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Galvanized Cooling Tower Cleaning and Pretreatment PDF

To properly start up a galvanized cooling tower system, it requires a 3 step process: 1. Pre-clean the system to remove oils and debris using an alkaline cleaner if galvanized surfaces can be isolated, or a neutral cleaner if not. 2. Feed a passivation product containing phosphate to develop the protective zinc coating layer over 12-24 hours. 3. Maintain specific water chemistry parameters like pH 6.5-8 and hardness 100-300 ppm for the first 2 months to ensure complete passivation.

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Ahmed Taher
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150 views3 pages

Galvanized Cooling Tower Cleaning and Pretreatment PDF

To properly start up a galvanized cooling tower system, it requires a 3 step process: 1. Pre-clean the system to remove oils and debris using an alkaline cleaner if galvanized surfaces can be isolated, or a neutral cleaner if not. 2. Feed a passivation product containing phosphate to develop the protective zinc coating layer over 12-24 hours. 3. Maintain specific water chemistry parameters like pH 6.5-8 and hardness 100-300 ppm for the first 2 months to ensure complete passivation.

Uploaded by

Ahmed Taher
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Startup of Galvanized Cooling Towers

Cooling towers that have galvanized metal require special care during startup. Systems not properly
treated at start-up may experience:
Ø Rapid corrosion of the new galvanized cooling towers referred to as “white rust”
Ø Deposition of dirt and debris in the piping and heat exchange equipment.
Ø Microbiological control issues.
Ø Fouling from oil and greases.

To minimize these problems, galvanized towers should be pre-cleaned and passivated before they are put
into service. The following is a summary of the 3 steps in the startup process:

1. Pre-Cleaning: The piping system needs to be cleaned and flushed to remove any oil, grease and
other suspended solids left during construction. An alkaline product like Q-ALK PC should be used
to clean the piping system, but only if the galvanized metal can be bypassed so the Q-ALK PC
does not come in contact with galvanized metal. A surfactant like ChemWorld 68 should be
used if the galvanized metal cannot be bypassed. The cooling systems should be drained and
flushed after the pre-cleaning.
2. Feed Passivation Product: Refill the tower and add Pre-Q 331. Pre-Q 331 has a high level of
phosphate that helps promote the formation of the greyish colored, zinc-carbonate passivation layer.
Circulate the Pre-Q 331 for 12 to 24 hours without a heat load on the tower. Open the cooling tower
blowdown at the end of this step to reduce the phosphate level in the cooling water. When the PO4
level in the cooling water has dropped to below 15ppm, the long-term cooling tower treatment
program can be started.
3. Startup Water Chemistry (First Two Months): The cooling water chemistry has to be controlled
within specific guidelines to ensure that the galvanized coating is thoroughly passivated. That
includes keeping the cooling water pH between 6.5 and 8.0 and the hardness between 100 and 300
ppm. The table below summarizes several major tower manufactures guidelines for initial treatment
of galvanized cooling towers and associated cooling systems:

Cooling Tower Manufacturers –Start-up Water Chemistry


Parameter BAC Evapco Marley
Use of inorganic Use inorganic PO4
PO4 treatment 400-450 ppm PO4 for at least 8 weeks
Passivation Treatment
helps passivate for 45 – 60 days to help passivated
the zinc coating the zinc coating

pH 6.5 – 8.0 6.5 – 8.0 6.5 – 8.0

Hardness (as CaCO3) >30 100 – 300 ppm 100 – 300 ppm

The passivation process can be considered complete when all of the galvanized metal has changed in
appearance from bright and shiny to dull grey. Detailed information on the cleaning and passivating of
galvanized towers can be found on the following pages, along with information on treating towers that have
experienced white rust.

ChemWorld. • 885 Woodstock Rd Ste 430-111 • Roswell, GA 30075 • www.chemworld.com


Fax (877) 209-1556 • Phone (800) 658-7716
Startup of Galvanized Cooling Towers

System Pre-Cleaning

It is critical to clean the cooling tower and piping of any dirt, debris, oil and greases before the system is put
online. The cooling tower deck, basin and sides should be cleaned of any loose dirt and debris and the
system should be filled with water and flushed. An alkaline cleaning product like Q-ALK PC should be
added to assist in cleaning the piping system of oil and grease, however, the Q-Alk PC should only be
used if it the galvanized surfaces can be isolated so the cleaning solution does not come in contact
with the galvanized metal. If the galvanized metal cannot be bypassed, than a neutral pH cleaning
surfactant like ChemWorld 68 should be added to help clean the piping.

