Unit-2

Industrial Water Treatment

Filtration
 Filtration is a process for separating suspended and colloidal impurities, held in suspension, from water through a porous
medium or media.
 Filters can be classified according to
(1) the direction of flow
(2) types of filter media and beds
(3) the driving force
(4) the method of flow rate control
Types of filters:
 Slow sand filter
 Rapid sand filter
 Gravity filter
 Pressure filter

Filtration-nature
 Conceptually the removal of particles within a deep granular medium filter takes place because of few or more of
the following phenomena:
1. Sedimentation – particles settle on the filter medium.
2. Impaction – heavy particles will not follow the flow streamlines.
3. Interception– many particles that move along in the streamline are removed when they come in contact with surface of
filtering medium.
4. Adsorption – bonding, chemical interaction or physical adsorption.
5. Adhesion – Flocculants particles get attached to surface of medium are sheared away and pushed deep inside the bed
due to force of flowing water and as the bed becomes clogged the surface shear force increases at which no additional
matter can be removed.
6. Flocculation – Large particles overtake small particles, join them, and form still larger particles and gets removed by any of
the above mechanisms.
7. Biological growth – Biological growth within the filter reduces the pore volume and may enhance the removal
mechanism by any of the above mechanisms.
Filtering media
Process of filtration

Size, shape and characteristics of filtering media

Quartz sand, silica sand, anthracite coal, garnet, magnetite, and other materials may be used as filtration media. Silica
sand and anthracite are the most commonly used types. When silica is not suitable (e.g., in filters following a hot process
softener where the treated water is intended for boiler feed), anthracite is usually used.
Size, shape and characteristics of filtering media
 The size and shape of the filter media affect the efficiency of the solids removal.
 Sharp, angular media form large voids and remove less fine material than rounded media of equivalent size.
 The media must be coarse enough to allow solids to penetrate the bed for 2-4 in.
 Although most suspended solids are trapped at the surface or in the first 1-2 in. of bed depth, some penetration is
essential to prevent a rapid increase in pressure drop.

Characteristics:
 Obtained from hard rock such as – Quartzite, Trap, Basalt, etc.
  Free from – Clay, Loam and Organic matter
 Uniform size and nature
 Hard and resistant
 If placed in HCl for 24 hrs, it should not loose more than 5% of its weight.

Anthracite
 Substitute for sand
 Can be used in conjunction with sand
 Cost is more as compared to sand
 Effective size – 0.8 to 2.0
 Density – 1.4 to 1.8
 Porosity – 47 to 52
 Hardness – 2 to 3

Gravel
 It should be hard, durable, free from impurities, properly rounded and have a density of about 1600 kg/cubic meter.
  It supports the sand and allows the filtered water to move freely towards the under drains.
 It allows the wash water to move upward uniformly on sand.
 The gravel is placed in 5 to 6 layers having finest size on top.
 Effective size – 0.2 to 0.4
 Density – 3.6 to 4.2
 Porosity – 45 to 58
 Hardness – 6.5 to 7.5

Sand filters
 Sand, either fine or coarse is generally used as filter media. They consist of fine sand supported by gravel are used in
water treatment process or water purification.
 Sand filter is an environmental friendly waste water treatment process.
 Simple to use and inexpensive.
 The principle involves percolating water through a sand bed.

