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Scale
and sludge occurs in many industrial, commercial and domestic fluid processes,
and can be dealt with in a number of ways such as mechanical and chemical
cleaning and chemical inhibition methods, however, there is one method that can
normally eliminate the scale problem totally and also remove existing scale
build up deposits in an environmentally friendly way without the use of
dangerous polluting chemicals.
All
water systems which involve heat transfer, evaporation or pressure reductions,
(such as, heating and cooling systems, boilers, etc.), suffer from potential
scale build up of mineral salts such as calcite, aragonite, gypsum and dolomite,
that is, calcium and magnesium mineral salts.
Steel pre-treatment fluid process systems suffer from severe scale and
sludge build-up problems which are made up of a composition of the elements in
the steel pre-treatment fluid, for example, zinc phosphate.
The petroleum and gas industries suffer from the build up of both
inorganic scale such as calcite and barium sulphate and also form organic scale
such as paraffin, wax and asphaltenes. The
milk processing industry has a similar problem with two forms of scale build up,
these being milk stone (calcium carbonate) and the organic build-ups of protein,
lactose, sucrose and fats. Scale
can be very difficult to remove, and can reduce heat transfer efficiency, and/or
block the flow of the fluid, resulting in equipment outages to remove the scale.
The energy cost to industry due to decreased
efficiency of scale build up is enormous. The increased energy consumption as a function of scale
thickness is approximately as follows: |
Scale
Thickness -
Inches
(mm)
|
Increased
Energy Consumption -
Percent
|
|
1/32
(0.8) |
8.5 |
|
1/16
(1.6) |
12.4 |
|
1/8
(3.2) |
25.0 |
|
1/4
(6.4) |
40.0 |
|
A well proven solution to these scale build-up
problems, for both inorganic and organic scale build-ups, has been developed and
used now for several years. It involves the use of Scale-X
magnetic fluid conditioners. These Scale-X
MFC's are used to act as fluid conditioners, and they are
installed in specific locations in the process to act on the molecular growth
patterns of scale forming crystals to prevent them from forming large particles,
which clump together, and plate-out on the walls of the process piping, valves,
pumps, tanks and vessels.
When a fluid flows through a Scale-X
MFC, fluid conditioning
occurs due to interaction between the magnetic gradient and the fluid flow
vector on charged particles, and results in a change in the electric charge on
the surface of the scale-forming crystals. This alters the growth patterns of
scale-forming crystals changing their molecular bonding and molecular
aggregation. The result is a change
in the characteristics of the crystals, such that the crystals no longer exhibit
the property of adhering, 'sticking', to the walls of the pipes and vessels
and therefore do not form scale deposits. In addition, existing scale will be
gradually removed from the process piping being treated.
The rate of removal is dependent on
the magnetic susceptibility of the scale and also the turbulence and velocity of
the fluid being high enough ("scouring velocity") to wash away the softened scale.
This may take weeks to months.
Scale-X MFC's produce a scale-inhibiting effect that continues down-stream
of the treatment location. Where there are a number of changed conditions in a
fluid process system, such as heating processes where there is evaporative
concentration, or where pressure reductions occur which results in changes in
the dissolved compounds content of the fluid and release of dissolved gases (for
example, CO2 in crude
petroleum production), multiple stages of Scale-X
devices
may need to be applied.
An example of dissolved CO2 release is given in the accompanying graph.
Scale is a very effective
insulator and reduces heat transfer dramatically as the thickness of scale
increases. By eliminating scale
formation in boilers, heat exchangers and evaporators, etc.. the efficiency of
heat transfer in process systems can be significantly improved.
In many applications the energy savings alone can pay for the cost of
installation of Scale-X MFC's many times over each year.
Scale-X MFC's can be used along with chemical treatment, if
desired, however, in most cases, chemical treatment can be totally eliminated.
In the case of biocides, it is wise to have a progressive reduction plan
with regular checks of bacteria levels. Cooling
tower basins and clarifiers should be flushed on a regular basis to remove the
settled sludge.
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