Genetic Research Facility Will Reap the Benefits of Installing All Stainless-Steel Condensate Polisher

Kevin Preising shares how a large genetic research facility in New England will realize the benefits of a new Res-Kem single vessel Condensate Polisher. The unit will reduce the amount of iron deposits the facility was experiencing in their boiler tubes, which prolongs the life of the tubes and provides significant long-term fuel savings.
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For Additional Information:

For help sizing a system contact Kevin Preising
Condensate Polisher Checklist - Web Page
Condensate Polisher Checklist - Printable Version
CP Product Bulletin
View our CP System Portfolio

Greensand Filters Shipped to Western PA Water Plant

A western Pennsylvania, small private water utility, recently received four greensand filters to replace the filters that were failing.  Unable to get the original manufacturer to provide new, duplicate units, our customer found our website. 



Four New Greensand Filters and Greensand Media Ready for Shipment to Water Utility



Because of State regulations, the systems and their operation needed to be as close to the original as possible, otherwise new permits would be required.  Since Greensand is in very, very short supply, the media was changed to Greensand Plus from the same manufacturer.  Sodium hypochlorite is used to continuously oxidize dissolved iron in the water coming into the filters.  Also, these filters are very unique because they are much shorter than we normally manufacture.  Our normal tank straightside is 60".  These tanks are 36" straightside.  

Three of Four Existing Manual Greensand Filters Showing Tank Corrosion

What does the company do? Public water

What is the Res-Kem water treatment application? Green sand filter to removed dissolved iron


What are the savings and/or ROI the customer wants to achieve? Not applicable.  The customer is replacing old existing system with identical system


What are the operating conditions, e.g. flow, temp, continuous, etc.? 60 gpm, Well Water Intermittent Flow

What is the system configuration, e.g. # of tanks, standby units, etc.? Four greensand filters in parallel operation


Materials of construction of tanks, piping, valves, frame, etc.? ASME Code Steel Tanks, 6’ Diameter X 36” Shell straight-side , PVC glued with manual ball valves


Type of valves and actuators? Manual ball valves


Control philosophy? Backwash as required based upon differential pressure

Special Features? Short fat tanks, required to fit tight area

For Additional Information:
Greensand Filter Technical Bulletin
Greensand Plus Technical Data
For help sizing a new filter
For help repairing or rebedding a Greensand Filter

Dual Parallel Condensate Polisher Will Help Large New York University Prolong Life of New Boiler

A well-known university in upstate New York that was in need of a Condensate Polisher recently reached out to Res-Kem for help. Kevin Preising discusses how Res-Kem worked closely with the university’s chief engineer and another local firm to help specify and size the unit, which will help prolong the life of the university’s new boiler.
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For Additional Information:
For help sizing a system contact Kevin Preising
CP Checklist - Web Page
CP Checklist - Printable Version
Condensate Polisher Bulletin
View our Condensate Polisher Portfolio

Iron and Manganese Removal Filter Shipped to Westchester County HQ

Res-Kem recently shipped a 52 gpm dual tank greensand filter to a Westchester County New York corporate headquarters campus.  This filter uses greensand to remove dissolved and precipitated iron and manganese from the water coming from the local public water system.

Dual 36" Greensand Filters with
Bray 31 Valves and Bray Series 93 Pneumatic Actuators

Water Problem:

At a Westchester County corporate headquarters campus, about 4 to 5 times a year, our customer experiences water quality and quantity problems. The campus receives its water from a local public water supplier. High levels of iron and manganese are present within the public water distribution system, and peak flow events such as hydrant flushing or firefighting activities have caused brown water to be drawn into their water system. What exacerbates the problem is the campus is at the end of the water distribution system without looping.

Therefore, iron and manganese laden sediment accumulates the piping and is drawn into the campus drinking water system. Res-Kem designed and constructed a filtration system to remove iron and manganese from the drinking water, as well as a storage tank. The volume of the tank is 150,000 gallons which provides two days of storage in the event of a water emergency with the water supply.


System Solution:

Inlet Iron and Manganese:	Average Inlet Iron 0.22 mg/l Average Inlet Manganese 0.11 mg/ml
Flow Operating Conditions:	Typical: 52 gpm typical
System Configuration:	Dual Parallel 36" diameter ASME Code, carbon steel tanks Epoxy Lined, NSF 61 certified Schedule 80 PVC face piping Differential Pressure Switch initiated backwash Greensand Plus filtration media
Control Valves:	Bray Series 31 valves with Bray Series 93 actuators
System Operation:	Differential Pressure Switch initiates backwash cycle
Added Features:	Domestic water booster pumping system brings filtered water backwash to system Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCL) serves as the chemical oxidant for the removal of iron and manganese in the filtration system. The NaOCL will be injected immediately upstream on the system influent piping header. Chemical dose will flow paced based from the signal from the filtration systems influent flow meter.

For Additional Information:
Technical bulletin on Res-Kem's Greensand/Greensand Plus filters
Online catalog for Greensand Filter Systems
Technical bulletin on Greensand Plus filtration media for iron and manganese removal

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

Improving Efficiency of Water Softeners at a Hospital

A customer found they could reduce the salt and water costs of regeneration by 63% by having our service person diagnose the problems they were having and make changes to the system.