Types:
1. Rapid or Gravity sand filters
2. Semi rapid sand filters
3. Slow sand filters
Sand filters
Rapid Sand Filters:
Two types of RSF are typically used:
1) Rapid gravity sand filters
2) Rapid pressure sand filters.
 RSFs require adequate pre-treatment (usually coagulation-flocculation) and post-treatment (usually disinfection
with chlorine).
 Both construction and operation is cost-intensive.
 It is a relatively sophisticated process usually requiring power-operated pumps, regular backwashing or cleaning,
and flow control of the filter outlet.
Advantages:
1) Rapid sand filter can deal with raw water directly. No preliminary storage is needed.
2) Filter is 40-50 times rapid then slow sand filter.
3) The washing of filter is easy.
4) The filter beds occupy less space
Slow sand filters:
 Slow sand filters are used in water purification for removing bacteria and suspended solids.
 Remove 98- 99% of bacteria.
 They are typically 1 to 2 meters deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical.
 They reduce turbidity and pathogenic microorganism organisms through various biological agents, (bacteria,
viruses, microbes etc) physical and chemical processes in the presence of microorganism.
Advantages:
1) Simple to construct and operate.
2) Construction is cheaper then rapid sand filter.
3) Quality of filtered water is high.

Hydraulics of filtration:

 Filter beds are stratified, and hydraulic analysis involves considering the filters as non-uniform beds
 Filter hydraulics equations are applicable for clean beds (not for clogged beds)
– Acceptable equations are not available for clogged beds
 With filtration, solids accumulate in the filter bed and decrease the bed porosity, and this inturn increases the
head loss.
 The head loss increase depends on
– Nature of the suspension
– Characteristics of the media
– Filter operation
 Running a pilot scale filter (at constant filtration rates) till the turbidity breakthrough, and monitoring the head
loss across the filter can help in understanding the clogged filter hydraulics of filtration.
Design considerations-Upflow filters

 Developed by Young and McCarty in the late 1960s to treat dilute soluble organic wastes.
 The filter was filled with rocks similar to the trickling filter.
 Wastewater distributed across the bottom and the flow was in the upward direction through a bed of rocks.
 Whole filter submerged completely.
 Anaerobic microorganisms accumulate within voids of media. (rocks or other plastic media)
 The media retain or hold the active biomass within the filter.
 The non-attached biomass within the interstices forms bigger flocs of granular shape due to rising gas
bubble/liquid.
 Non-attached biomass contributes significantly to waste treatment.
 Attached biomass not be a major portion of total biomass.
 64% attached and 36% non-attached.
 Better quality of filtering media is used so as to give more specific area.
 Depth of filter media is reduced to 1.2 to 2.0 m so as to obtain better aeration.
 Size of under drain is increased and their slope is also made steeper so that more effluent collected and
conveyed to SST more quickly.
 The speed of rotation arm is increased to 2 rpm for increased hydraulic loading.

Advantages:
 Construction Cost is less
 Operating cost is low
 Trouble of smell and odor is less
 There is absence of trickling filter flies
Working is flexible
 Disadvantages:
 As effluent is not highly nitrified, hence it requires large amount of dilution water for disposal.
 Raw sewage cannot be treated hence it requires PST.

Design considerations-multimedia filters

 Single-Medium Filters
Types:
• Gravity filters (most common), Vacuum filters Medium Sand (water treatment), Anthracite (tertiary treatment)
• Sand bed is 610 to 760 mm in depth
• Underlaying anthracite is 380 to 610 mm in depth.

 Dual-Media Filters
Consists of a layer of anthracite (inch) above a layer of sand (6 – 12 inch)Pore volume is higher than that in single
filter.
Specific gravity of coal is 1.2 to 1.6.
Specific gravity of sand is 2.65.
Filtration rate is between 2 – 10 gal/min-ft2.
Common filtration rates are 3-6 gal/min-ft2.

 Multi-Media Filters
• Anthracite (2 inch) followed by sand (2.65 inch) followed by garnet (4.5 inch) or ilmenite (4.5 inch). During
backwashing, there will be intermixing of the media.
• There will be no distinct interface between the media layers after backwashing.
 • The filter approach the ideal filter (decrease in pore volume as depth increase).
• Filtration rate is 2-12 gal/min-ft2 (3-6 gal/min-ft2 are common)

Design considerations-pressure filters

Pressure filters fall into two categories:
1. pressure sand
2. diatomaceous earth filters.
 Pressure filters are used extensively in iron and manganese removal plants.
 A pressure sand filter is contained under pressure in a steel tank, which may be vertical or horizontal, depending
on the space available.
 As with gravity filters, the media is usually sand or a combination of media, and filtration rates are similar to
gravity filters. Groundwater is first aerated to oxidize the iron or manganese, and then pumped through the filter
to remove the suspended material.

