations to avoid scale, corrosion, or foaming. [3] External treatment of raw water supplies intended for use within a boiler is focused on the removal of impurities before they reach the boiler. Internal treatment within the boiler is focused on limiting the tendency of water to dissolve the boiler, and maintaining impurities in forms least likely to cause trouble before they can be removed from the boiler in boiler blowdown. [4]
At the elevated temperatures and pressures within a boiler, water exhibits different physical and chemical properties than those observed at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Chemicals may be added to maintain pH levels minimizing water solubility of boiler materials while allowing efficient action of other chemicals added to prevent foaming, to consume oxygen before it corrodes the boiler, to precipitate dissolved solids before they form scale on steam-generating surfaces, and to remove those precipitates from the vicinity of the steam-generating surfaces. [5]
Sodium sulphite or hydrazine may be used to maintain reducing conditions within the boiler. [6] Sulphite is less desirable in boilers operating at pressures above 1,000 pounds per square inch (6,900 kPa); [7] because sulfates formed by combination with oxygen may form sulfate scale or decompose into corrosive sulfur dioxide or hydrogen sulfide at elevated temperatures. [8] Excess hydrazine may evaporate with steam to provide corrosion protection by neutralizing carbon dioxide in the steam condensate system; [9] but it may also decompose into ammonia which will attack copper alloys. Products based on filming amines such as Helamin may be preferred for corrosion protection of condensate systems with copper alloys. [8]
Boilers operating at pressures less than 200 pounds per square inch (1,400 kPa) [10] may use unsoftened feedwater with the addition of sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide to maintain alkaline conditions to precipitate calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide and magnesium silicate. Hard water treated this way causes a fairly high concentration of suspended solid particles within the boiler to serve as precipitation nuclei preventing later deposition of calcium sulfate scale. Natural organic materials like starches, tannins and lignins may be added to control crystal growth and disperse precipitates. [11] The soft sludge of precipitates and organic materials accumulates in quiescent portions of the boiler to be removed during bottom blowdown. [8]
Boiler sludge concentrations created by coagulation treatment may be avoided by sodium phosphate treatment when water hardness is less than 60 mg/L. With adequate alkalinity, addition of sodium phosphate produces an insoluble precipitate of hydroxyapatite with magnesium hydroxide and magnesium and calcium silicates. Lignin may be processed for high temperature stability to control calcium phosphate scale and magnetic iron oxide deposits. [12] Acceptable phosphate concentrations decrease from 140 mg/L in low pressure boilers to less than 40 mg/L at pressures above 1,500 pounds per square inch (10,000 kPa). Recommended alkalinity similarly decreases from 700 mg/L to 200 mg/L over the same pressure range. Foaming problems are more common with high alkalinity. [8]
Coordinated control of pH and phosphates attempts to limit caustic corrosion occurring from concentrations of hydroxyl ions under porous scale on steam generating surfaces within the boiler. High pressure boilers using demineralized water are most vulnerable to caustic corrosion. Hydrolysis of trisodium phosphate is a pH buffer in equilibrium with disodium phosphate and sodium hydroxide. [13]
Chelants like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) form complex ions with calcium and magnesium. Solubility of these complex ions may reduce blowdown requirements if anionic carboxylate polymers are added to control scale formation. Potential decomposition at high temperatures limits chelant use to boilers operating at pressures less than 1,500 pounds per square inch (10,000 kPa). [12] Decomposition products may cause metal corrosion in areas of stress and high temperature. [14]
Many large boilers including those used in thermal power stations recycle condensed steam for re-use within the boiler. Steam condensate is distilled water, but it may contain dissolved gases. A deaerator is often used to convert condensate to feedwater by removing potentially damaging gases including oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. [15] Inclusion of a polisher (an Ion exchange vessel) helps to maintain water purity, and in particular protect the boiler from a condenser tube leak.
All boilers lose some water in steam leaks; and some is intentionally wasted as boiler blowdown to remove impurities accumulating within the boiler. [16] Steam locomotives and boilers generating steam for use in direct contact with contaminating materials may not recycle condensed steam. Replacement water is required to continue steam production. Make-up water is initially treated to remove floating and suspended materials. [17] Hard water intended for low-pressure boilers may be softened by substituting sodium [18] for divalent cations of dissolved calcium and magnesium most likely to cause carbonate and sulfate scale. [19] High-pressure boilers typically require water demineralized by reverse osmosis, distillation or ion-exchange. [20]
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals it occurs naturally only in combination with other elements and it almost always has an oxidation state of +2. It reacts readily with air to form a thin passivation coating of magnesium oxide that inhibits further corrosion of the metal. The free metal burns with a brilliant-white light. The metal is obtained mainly by electrolysis of magnesium salts obtained from brine. It is less dense than aluminium and is used primarily as a component in strong and lightweight alloys that contain aluminium.
