Cooling towers are essential to ensure that heat is removed from commercial and industrial processes. When in regular operation and with periodic maintenance, the cooling tower can last from 15 years to 20 years. Understanding the reasons why a cooling tower may fail and how to avoid such failures, can ensure steady operation and avoid costly repair or replacement services.
Reasons for Failure
Whenever water is present, corrosion of components and breakdown of metals can cause the system to experience leaks, equipment damage, or debris that can block pipes. Scaling is another common problem that is caused by the buildup of minerals present in the water that attaches to the surfaces. With scaling, blockages can form within tubes and can also prevent efficient heat transfer between surfaces for the cooling tower to be effective.
Other serious problems include water contamination from biological sources. These algae, fungi, bacteria, and viruses can cause metal corrosion, cause biofilms to accumulate on surfaces that introduce fouling to prevent heat transfer and create dangerous diseases such as Legionnaires.
Avoid Cooling Tower Failure
Inspections of the cooling tower is essential to discover potential problems and perform repairs and remediation that can prevent costly repairs. Scaling can be removed through cleanings as chemical and conductivity monitoring can be performed. Blowdown removal of the present water can release the high mineral concentration to prevent scaling.
When dealing with corrosion, the corroded equipment and pipes will need fixed. Then monitoring pH levels, adding corrosion inhibitors into the water, and applying epoxy coatings to metal surfaces can offer corrosion protection. To deal with water contamination, chemicals applied to the water can provide shock treatments to kill off the fungi, bacteria, and other biological sources. Keep in mind that you can use chlorine to shock the water system. However, chlorine is corrosive and can cause damage equipment.
Keeping your cooling tower in good operational order is essential. Here at Star Cooling, we offer industrial cooling tower service and repair. Contact us today for more information.