Filtering Media / Medium

 The surface upon which solids are deposited in a filter is called the “Filter medium”
 Properties of ideal filter medium:
It should be
1) capable of delivering a clear filtrate at a suitable production rate
2) have sufficient mechanical strength
3) be inert
4) retain the solids without plugging at the start of filtration
5) not absorb dissolve materials
6) Sterile filtration imposes a special requirement since the pore size must not exceed the dimension of bacteria.
Material used as filter media
Woven material
• Made up of wool, silk, metal or synthetic fibres (rayon, nylon etc.).
These include
• Wire screening e.g. stainless steel is durable, resistance to plugging and easily cleaned.
• Fabrics of Cotton (wool) is a common filter, however, Nylon is superior for pharmaceutical use, since it is unaffected
by fungus or bacteria and has negligible absorption properties.
The choice of fibre depends on Chemical Perforated sheet material.
• Stainless steel plates have pores which act as channels as in case of meta filters.
Bed of granular solid built up on supporting medium
• In some processes, a bed of graded solids may be formed to reduce resistance of flow.
• Example of granular solids are gravel, sand, asbestos, paper pulp.
Choice of solids depends on size of solids in process.
Prefabricated porous solid units
• Used for its convenience and effectiveness.
• Sintered glass, sintered metal, earthenware and porous plastics are used for fabrication.

Membrane filter media

• These are cartridge units and are economical and available in pore size of 100 μm to even less than 0.2 μm.
• Can be either surface cartridges or depth type cartridges.
Surface cartridges
• These are corrugated and resin treated papers and used in hydraulic lines.
• Examples : Ceramic cartridges and porcelain filter candles.
• Can be reused after cleaning.
Depth type cartridges:
• Made up of cotton, asbestos or cellulose.
• These are disposable items, since cleaning is not feasible.

Size and Shape of Filtering Media

 Sand (fine/coarse) is generally used as filter media.
 The layer of sand may be supported on gravel, which permits the filtered water to move freely to the under drains
and allows the wash water to move uniformly upward.
Filter materials:
1. Sand
2. Gravel
3. Anthracite
It should have following properties:
 Obtained from hard rock such as – Quartzite, Trap, Basalt, etc.
 Free from – Clay, Loam and Organic matter
 Uniform size and nature
 Hard and resistant
 If placed in HCl for 24 hr, it should not loose more than 5% of its weight.
Size and Shape of Sand
 Effective size of sand(D10):
 Very fine sand: Clogged reduce rate of filteration
 Very coarse sand: Suspended particles and bacteria pass through the sand bed
 Effective size shall be,
0.20-0.30 mm for Slow Sand Filter
0.45-0.70 mm for Rapid Sand Filter
 Uniformity Coefficient(Cu):
◦ It is a measure of particle range and is given by,
 Cu = D60 / D10
 Uniformity coefficient shall be,
◦ 3.0-5.0 for Slow Sand Filter
◦ 1.3-1.7 for Rapid Sand Filter
 Depth of sand bed should be between 60 cm to 90 cm