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt in water. In diverse contexts, brine may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% up to about 26%. Brine forms naturally due to evaporation of ground saline water but it is also generated in the mining of sodium chloride. Brine is used for food processing and cooking, for de-icing of roads and other structures, and in a number of technological processes. It is also a by-product of many industrial processes, such as desalination, so it requires wastewater treatment for proper disposal or further utilization.
Distilled water is water that has been boiled into vapor and condensed back into liquid in a separate container. Impurities in the original water that do not boil below or near the boiling point of water remain in the original container. Thus, distilled water is a type of purified water.
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminium oxide) and was developed by Carl Josef Bayer. Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–60% aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the rest being a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide. The aluminium oxide must be further purified before it can be refined into aluminium metal.
Calcium chloride is an inorganic compound, a salt with the chemical formula CaCl2. It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature, and it is highly soluble in water. It can be created by neutralising hydrochloric acid with calcium hydroxide.
Hard water is water that has high mineral content. Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates.
Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non-toxic; however, it can contain impurities and cause corrosion.
Purified water is water that has been mechanically filtered or processed to remove impurities and make it suitable for use. Distilled water was, formerly, the most common form of purified water, but, in recent years, water is more frequently purified by other processes including capacitive deionization, reverse osmosis, carbon filtering, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, ultraviolet oxidation, or electrodeionization. Combinations of a number of these processes have come into use to produce ultrapure water of such high purity that its trace contaminants are measured in parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt).
Water softening is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted bonding with calcium ions. Soft water also extends the lifetime of plumbing by reducing or eliminating scale build-up in pipes and fittings. Water softening is usually achieved using lime softening or ion-exchange resins but is increasingly being accomplished using nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes.
Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, the purification of chemicals and separation of substances.
Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling materials can consist of either living organisms (biofouling) or a non-living substance. Fouling is usually distinguished from other surface-growth phenomena in that it occurs on a surface of a component, system, or plant performing a defined and useful function and that the fouling process impedes or interferes with this function.
Ferrosilicon is an alloy of iron and silicon with a typical silicon content by weight of 15–90%. It contains a high proportion of iron silicides.
There are many uses of water in industry and, in most cases, the used water also needs treatment to render it fit for re-use or disposal. Raw water entering an industrial plant often needs treatment to meet tight quality specifications to be of use in specific industrial processes. Industrial water treatment encompasses all these aspects which include industrial wastewater treatment, boiler water treatment and cooling water treatment.
A condensate polisher is a device used to filter water condensed from steam as part of the steam cycle, for example in a conventional or nuclear power plant. It is frequently filled with polymer resins which are used to remove or exchange ions such that the purity of the condensate is maintained at or near that of distilled water.
Boiler feedwater is an essential part of boiler operations. The feed water is put into the steam drum from a feed pump. In the steam drum the feed water is then turned into steam from the heat. After the steam is used, it is then dumped to the main condenser. From the condenser, it is then pumped to the deaerated feed tank. From this tank it then goes back to the steam drum to complete its cycle. The feedwater is never open to the atmosphere. This cycle is known as a closed system or Rankine cycle.
The dealkalization of water refers to the removal of alkalinity ions from water. Chloride cycle anion ion-exchange dealkalizers remove alkalinity from water.
Lime softening is a type of water treatment used for water softening, which uses the addition of limewater to remove hardness by precipitation. The process is also effective at removing a variety of microorganisms and dissolved organic matter by flocculation.
Boiler blowdown is water intentionally wasted from a boiler to avoid concentration of impurities during continuing evaporation of steam. The water is blown out of the boiler with some force by steam pressure within the boiler. Bottom blowdown used with early boilers caused abrupt downward adjustment of boiler water level and was customarily expelled downward to avoid the safety hazard of showering hot water on nearby individuals.
The residual sodium carbonate (RSC) index of irrigation water or soil water is used to indicate the alkalinity hazard for soil. The RSC index is used to find the suitability of the water for irrigation in clay soils which have a high cation exchange capacity. When dissolved sodium in comparison with dissolved calcium and magnesium is high in water, clay soil swells or undergoes dispersion which drastically reduces its infiltration capacity.
Steam and water analysis system (SWAS) is a system dedicated to the analysis of steam or water. In power stations, it is usually used to analyze boiler steam and water to ensure the water used to generate electricity is clean from impurities which can cause corrosion to any metallic surface, such as in boiler and turbine.