Energy and Chemical Savings in Boiler Operations
Water treatment strategies result in water, energy and chemical savings in boiler operations. Demineralization of boiler feedwater by reverse osmosis may reduce dumping of hot water to drain by up to 80%, saving fuel and significantly lowering carbon dioxide emissions.
The Water Professionals® specialize in water and energy saving strategies, resulting in significant carbon dioxide reduction, fuel savings, the reduction of acid and caustic consumption, and annual savings.
By removing dissolved minerals in the feedwater instead of relying solely on chemicals to minimize scaling in the boiler, boiler tubes remain cleaner, resulting in better energy transfer and chemical costs are significantly reduced. This allows reduced gas, coal or oil consumption, resulting in significant carbon dioxide reduction.
Energy saving results from Reduced Blowdown; by removing dissolved minerals in boiler feedwater, a boiler can operate at much higher "cycles of concentration", resulting in markedly less blowdown of heated water to the drain. For example, utilization of reverse osmosis treatment of the boiler feedwater in a food processing plant allowed increase in cycles from ten to 100, reducing blowdown by more than 80 percent and achieving annual natural gas savings of $299,000.
Chemical saving is possible through Reduced Chemical Consumption in Demineralizers. Utilization of reverse osmosis upstream of the demineralizers reduces dissolved minerals by 98 percent, reducing acid and caustic consumption by 90 percent or more. High pressure boilers typically require demineralization of the boiler feedwater to remove minerals that carry over with the steam and plate on turbines (e.g., silica). Demineralizers are typically regenerated with sulfuric acid and liquid caustic. Both chemicals are currently in short supply, subject to unpredictable and rapidly escalating price increases (150 percent to 300 percent over six months). Based on current chemical costs, this reduction of chemicals typically results in annual savings of $140,000 (100 gpm) to $345,000 (450 gpm).