Gravel
 It should be hard, durable, free from impurities, properly rounded and have a density of about 1600 kg/cubic meter.
 It supports the sand and allows the filtered water to move freely towards the under drains.
 It allows the wash water to move upward uniformly on sand.
 The gravel is placed in 5 to 6 layers having finest size on top.
 Effective size – 0.2 to 0.4
 Density – 3.6 to 4.2
 Porosity – 45 to 58
 Hardness – 6.5 to 7.5
Anthracite
 Substitute for sand
 Can be used in conjunction with sand
 Cost is more as compared to sand
  Effective size – 0.8 to 2.0
 Density – 1.4 to 1.8
 Porosity – 47 to 52
 Hardness – 2 to 3
Sand filters
 Sand, either fine or coarse is generally used as filter media. They consist of fine sand supported by gravel are used in
water treatment process or water purification.
 Sand filter is an environmental friendly waste water treatment process.
 Simple to use and inexpensive.
 The principle involves percolating water through a sand bed.
Types:
• Rapid or Gravity sand filters
• Semi rapid sand filters
• Slow sand filters
Rapid Sand filters
 Rapid sand filter counted… Two types of RSF are typically used:
1) Rapid gravity sand filters
2) Rapid pressure sand filters.
 RSFs require adequate pre-treatment (usually coagulation-flocculation) and post-treatment (usually disinfection with
chlorine).
 Both construction and operation is cost-intensive.
 It is a relatively sophisticated process usually requiring power-operated pumps, regular backwashing or cleaning, and
flow control of the filter outlet.
Advantages of rapid sand filter
1) Rapid sand filter can deal with raw water directly and No preliminary storage is needed.
2) Filter is 40-50 times rapid then slow sand filter.
3) The washing of filter is easy.
4) The filter beds occupy less space.
Slow Sand filters
 Slow sand filters are used in water purification for removing bacteria and suspended solids.
 Remove 98- 99% of bacteria.
 They are typically 1 to 2 meters deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical.
 They reduce turbidity and pathogenic microorganism through various biological agents, (bacteria, viruses, microbes
etc) physical and chemical processes in the presence of microorganism.
Advantages of slow sand filter
1) Simple to construct and operate.
 2) Construction is cheaper then rapid sand filter.
3) Quality of filtered water is high.
Hydraulics of filtration
 Filter beds are arranged as layers, and hydraulic analysis involves considering the filters as non-uniform beds.
 Filter hydraulics equations are applicable only for clean beds.
(not for clogged beds)
– Acceptable equations are not available for clogged beds.
 With filtration, solids accumulate in the filter bed and decrease the bed porosity, and this increases the head loss.
 The head loss increase depends on
– Nature of the suspension
– Characteristics of the media
– Filter operation
 Running a pilot scale filter (at constant filtration rates) till the turbidity breakthrough, and monitoring the head loss
across the filter can help in understanding the clogged filter hydraulics.
 Lime-Soda Process:
The removal of Hardness producing salts of Ca as carbonate and mg as hydroxide using lime Cao and soda Na2CO3
is called as lime soda process
 Conceptually the removal of particles within a deep granular medium filter takes place because of few or
more of the following phenomena:
1. Sedimentation – particles settle on the filter medium.
2. Impaction – heavy particles will not follow the flow streamlines.
3. Interception– many particles that move along in the streamline are removed when they come in contact with
surface of filtering medium.
4. Adsorption – bonding, chemical interaction or physical adsorption.