Instructions for using Q-Alk PC:


Ø Where possible, heat the water in the system to 130-180oF. Heating speeds the reaction and
reduces the time and/or the concentration of the cleaning solution required to clean the system.
Ø Add Q-ALK PC at the rate of 0.5-1.0% (i.e. 0.5-1.0 gallons.of Q-Alk PC per every 100 gallons of
cooling system volume.
Ø If the system water is heated to the recommended temperature, cleaning should be completed
in 12-24 hours. Where heating is not possible, the solution can be safely circulated in the system
for several days.
Ø After the circulating time has been reached, the system should be drained and flushed with
clean, clear water until the flushing remains clear.

Instructions for Using ChemWorld 68


Ø Where possible, heat the water in the system to 130-180oF. Heating speeds the reaction and
reduces the time and/or the concentration of the cleaning solution required to clean the system.
Ø Add ChemWorld 68 at the rate of 200-300 ppm (i.e. 4 pounds of ChemWorld 68 per every 1000
gallons of cooling system volume.
Ø ChemWorld 68 is designed to be a low-foaming surfactant, however, a defoamer like DeFoam S
should be on hand in case of excessive foaming.
Ø Circulate for approximately 24 hours and drain and flush the system.

New System Startup

Feeding Passivation Product (Pre-Q 331)


Pre-Q 331 is normally shot fed to the system adding 17 lbs per 1000 gallons of system volume into the
sump of the tower and then recirculating the water for 12 to 24 hours with no bleed-off and no load. This
should develop a phosphate level of approximately 400 ppm in the system. Longer circulation times are
beneficial. When the circulation is complete, open the cooling tower blowdown while continuing to circulate
without load. When the phosphate residual in the system is reduced to <15 ppm, the regular treatment can
be initiated and the system started up for normal operation. Less concentrated versions of Pre-Q 331 are
available for smaller systems.

ChemWorld. • 885 Woodstock Rd Ste 430-111 • Roswell, GA 30075 • www.chemworld.com


Fax (877) 209-1556 • Phone (800) 658-7716
Startup of Galvanized Cooling Towers

Startup Water Chemistry


The water chemistry needs to be controlled with the following limits for the first 2 months or until a dull grey
passivated layer can be observed on the galvanized metal surfaces:

Ø Total Hardness: 100 to 300 ppm as CaCO3


Ø Total Alkalinity: 100 to 300 ppm as CaCO3
Ø pH: 6.5 to 8.0
Ø Sulfate: less than 1,200 ppm
Ø Chloride: less than 450 ppm
Ø Free Halogen : less than 0.5 ppm(Cl- or Br-):

Systems That Have Experienced White Rust

The first step in dealing with a tower that has white rust is to confirm that the deposit is white rust (zinc
hydroxide) and not a calcium scale deposit. Samples of the deposit should be sent to a qualified lab to confirm
that white rust has occurred.

Once white rust has been confirmed, the deposits should be removed with a soft bristle brush followed by
coating the damaged areas with a zinc-rich galvanizing paint. If the white rust is light or spotty with minimal
evidence of metal damage or corrosion, the deposit may simply be washed off. The following are
recommended Zinc-rich Paints that can be applied to repair damaged galvanized surfaces
 
• ZRC  Worldwide  -­‐  ZRC Cold Galvanizing Compound
• Sherwin  Williams  -­‐  Zinc Clad XI
• Benjamin  Moore  &  Co. - Epoxy Zinc Rich Primer CM18/19

In all cases after removal, the tower should be returned to “passivation water chemistry conditions” and re-
passivated as described above for new towers.

Alternate Method for Passivation

An alternate method for passivating galvanized metal is available if the tower cannot be taken offline so that
Pre-Q 331 can be added, or if phosphate cannot be used due to discharge limitations. This procedure uses
silicate to promote the formation of the passivated layer on the galvanized metal and can be done while the
tower is online. We recommend using Pre-QS for this procedure and a separate Technical Bulletin is available
that outlines the method.

ChemWorld. • 885 Woodstock Rd Ste 430-111 • Roswell, GA 30075 • www.chemworld.com


Fax (877) 209-1556 • Phone (800) 658-7716

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