Posted by Rick on January 27, 2000 at 13:03:55:
In Reply to: Reverse osmosis posted by Barry Fawcett on January 24, 2000 at 10:01:10:
: We have several process boilers around the country with varying degrees of local water quality. All are seeing less than 5% condensate return. Our chemical guys are trying to sell us on RO based on BTU savings from the surface blowdown. I suspect there is a large difference between theoretical surface blowdown and actual. In my recent posting on "blowdown calculations" one reply said that actual metering had shown somewhat less blowdown than calculated. Any one have experience with RO and process boilers?
Usually high makeup boilers such as humidity boilers use RO units to reduce blowdown and chemical use. Before purchasing a RO unit consider that the water to it must be softened. The water supply to it must be filtered. The membranes need to be cleaned at regular intervals so contact a water treatment about what they would charge to do this service and at what intervals it should be done.It could take as long as 4 hours.Find out about the cost to replace the membranes. They are expensive and depending on the usage will need to be replaced every two or three years possibly. There is definitely a maintenance issue with these units. Rick.