Full Stream Filtration in Cooling Tower Water Systems

 full stream filtration in cooling tower water systems cooling towers an effective and common means for industrial process heat extraction are not a closedloop system as a result air and waterborne particulate sucked in the system can eventually foul valuable downstream equipment such as spray nozzles welding operations chillers heat exchangers and small bore piping in cooling circuits in fact many plants must shut down cooling water systems often to clean the cooling tower and downstream equipment which is time consuming and expensive although some basic solutions to this problem are available including rudimentary water strainers side stream filtration which involves filtering a small percentage of the total water volume and pointofuse filters for specific critical equipment using full stream filtration to protect all downstream equipment has emerged as an alternative for cooling tower water systems  it s a dirty job  a cooling tower will suck in a lot of air from the environment says john flaherty president of delta cooling towers inc rockaway nj any foreign material or elements in the air can easily get sucked into the tower and a portion of that will either get dissolved into the water or remain suspended in the water water flowing through cooling towers can be contaminated from many sources including ambient air makeup water sources corrosion and rusting of metal cooling tower skin and residue picked up from processes airborne contaminants include leaves paper debris and other pollution as a result air and waterborne particulate sucked into the cooling tower system can eventually foul valuable downstream equipment such as spray nozzles welding operations chillers heat exchangers and small bore piping in cooling circuits  a cooling tower works through evaporation so you are continuously making up whatever cooling system water has been evaporated explains flaherty many plants use city water which is comparatively clean but if you are using lake river or runoff water you will have to address problems of suspended and dissolved matter that can damage downstream equipment or make it less efficient more efficient technology for cooling tower water filtration dates back to the 1960s when the multielement automatic selfcleaning strainer was introduced this design provides an alternative to sand filters centrifugal separators and basket type strainers unlike those designs which have limitations in particle size filtration and can require frequent maintenance the multielement selfcleaning strainer can provide continuous removal of suspended solids down to 25 microns while multielement strainers may be used in a sidestream application full stream configuration is normally recommended since it provides complete filtration of water unlike the sidestream filters sometimes used with cooling towers the fullstream use of a multielement strainer enables cooling systems to remain online continuously because it backwashes elements in sequence one at a time therefore all the remaining elements are available for continuous straining with such full flow straining capabilities plant equipment is provided positive protection at all times conversely due to limitations in straining area other strainer designs and point of use filters can become clogged quickly when that occurs cleaning media replacement or backwashing is necessary which adversely affects productivity and maintenance costs if maintenance is not performed in a timely manner spray nozzles heat exchangers and other production equipment can become fouled and less effective or even damaged the fullstream use of a multielement strainer enables cooling systems to remain online continuously because it backwashes elements in sequence one at a time therefore all the remaining elements are available for continuous straining another significant feature of the multielement design is in the design of the backwash mechanism with automatic basket strainers for example the backwash mechanism comes in close or direct contact with the straining media this can be problematic as large suspended solids often encountered in raw water can become lodged between the straining media and the backwash arm the result is damage and or rupture of the straining media that can compromise downstream equipment the multielement design uses a tube sheet that separates the straining media from the backwash mechanism this prevents the backwash mechanism from coming into direct contact with the media and eliminates the possibility of damage to the elements resulting in reduced maintenance and downtime when considering strainer technology for a cooling tower s water system continuous full stream filtration provides protection for the cooling tower as well as all downstream equipment and piping the automatic selfcleaning multielement strainer is one possible solution for filtration august 2009 filters sfcadams inc sfcadams inc po box 963 buffalo ny 142400963 phone 716 8772608 tollfree 800 8968869 fax 716 8779385  wwwrpadamscom  pump ed 101 pump repair hi pump faqs filters