Process:
a) Removal of temporary Ca and Mg hardness
Ca(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + 2H2O
Mg(HCO3)2 + 2Ca(OH)2 2CaCO3 + Mg(OH)2+ 2H2O
b) Removal of permanent Mg hardness
MgCl2 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCl2
MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4
Advantages:
1. Economical
2. Hot lime soda process is much faster than the cold lime soda process
3. During this process pH value of water is increased hence the corrosion of pipe is reduced
4. Besides the removal of hardness, the quantity of minerals in water is also reduced
5. Due to alkaline nature of water, amount of pathogenic bacteria in water are also removed
6. Requires less amount of coagulants
Disadvantages:
1. The softened water is not completely free from hardness (15-30ppm of hardness still remains)
2. Disposal of large amount of sludge is a problem
3. Careful operation and skilled supervision is required for efficient treatment of water
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Ion exchange or Demineralization process
Ion exchange or Demineralization process removes almost all the ions (both anions and cations) present in the hard water.
The soft water, produced by lime-soda and zeolite processes, does not contain hardness producing Ca 2+ and Mg2+ions, but it will
contain other ions like Na+, K+, SO42–, Cl–etc.,
On the other hand demineralised (DM) water does not contain both anions and cations. Thus a soft water is not demineralised
water whereas demineralised water is soft water. This process is carried out by using ion exchange resins, which are long chain,
cross linked, insoluble organic polymers with a micro process structure. The functional groups attached to the chains are
responsible for the ion exchanging properties.
(i) Cation exchanger
Resins containing acidic functional groups (–COOH, –SO3H) are capable of exchanging their H+ions with other cations of
hard water. Cation exchange resin is represented as RH2.
Examples: Sulphonated coals, Sulphonated polystyrene.R–SO3H; R–COOH ≡ RH2
(ii) Anion Exchanger
Resins containing basic functional groups (–NH2, –OH) are capable of exchanging their anions with other anions of hard
water. Anion exchange resin is represented as R(OH)2.
Examples: Cross-linked quaternary ammonium salts, Urea-formaldehyde resin.
R–NR3OH; R–OH; R–NH2 ≡ R (OH)

Fig: Deminaralisation process

Process
The hard water first passed through a cation exchange which absorbs all the cations like Ca 2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, etc. present in the
hard water.
RH2 + CaCl2 → RCa + 2HCl
RH2 + MgSO4 → RMg + H2SO4
RH + NaCl → RNa + HCl
The cation free water is then passed through a anion exchange column, which absorbs all the anions like Cl –, SO42-, HCO3–, etc.,
present in the water.
R' (OH)2+ 2HCl → R'Cl2 + 2H2O
R'(OH)2+ H2SO4 → R'SO4 + 2H2O
The water coming out of the anion exchanger is completely free from cations and anions. This water is known as demineralised
water or deionised water.
Regeneration
When the cation exchange resin in exhausted, it can be regenerated by passing a solution of dil.HCl or dil.H 2SO4.
RCa + 2HCl → RH2 + CaCl2
RNa + HCl → RH + NaCl
Similarly, when the anion exchange resin is exhausted, it can be regenerated by passing a solution of dil.NaOH.
R'Cl2 + 2 NaOH → R'(OH)2 + 2 NaCl
Advantages
i. The water is obtained by this process will have very low hardness.
ii. Highly acidic or alkaline water can be treated by this process.
Disadvantages
i. The equipment is costly.
ii. More explosive chemicals are needed for this process.
iii. Water containing turbidity, Fe and Mn cannot be treated, because turbidity reduces the output and Fe, Mn form stable
compound with the resins.
Zeolite Process
Zeolites:Zeolites are naturally occuring hydrated sodium aluminosilicate minerals. The chemical formula is
Na2O.Al2O3.XSiO2.YH2O. The synthetic form of zeolite is called permutit and is represented by Na 2Ze.
Zeolite (or) Permutit process:In this process the hard water is allowed to perlocate through sodium zeolite. The sodium ions
which are loosely held in this compound are replaced by Ca2+and Mg2+ions. When zeolite comes in contact with hard water, it
exchanges its sodium ions with calcium and magnesium ions of hard water to form calcium and magnesium zeolites.
Na2Ze + CaCl2→ CaZe + 2 NaCl
Na2Ze + MgCl2→ MgZe + 2 NaCl
As sodium ions do not give any hardness to water, the effluent will be soft. The exhausted zeolite is again regenerated by treated
with 5 to 10 percent of sodium chloride solution.
CaZe + 2 NaCl → Na2Ze + CaCl2
MgZe + 2 NaCl → Na2Ze + MgCl2

Fig: Zeolite (or) Permutit process

Advantages
i. No sludge is formed during this process.
ii. Water of nearly zero hardness is obtained.
iii. This method is very cheap because the generated permutit can be used again.
iv. The equipment used is compact and occupies a small space
v. Its operation is also easy.
vi. The process can be made automatic and continuous.
Disadvantages
i. This process cannot be used for turbid and acidic water as they will destroy the zeolite bed.
ii. This treatment replaces only the cations, leaving all the anions like (HCO 3)–and (CO3)2–in the softwater.
iii. Water containing Fe, Mn cannot be treated, because regeneration is very difficult.
iv. This process cannot be used for softening brackish water. Because brackish water also contains Na +ions. So, the ions
exchange reaction will not take place.

