Scale and corrosion in cooling tower systems can reduce heat transfer efficiency and cause unexpected equipment failures. While scale and corrosion inhibitors added to the water supply can minimize these occurrences, maintaining treatment levels within the control limits necessary to optimize performance and minimize costs can be a challenge. Let’s take a look at a more accurate and safer process for controlling inhibitor levels over traditional methods.
Typically, inhibitor products are added to the tower water in direct proportion to the fresh water makeup. However, consistent inhibitor levels may not be maintained if the conductivity of the water makeup varies, there are multiple water supply sources, and/or treatment pumps lose prime. Using traditional feed methods under these conditions may lead to poor system control. Sometimes too little inhibitor is added, leading to cooling tower corrosion and scale formation that can impact system performance. Other times, too much inhibitor may be added, a wasteful practice that can leave deposits behind.
Fluorescent-traced product feed and control systems can help address these concerns. In this method, a colorless fluorescent dye called PTSA is added to the cooling water inhibitor, serving as a treatment level tracer. PTSA levels can be accurately measured in about 30 seconds using a handheld or in-line fluorometer, requiring no harmful chemical reagents. Unlike other tracers, such as molybdenum, PTSA is more environmentally friendly and is not typically subject to discharge restrictions.
chemistry formulation seeks to limit and potentially overcome these issues by adding a fluorescent tracer to either the chemical or body of water itself. One of these fluorescent tracers is PTSA (1,3,6,8 pyrenetetrasulfonic acid, sodium salt). PTSA is detectable at ppb levels, is non-toxic and chemically stable,all of which make it an ideal additive to trace throughout water systems.By adding PTSA to the formulation,the fluorescent response of the tracer is proportional and graphically linear,between specific concentration ranges,to the concentration of the chemical
with which the system is dosed.Measurement and monitoring PTSA concentration, unlike those traditional methods mentioned above, does not require additional chemical reactions but instead can be directly measured