Cooling towers or closed loop systems require continuous treatment. But to achieve effective water treatment in either of these settings, the precise system volume must be known. This is particularly essential when adding biocides to ensure the correct amount of treatment is added. Although there are many ways to measure volumes, many are inexact and hard to execute.
There are three ways typically used to determine system volumes. The first method is to estimate the volume based on system tonnage (typically 3 to 10 gallons per ton depending on the type of tower), but accuracy discrepancies may result in chemical underfeed or overfeed. The second method is to calculate an estimate based on the dimensions of the system piping and sump. While this approach may be more accurate, it is often difficult to measure all of the dimensions correctly. The final method is to use a treatment addition calculation. Salt is the traditional treatment program addition, and is not only easy to test for, but soluble and inexpensive as well.
For the most accurate and efficient way to calculate system volume, however, it may be preferable to use a chemical treatment product instead. With chemical addition calculations, a measured amount of chemical is added into the system; the water is then tested for the residual of that chemical. The product used must contain easily analyzed components which cannot be consumed by chemical reactions occurring in the system water. The density of the treatment product and the percentage of activity of the component being measured must also be known. Chemical treatment products also eliminate the need to subsequently flush the system while reducing concerns relating to corrosiveness caused by high chloride levels when using the salt method.
Chem-Aqua offers custom water treatment solution chemicals for use in boiler, cooling, and process water systems that minimize energy, water, and maintenance costs while ensuring safe and reliable operation of these critical systems. Our precise measurement calculation process determines an accurate system volume using chemical additions that won’t impair your system. Our goal is to keep client systems operating at peak efficiency with minimal expense, time, and effort.
Learn more about using Chem-Aqua chemicals to estimate system volume by downloading our Technical Bulletin, Using Chemical Additions to Estimate System Volume.