Write the merits and demerits of external treatment of water.

Merits of external treatment:
a) Water obtained by Zeolite process will have only hardness of 1-2 ppm.
b) Zeolite process is cheap, because the regenerated zeolite can be used again.
c) No Sludge is formed during zeolite process.
d) The equipment used is compact and occupies a small space.
e) Operation of zeolite process is easy.
f) Highly acidic or alkaline water can be treated by ion exchange process.
g) The water obtained by ion exchange process will have very low hardness (nearly 2ppm).
Demerits of external treatment:
a) Turbid water cannot be treated, because it blocks the pores of the zeolite bed.
b) Acidic water cannot be treated, because it decomposes the surface of the zeolite.
c) The softened water contains more dissolved sodium salts like NaHCO 3, Na2CO3. When such water is boiled in boilers, CO 2
and NaOH are produced resulting in boiler corrosion and caustic embrittlement in the zeolite process.
d) Water containing Fe, Mn cannot be treated, because regeneration is very difficult.
 e) This process cannot be used for softening brackish water, because brackish water contains Na + ions. So the ion exchange
reaction will not occur in the zeolite process.
f) Water containing turbidity, Fe and Mn cannot be treated in ion exchange method, because turbidity reduces the output and Fe,
Mn form stable compound with the resin.
g) The equipment is costly and more expensive chemicals are needed in ion exchange method.

1. Disadvantages of using hard water in boiler may cause Boiler troubles:

i. Scale & sludge formation
ii. Priming & foaming
iii. Caustic embrittlement
iv. Boiler corrosion

i) Sludge and Scale formation in boilers

(a) Sludge formation:
(i) Sludge is a loose, slimy and non-adherent precipitate.
(ii) The main sludge forming substances are MgCO3, MgCl2, MgSO4, and CaCl2.
Disadvantages:
(a) Sludges are poor conductors of heat.
(b) Excess of Sludge formation decreases the efficiency of boiler.
Prevention:
(a) Sludge formation can be prevented by using softened water.
(b) Sludge can be removed by blow-down operation (Blow-down operation is a process of removing a portion of
concentrated water from the boiler during steam production by adding fresh water frequently).

Scale formation:
(i) Scale is a hard, adherent coating.
(ii) The main scale forming substances are Ca(HCO3)2, CaSO4, Mg(OH)2.
Disadvantages:
(a) Scales act as thermal insulators, which decreases the efficiency of the boiler.
(b) Any crack developed on the scale, which leads to explosion.
Prevention:
(a) Scale formation can be prevented by dissolving using acids like HCl, and H2SO4.
(b) Scale formation can be removed by External and Internal treatment.
(c) They can also be removed by applying thermal shocks, scrapers, wire brush, etc.

ii) Priming & foaming

During the production of steam in the boiler, due to rapid boiling, some droplets of liquid water are carried along with steam.
Steam containing droplets of liquid water is called wet steam.
These droplets of liquid water carry with them some dissolved salts and suspended impurities. This phenomenon is called carry
over. It occurs due to priming and foaming.

Priming
Priming is the process of production of wet steam. Priming is caused by
□ High steam velocity.
□ Very high water level in the boiler.
□ Sudden boiling of water.
□ Very poor boiler design.
Prevention
Priming can be controlled by
□ Controlling the velocity of steam,
□ Keeping the water level lower.
□ Good boiler design.
□ Using treated water.

