Water Treatment Plans Can Enhance Boiler Maintenance

Boilers are the workhorses in any building’s heating system. The boiler heats the water and concentrates it to efficiently create heat. These machines endure extreme temperatures, pressure, and the problems associated with repelling the corrosive effects of water. While many businesses take their boilers for granted, even more overlook the benefits of treating the water that passes through the boiler. It is important to understand the need for boiler maintenance, why water is corrosive, and how to establish an effective water treatment plan.

Necessity for maintenance

Any engineer will tell you that maintaining peak efficiency requires paying close attention to your boilers. However, efficiency and maintenance include more than checking gauges and replacing parts. You must adhere to a strict maintenance schedule that includes water treatment. Modern boilers are exceedingly well-made with safety controls and efficient upgrades. However, even with those advancements, boilers can rapidly deteriorate without proper maintenance. In fact, many industry experts estimate that improper maintenance and water treatment practices are responsible for 70 percent of all boiler failures.

Water is corrosive

Water is a corrosive substance that can rust, invade small crevices, and cracks, and degrade mechanical operations. Additionally, water often contains particulates, chemicals, gasses, minerals, compounds, and other substances. These can accumulate and damage the inside of a boiler, reducing the efficient movement of the water.

Dissolved minerals can cause scales to form on the heat-transfer surfaces in a boiler. Scales are formed when mineral salts settle on the components. The scale then acts as an additional layer of insulation, decreasing heat transferability. Each thin layer of scale can reduce boiler efficiency by 10 percent or more. As the boiler becomes less efficient, it must work longer and harder to achieve the same temperatures. Eventually, scale build-up can lead to failure, long downtimes, and extensive repair.

Gases combine into corrosive compounds that corrode the surfaces inside the boiler. For example, oxygen increases the corrosiveness of water, so the metal surfaces inside the boiler will slowly deteriorate. If your technicians do not catch the problem and correct it, metal surfaces can be destroyed, reducing the useful life of your boiler. Particulates suspended in the water can compound both of these problems.

Establishing a water treatment plan

A water treatment plan introduces small quantities of chemicals that combine with targeted impurities in the water to neutralize their corrosive effects. This is achieved by keeping them in suspension, away from the surfaces of your boiler. However, you must use these chemicals carefully. If you combine the wrong ones, in the wrong quantities or mixtures, it can result in severe damage to your boiler and other components. Finally, you must closely monitor the chemicals’ effects on your boiler. The addition or subtraction of water can require adjustments to the treatment program.

It is due to these complexities that you may want to consider hiring a company to craft, implement, and monitor your boiler water treatment plan. If you are looking for the best local plumbing company to handle your industrial, commercial, or residential needs, contact the professionals at Allen’s Tri-State Mechanical, Inc. in Amarillo, Texas. We provide services throughout the Texas Panhandle and Tri-State area. You can call us at (806) 376-8345 or Contact Us by email to learn more. You can also visit us in person at 404 S. Hayden St. in Amarillo to see how we can help you.