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Posted by Ken on May 16, 2006 at 09:40:02:
In Reply to: Re: Tube scaling posted by Vern on May 15, 2006 at 21:32:46:
: : A couple of years ago the new boss changed our water treatment supplier. We went from phosphate to polymer. Here is my question and please keep in mind that I am not the water treatment tech. 500hp Kewanees with tube scaling. The scale appears to be primarily on the top and sides of the tubes. The scale formation is not uniform around the tubes, rather it looks like (imagination pls) the scale was poured on top of the tubes and hardened as it ran down the sides. the thickest part ot the scale is at about 3 and 9 oclock. Anyway the new chemical folks have been aware of this for a couple of years and say it is not their fault as the scale was caused by the phosphate. They go on to say that it takes a long time to remove it, but now that I am getting upset about it they suggest acid cleaning for about10k. I only do water side inspections annually and am embarrassed that I have allowed this to happen. We never had this problem with our other vendor of 30 years. Unfortunately he had a new man that lost the account for him. Can someone please tell me if what I am being told is true? I did have some condensate hardness issues but my feed water hardness has always been below 1ppm. I will be happy to answer any questions needed for clarification. Thanks, Ken
: I don't know who is responsible for what, but it does take a long time to remove deposits. Immediate results require an acid bath. Will acid remove the scale/deposits? Maybe, maybe not. I recommend you send a sample of the deposit to a lab to find out the composition of the deposit, then have your vendor take some and soak it in the acid he intends to use to see if it will dissolve the sample. Good luck.
Vern, Thanks. Good info on testing to see if the acid will cut the scale. Ken