Foaming
The formation of stable bubbles above the surface of water is called foaming. These bubbles are carried over by steam leading to
excessive priming.
Foaming is caused by the
□ Presence of oil and grease.
□ Presence of finely divided particles.
Prevention
Foaming can be prevented by
□ Adding coagulants like sodium aluminate, aluminium hydroxide.
□ Adding anti-foaming agents like synthetic polyamides.

iii) Caustic embrittlement

Caustic embrittlement is a form of corrosion caused by a high concentration of Sodium hydroxide in the boiler feed water. It is
characterized by the formation of irregular intergranular cracks on the boiler metal, particularly at places of high local stress such
as bends and joints.
Causes of caustic embrittlement
Boiler water usually contains a small amount of Na 2CO3. In high pressure boilers, Na 2CO3 undergoes hydrolysis to produce
NaOH.
Na2CO3 + H2O → 2NaOH + CO2
This NaOH flows into the minute hairline cracks present on the boiler material by capillary action and dissolves the surrounding
area of iron as sodium ferroate, Na2FeO2.
Fe + 2NaOH → Na2FeO2 + H2
This type of electrochemical corrosion occurs when the concentration of NaOH is above 100 ppm. This causes embrittlement of
boiler parts, particularly the stressed parts like bends, joints, rivets, etc.
Caustic embrittlement can be prevented by
 Using sodium phosphate as the softening agent instead of sodium carbonate.
 Adding chemicals such as tannin, lignin to the boiler water. They block the hairline cracks.
 Adjusting the pH of the feed water carefully between 8 and 9.

iv) Boiler corrosion

It is due to the presence of
(i) Dissolved oxygen
(ii) Dissolved carbon dioxide
(iii) Dissolved salts
(i) Dissolved oxygen
Dissolved oxygen in water is mainly responsible for the corrosion of boiler. The dissolved oxygen in water attacks the boiler
materials at higher temperature.
4Fe + 6H2O + 3O2 → 4Fe(OH)3 ↓
Methods for Removing dissolved oxygen:
(a) Chemical method:
Sodium sulphite and hydrazine are some of the chemicals used for removing dissolved oxygen.
2Na2SO3 + O2 → 2Na2SO4
N 2H 4 + O 2 → N2 + 2H2O
(b) Mechanical de-aeration:
Dissolved oxygen can also be removed from water by mechanical de-aeration method.

Fig: Mechanical de-aeration

In this process, water is allowed to fall slowly on the perforated plates fitted inside the tower. The sides of the
tower are heated, and a vacuum pump is also attached to it. The high temperature and low pressure produced
inside the tower to reduce the dissolved oxygen content of the water.
(ii) Dissolved carbon dioxide:
Dissolved carbon dioxide in water produces carbonic acid, which is acidic and corrosive in nature.
CO2 + H2O → H2CO3
Carbon dioxide gas is also produced, when heating bicarbonate salts.
Ca(HCO3)2 → CaCO3 ↓ + H2O + CO2 ↑
Methods for Removing dissolved Carbon dioxide:
(a) Carbon dioxide can be removed from water by adding a calculated amount of NH4OH into water.
2 NH4OH + CO2 → (NH4)2CO3 + H2O
(b) Carbon dioxide along with oxygen can also be removed mechanically by de-aeration method.
(iii) Dissolved salts:
Acids, produced from salts dissolved in water, are also mainly responsible for the corrosion of boilers. Salts like
MgCl2, CaCl2 undergo hydrolysis at high temperature to give HCl, which corrodes the boiler.
MgCl2 + 2H2O → Mg(OH)2 ↓ + 2HCl
Fe + 2HCl →
FeCl2 + H2 ↑ FeCl2
+ 2H2O → Fe(OH)2
+ 2HCl

Method for Removing dissolved Salts:

Corrosion by acids can be avoided by adding alkali to the boiler water.
HCl + NaOH → NaCl + H2O