Condensate Polisher Install Saves University Big Bucks on Annual Boiler Maintenance

Kevin Preising discusses how the installation of a Condensate Polisher at a large midwestern university allowed them to meet ASME guidelines for boiler feedwater and significantly reduce the amount of time and money spent on annual cleaning of their boiler system.

Maximize Your Cost Savings With a Properly Sized Sodium Cycle Condensate Polisher

Res-Kem’s Process Engineer Kevin Preising discusses their Boiler Feedwater Checklist and the 15 questions that will help properly size a Sodium Cycle Condensate Polisher (and generate the most payback) for your steam plant.  Please print out the checklist and follow along!

Dealkalizer Shipped to University in Massachusetts

A triple dealkalizer was shipped this week is the last major piece of equipment for a major steam boiler upgrade at a university in Cambridge, Massachusetts which included a new condensate polisher system Res-Kem provided, a deaerator and other major physical plant upgrades.  The months between the polisher shipment and the dealkalizer shipment were filled with activity in the steam plant.


Triple Dealkalizer System Being Prepared for Shipment

The shipment of the dealkalizer had to wait several months because the condensate polisher had to be moved into place, installed and started up.  Once this was completed, the deaerator was delivered and required installation and start up.  After that, the entire revamped boiler treatment system had to be tested, operating correctly and then operators needed to be trained.  Once everything was proven out to the satisfaction of the university, the old condensate polisher could be scrapped and the piping prepared for our dealkalizer which will be placed in the same location where the CP was.   

What a dealkalizer does:	A dealkalizer removes Alkalinity which breaks down in the boiler and generates CO2 and carbonic acid (H2CO3) in the condensate.  The removing of CO2 and Carbonic acid reduces corrosion rates within the condensate piping
Inlet alkalinity:	Average inlet M-Alkalinity- 40 ppm- 50 ppm
Savings the customer wants to achieve:	• Reduced Corrosion of steam condensate return piping • Lower return condensate iron levels in boiler feedwater and cleaner boiler tube surfaces • Lower Operating expenses on fuel with cleaner boiler tubes • Eliminating alkalinity via the dealkalizer allows for higher boiler cycles of concentration and lower fuel costs
Flow Operating Conditions:	Typical: 140 gpm typical Peak: 200 gpm Minimum: 40 gpm
System Configuration:	• Triple 42 " diameter X 72" ASME Code fiberglass tanks • Each tank has a front mounted/supported Pentair Fleck 3900 valve with NXT controller • All Interconnecting pipe is Schedule 80 PVC piping • Each tank is individually skid mounted
Control Valves:	Multi-Port Fleck 3900 valves side mounted and supported via welded steel frame
System Operation:	Progressive Flow and Demand Flow operations
Added Features:	Contacts on the Fleck valve indicate to the DCS that the unit is in operation, standby, or regeneration

Additional Information:
Technical bulletin for Res-Kem's dealkalizer equipment