Conditioning Boiler Water

knowledgeable with boiler water testing and treating, and he
complimented me on my article in the September/October 1991 IMA
pertaining to ‘Conditioning Boiler Water.’ Al stated that
that article will probably only help one in a thousand, and I
replied that if it can be of help to only one in a thousand
it’s well worth it. I also stated it’s hard to find
material relating to testing and treating boiler water, and that I
want to share what I’ve compiled over the years with the
readers of IMA.

Not too long ago I was talking to a chemist who represents the
chemical company that supplies us with our testing and treating
needs at the plant I work for. I stated that I read that water
containing 85.5 ppm of calcium carbonate or less is considered
soft. He said that it may be true for some applications but, when
it comes to a steam boiler, anything over 1 gr./gal (17.12 ppm) is
considered hard. Asking him about the pH factor, he stated that for
each whole number it moves, the solution has doubled in
concentration. An example: water that has a pH of 8 is alkaline,
but a water of pH 9 is twice as alkaline. A water of pH 10 is twice
as alkaline as 9. Mathematically the pH moves as a reciprocal of a
log, thus lower numbers mean higher concentrations. Remember that
pH represents hydrogen ion concentrations, which are acid. pOH
represents hydroxyl ions, which are alkaline.

I want to explain a little more pertaining to the conductivity
meter. It’s a small box-like unit easily held in your hand. It
has a meter on it calibrated in micro omhs and has a built-in
container for the water to be tested. That container has two probes
in it about 2 inches apart, thus the water’s resistance will be
measured in a 2 inch distance. Pure water has a high resistance to
the flow of electricity; therefore, its conductivity, the
reciprocal of resistance, is low. The purity of the water is
frequently determined by measuring its conductivity, using a dip
cell and conductivity bridge. The results are expressed in micro
omhs of specific conductivity. The relation between micro omhs of
specific conductivity and ppm of dissolved solids varies to some
extent with the kind of dissolved solids in the water. The presence
of carbon dioxide and ammonia in the water also affects the
conductivity and the readings must be corrected accordingly in
order to determine the total dissolved solids. In samples which do
not contain carbon dioxide or ammonia or when corrections for them
have been made, the approximate purity in ppm of dissolved solids
can be determined by multiplying the conductivity in micro omhs by
0.55. In addition to checking relatively pure water, this method
may, with suitably calibrated dip cells and conductivity bridges,
be used to determine the concentrations of boiler water.

Here are some other uses of the conductivity meter:

Figuring boiler carry over Pull a water sample from the boiler
and from the condenser outlet and measure their conductivity. The
rule of thumb rough estimation of boiler water carrying over with
the steam. TDS = Total Dissolved Solids. Conductivity of the
condensate X 0.5 = ppm TDS. Conductivity of the boiler water X 0.85
= ppm TDS.

ppm condensate TDS  x 100
ppm boiler water TDS
equals percentage of boiler water in steam

Figuring make-up feed in system Using the conductivity meter,
pull a sample of the make-up water and a sample of the feedwater
and measure their conductivity.

 Feedwater     = percentage of
Make-up water
make-up entering the system.

The meaning of micro omhs: from Ohm’s Law, resistance in
ohms equals the quotient of potential difference in volts divided
by the current in amperes. The unit of trans conductance is the
reciprocal of the resistance unit, the ohm, and is called mho (ohm
spelled backwards). In a general sense:

Conductance =     
1       resistance

and

1 ohm =1
1 ohm

Because the mho is too large a unit for practical use in
expressing the trans conductance of a vacuum tube or other things
in electronics, the micro omh is commonly used. Micro means
one-millionth of the base unit:

1 MHO = 1,000,000 UMHOS
1 UMHO = .000001 in decimal version

An example: If the boiler water reads 2000 micro omhs, what is
it in ohms?

   1   = .0005 + .000001 = 500 ohms
2000

Being we’re dealing with reciprocals, it will be noted that
the larger the micromhos, the smaller the ohms and the larger the
ohms, the smaller the micromhos.

The Zeolite Softener: Water passes through the zeolite and the
calcium, magnesium and other salts which produce hardness are
converted into sodium compounds. The zeolite exchanges with the
water, giving up sodium and receiving calcium. Solids are not
removed from the water, but are converted into a form which renders
the water soft. After this exchange has proceeded for some time,
the sodium content of the zeolite becomes exhausted. It is then
necessary to regenerate the softener. This is accomplished by
passing sodium chloride (common salt water) through the zeolite.
The sodium chloride replaces the sodium in the zeolite and removes
the calcium. This process is referred to as regenerating the
zeolite.

Natural zeolite is capable of exchanging from 3,000 to 5,000
grains of hardness per cubic foot. This means that from 300 to 500
gallons of 10 grain water may be softened with one cubic foot of
zeolite before it must be regenerated. Synthetic zeolite has an
exchange of from two to three times as great as green sand zeolite.
The salt requirements for regeneration vary from 0.5 to 1.0 lb. per
1,000 grains of hardness removed. This varies widely depending upon
the kind of zeolite used and the care in operation.

‘Natural’ or ‘green sand’ zeolite is mined and
receives some processing to improve its effectiveness. This natural
zeolite has the appearance of green sand.

Synthetic zeolite is made by precipitating compounds of sodium
silicate and aluminum.

Boiler Blowdown Control: If the feedwater contains 4.5 gr./gal.
of dissolved non-scale forming solids and it’s necessary to
hold the concentration of water in the boiler at 150 grains, what
percent of the feed-water must be blown down? Neglecting the solids
that may be present, what concentrations are added must be blown
out. In this case, 3% of the feedwater would have to be blown
out.

 4.5  = .03 x 100 = 3%
        150

Stack temperature reflects boiler efficiency. Fuel consumption
increases 1% for every 40 degrees Fahrenheit increase in stack
temperature. Thus it’s important to keep both water and fire
sides clean. Off hand I don’t know the insulating value of
scale, but soot has five times the insulating value of
asbestos.

Testing the boiler water for alkalinity, blowdown control and
alkalinity builder control, is sometimes abbreviated as P, M and
OH. P equals phenolphthalein and M equals methyl orange, which are
the titrating solutions. OH equals caustic, which is a widely used
alkalinity builder in the boiler water. The P and M readings denote
the alkalinity of the water. The M quantity is known as the
‘total alkalinity.’ The P is for indicating the alkalinity
of the water. M is for boiler blowdown control, which is similar to
the chloride or salinity tests. The OH is derived by multiplying
the P reading times 2, and subtracting the M. These tests are
usually expressed in ppm.

Parts per million (ppm) refers to a concentration of 1 in 1
million, that is to say, 1 lb. of salts in 1,000,000 lbs. of water.
Another way of expressing solids in water is grains per gallon
(gr./gal.), a grain being    
1      lb.
                                                     
7000

To convert from grains per gallon to parts per million, multiply
by 17.12, that is to say, 1 gr./gal = 17.12 ppm. In closing once
again, I hope this will be of help to the serious steam engineer
with his boiler water testing and treating program. I hope that any
readers with experience and knowledge in this field who can add to
this will please do so!