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NOTICE:

Information provided in these message boards is not necessarily the opinion of Sprung Services, Inc.  These discussion boards are provided as a free service to the boiler operations community to promote the free exchange of ideas and to provide assistance from one boiler operator to another as they see fit. 

Sprung Services accepts no responsibility nor guarantees the accuracy of any posts in these message boards.
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Forums > Boiler Discussions - All Locations/Regions > Water Treatment
Subject: Looking for more recommendations
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harrysetUser is Offline
Novice Member
Novice Member
Posts:17
01/21/2012 5:43 PM  

Here's my latest observations:  Yesterday I gave a healthy bottom and surface blow, conductivity was around 4800umho/cm.  Sulfite was at 2ppm, low but coming up from <2.  Added 16 oz of sulfite.  Today I gave a 10 second surface and bottom blow.  Conductivity was back up around 6170umho/cm.  Sulfite was up to 4ppm.  I am currently planning on another really healthy blow for tomorrow before proceeding further.

Funny observation:  The water in the sight glass looks like it should have goldfish swimming around in it.  When you add muf there will be a layer of clear water at the top of the glass about 1/2" deep.  (I cannot believe that they operated this boiler in this manner for God knows how long)

Here's what I am considering, at this point:  Later in the week, the temp is supposed to climb up out of this clipper we have been experiencing and I'm considering shutting the boiler down for a bit, dumping it, refilling and retreating with sulfite.  Does this sound like a worthwhile effort??
ReedUser is Offline
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Posts:458
01/22/2012 3:30 AM  
If it were late Spring or early Fall I might do that, but you really need to let the boiler cool over night when you do something like that, so I wouldn't if it's not warm enough out to do that. You may be able to accomplish something similar with very heavy blowdowns. If you do that I wouldn't use any chemical during or just before the process since you'll just be blowing it all down the drain and you'll have to worry about how to get more of it up to God's country again.

I assume you have at least some significant amount of scale in the boiler. If you do drain it, don't let it dry out. The scale will tend to harden up and be more difficult to remove. Just hose it out right away and then fill it back up again and get some polymers/phosphates in it quickly (these things are mixed in with your product).

I'm sending a link to this post to our chemical rep so he'll read it and see if he has anything to add.

---Reed

Reed Sprung
Sprung Services, Inc.
harrysetUser is Offline
Novice Member
Novice Member
Posts:17
01/22/2012 3:15 PM  
I concur with that logic Reed.

This morning I raised my water level to the top of the sight glass and blew it all the way to the bottom of the sight glass, twice. Conductivity came down to 4,065 umho/cm, sulfite maintained at 4ppm. Gave it another shot of sulfite and will continue to monitor in this manner.
ReedUser is Offline
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Posts:458
01/22/2012 5:50 PM  
With the extra scale you appear to have you should expect to use more chemical than normal. You will need to blow down more as the scale dissolves and this will result in the need for more chemical. You should aim for 30 to 50 ppm sulfite, so you'll need to add quite a bit in the near future. Once the scale decreases in the boiler you won't have the TDS problems, so you won't need as much chemical.
Reed Sprung
Sprung Services, Inc.
WaterdoctorUser is Offline
Novice Member
Novice Member
Posts:9
01/23/2012 10:28 AM  

Reed is correct in his comments.

Make sure you are using the right titrant bottle in your Sulfite kit.

One bottle will say "1 drop = 2 PPM" and the other will say "1 drop = 10 PPM". You need to use the "1 drop = 10 PPM" bottle.

There will never be a need for the other bottle. (1drop = 2 PPM)

It should take 3 - 5 drops to reach the end-point for this test. (30 - 50 PPM Sulfite) 

Have you been able to obtain a visual on the water-side of the tubes? What is the assessed condition?
harrysetUser is Offline
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Novice Member
Posts:17
01/23/2012 6:25 PM  
I'm using the right bottle of titrant, my levels are so low right now that I am in the 1 drop = 2ppm range. I am going to continue with my current doses of sulfite for a while, until things start to straighten out. My condensate return pump just got repaired today, so I'm going to see how this affects my system.

It is getting easier to blow my conductivity down into the proper range, and the visual in the sight glass no longer looks like water from a dirty goldfish bowl.

I haven't been able to do a waterside inspection, and probably won't, at least until spring.
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Forums > Boiler Discussions - All Locations/Regions > Water Treatment > Looking for more recommendations


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