Operators Unlimited Offers Complete System Management to Multinational Conglomerate Facility
Site Survey and Problem Identification
In 2018, Operators Unlimited began offering operation services to a multinational customer in the aerospace, building technology and performance materials industries. What began as minor system management and assistance maintaining pre-treatment permit compliance has since grown into a four-and-a-half-year working relationship. Today, Operators Unlimited provides complete system management of the company’s three boilers and two cooling towers to accommodate the customer’s increasing water capacity.
Boilers and cooling tower water require constant testing and monitoring to ensure that processes run efficiently, meet environmental compliance standards and retain expected operational lifetime. Because of this, Operators Unlimited implemented customized treatment plans for both the boilers and the cooling towers.
Implementing Boiler Treatment Plan
Reducing Corrosive Dissolved Oxygen
Normal deaerator operations produce less than 10 ppb of dissolved oxygen in boiler feedwater. Still, even miniscule quantities of dissolved oxygen can be extremely corrosive to the deaerator, feedwater lines, pumps and boiler tubes. To mitigate potential damage, Operators Unlimited implemented an intensive, customized chemical treatment to remove remaining dissolved oxygen from boiler feedwater while delivering a higher return on treatment chemistry.
Internal Treatment: Preventing Mineral Scale
Unwanted mineral scale deposits can waste fuel and cause tube failures; however, these issues are preventable. To remove existing mineral scale and prevent future formation within the customer’s boiler tubes, Operator Unlimited formulated a liquid/dry chemical treatment. The combination blended polyphosphates and synthetic polymers. This approach ensured any resultant sludge would be fluid, making for easier removal and conditioning.
Condensate Treatment
Steam condensate provides a substantial source of high-purity feedwater, meaning the return of steam condensate from plant processes holds significant energy savings potential in boiler plant operations. To avoid wasting energy expenditures or the condensate itself, it is essential for facilities to protect their steam and condensate return equipment. Operators Unlimited neutralized corrosive carbonic acid which threatened the integrity of the equipment by using a specific blend of amines. These amines were chosen to best match the customer’s unique steam and steam condensate treatment requirements to ensure the purest condensate continues to be produced.
Implementing Cooling Tower System Treatment Plan
Corrosion and Scale Inhibition Treatment
The success of any cooling water treatment program depends on several factors. Among the most important factors are the selection of tower cycles, system pH and chemical inhibitors. After thorough analysis of the water, equipment and discharge allowances at the company, Operators Unlimited chose an all-organic scale inhibitor treatment program to prevent equipment damage and save unnecessary repair costs. Preventative maintenance helps to maximize equipment lifetime and return on initial investment while close compliance monitoring circumvents preventable expenditures in municipal fines.
Microbiological Control
The final component of Operators Unlimited’s treatment plan incorporated alternating oxidizing and non-oxidizing biocide. This alternating approach can provide greater microbiological control than common oxidizing treatment products alone, while still maintaining industry standards for biological protection. Products were again chose to meet the customer’s specific needs and rooted in toxicology studies. These studies have proven such alternation to be extremely effective in controlling the growth of most microbiological forms prevalent in cooling water systems.
What started as a small operations project has evolved into a full system-management, supporting the company’s wastewater volume of nine to ten thousand gallons per day. Not only did Operators Unlimited help the facility meet their permit compliance guideline, we also implemented cost effective and efficient treatment programs specifically tailored to the unique applications of the aerospace, building technology and performance materials industries wherein the customer operates.
To learn more about how Operators Unlimited can help you expand your facility’s efficiency and capacity while increasing your company’s bottom line, visit our website. Interested in working with us? Contact us today to inquire about a site visit.