Situation:A hospital customer has a 20 cubic foot water softener used for domestic water.  The system was designed for run length of of 20,000 gallons between regenerations, but recent records indicate the run length has reduced to 10,000 gallons.  The hospital demand is approximately 10,000 gallons per day.  The following is the cost information:

• Water and Sewer Cost - $4.00/1000 gallons
• Salt Cost - $0.05/lb

Findings:
After inspection of the unit and analysis of resin samples, several problems were found:

• The softener had 7 cu ft missing in the softener
• The resin was fouled with iron
• The regeneration cycle needed to be adjusted

Changes:
The following changes were made:

• 7 cubic feet of cation softening resin was added to the softener
• The resin was cleaned to remove iron and a preventative maintenance program will maintain clean resin in the future
• The regeneration cycle was changed to the design conditions

Results:

The following are the benefits the customer realized by making the recommended changes:

• The number of regenerations dropped from 365 to 182 per year
• The salt use per regeneration dropped from 180 lbs to 120 lbs.
• The water use pre-regeneration decreased from 2590 gallons to 2090 gallons

Calculations:

Cost	Calculations	$/year
Salt Before	(180lb/regeneration)($0.05/lb)(365 regenerations per year)	$3,285/year
Salt After	(120lb/regeneration)($0.05/lb)(182 regenerations per year)	$1,092/year
Salt Savings		$2,193/year
Water Before	(2590 gallons/regeneration)($4.00/1000 gallons)(365 regenerations per year)	$3,781/year
Water After	(2090 gallons/regeneration)($4.00/1000 gallons)(182 regenerations per year)	$1,522/year
Water Savings		$2,259/year
Total Savings		$4,452/year

Water Reuse From Wastewater Using RO

Often we are asked to help with water re-use project.  From their research, prospective customers are often interested in using an RO system.  They want to take advantage of the key features which make RO a great technology for treating water entering their plant for process applications:

• The RO membrane is barrier between the treated and untreated water
• Reverse osmosis reduces the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)
• RO systems and membranes are a robust, proven technology

These advantages have been quantified and defined when an RO system is desalinating water and treating municipal/well water.  More information is required before any RO is placed on a process waste stream.  Often a pilot is required.  Our parent company, Ecolab, has extensive experience with water treatment and reuse applications, but more information than a standard water test is needed to determine whether RO has a chance of working.

When looking at a water re-use project from wastewater, regardless of where the water re-use potential location is, it is essential that the water quality is considered both from a physical /chemical perspective but also from a biological perspective. What that means is analysis for parameters such as BOD / COD,( Biological Oxygen Demand / Chemical Oxygen Demand), turbidity , FOG ( Fats, Oils & Grease), NH3 /TKN ,( ammonia /total Kjeldahl nitrogen), NO3 and Total P as well as TSS ( Total Suspended Solids ) and conductivity or TDS( Total Dissolved Solids) should be added to the more typical water analysis list.  If your facility is a food and beverage plant, a microbiological assay should be done.

NOTE- most of these tests require special sampling methods and handling.  The WHO (World Health Organization) has an excellent paper on the subject "Water Quality Monitoring - A Practical Guide to the Design and Implementation of Freshwater Quality Studies and Monitoring Programmes".  Look at pages 17-18.

Additional Information:
Definition of Waste water quality parameters
The Kjeldahl test method used to determine the nitrogen concentration in a waste stream
Standard Methods For the Examination Of Water and Wastewater

Chloramine Removal With Catalytic Carbon

Is your carbon under attack? Have you chosen the correct carbon for chloramine removal? What carbon makes the most effective final barrier against chloramines?

Why use chloramination?Let's face it everyone, they're not making any more fresh water on this planet. Our fresh water is under continuous attack from man made substances and biological bad guys. To combat these contaminates, our municipalities are continually challenged to find the "right" treatment. For instance, good old chlorine was effective to combat bacteria and most disease. However, as our water systems with miles of pipe kept growing, chlorine's "staying power" was found to be less effective at the end of the line. And worse yet, chlorine would complex with organic matter (pipe sludge) or natural algae, to create disinfection by-products (THM's). Enter Chloramine. Some science guru dreamt up the idea that chlorine was more effective if they mixed in some Ammonia. Yes, ammonia. Chlorine+Ammonia = Chloramine

As you might imagine, chloramine wasn't the magic bullet bio fighting miracle. Needless to say, Chloramine, is better off in the street pipes than in you or in your ingredients. Ok? Now what? Since the invention of chlorine, man used activated carbon as the final barrier to remove it. Most activated carbon is manufactured from coal or coconut shells. Chloramine removal turned out to be a much trickier challenge. Here's why: Most drinking water is at pH 7 or above. At pH 7 chloramine forms into a monochloramine. Monochloramines are highly stable by nature making them very difficult to remove with traditional activated carbons. Calgon discovered if you manufacture carbon with catalytic functionality, it will remove the chloramine. Here's how: traditional carbon would do an excellent job of removing the chlorine portion, but leave a significant amount of ammonia. Catalytic enhancements to traditional carbon allowed the carbon to retain more oxygen. The oxygen acted as the needed catalyst to breakdown the ammonia. Simple 'eh?

Coconut vs Coal based carbon
YES you have a choice. This is America. It comes down to this: Our real world results have confirmed the coconut shell based catalytic carbons the clear winner.


Coconut vs Coal Chloramine Removal Comparison
from Jacobi CX-MCA Technical Paper

 I speculate that coconut shell carbons have a micro-pure structure that allows them to retain more oxygen, thus be more catalytic. Also, scientific proof tells us that the coconut shell carbon is physically harder than coal carbons. When dechlorinating, carbon gives up a structural molecule. Coconut shell's strength gives it an advantage in the long run.

For Additional Information:
If you are really into the technical wizardry, read what the really smart folks wrote:
Technical Bulletin for Jacobi Aquasorb CX-MCA Catalytic Coconut Carbon
Technical Paper "Treatment for Monochloramine Using Activated Carbon" by Jacobi Carbon