Why natural water is not used in boilers?
Hard water contains dissolved salts of calcium and magnesium. It forms scales (also called lime scales) on the walls of the boilers and hence to be softened before its usage in industries. Improper water treatment, or not treating your boiler water at all, can cause irreversible boiler tube damage called scaling.
What happens when hard water is feed into the boiler?
The efficiency of a boiler can also be negatively affected by hard water. If the presence of calcium and magnesium causes hard scaling, it will have an impact on the heat transfer inside the boiler. A layer of hard scaling as small as 1/8 of an inch on boiler tubes can decrease efficiency by as much as 25 percent.
Why boiler feed water should be treated before using it in boilers?
Boiler water must be treated in order to be proficient in producing steam. Boiler water is treated to prevent scaling, corrosion, foaming, and priming. Chemicals are put into boiler water through the chemical feed tank to keep the water within chemical range. Corrosion is caused by oxygen in the water.
Why are acidic waters not used in boilers?
Acidic Corrosion Low makeup or feedwater pH can cause serious acid attack on metal surfaces in the preboiler and boiler system. Even if the original makeup or feedwater pH is not low, feedwater can become acidic from contamination of the system.
Which water is used as boiler feed water?
High purity water
High purity water is required as boiler feed water for steam generation during electricity production using steam turbines to protect the boiler tubes and turbines from corrosion, scale formation and structural defects.
Is boiler water potable water?
A boiler heats up water, turns it into steam and pushes it throughout the home for heating purposes. The water isn’t necessarily potable, but can be used to heat pipes within the home’s walls, or heat a radiant heat system.
Can hard water be used in boilers?
Because Hard water posses high concentration of minerals generally calcium and magnesium so in the broiler it’s not remove with the steam it deposited on the surface of boiler and it makes layer on boiler. …
What are the disadvantages of hard water and scale formation in boilers?
Decrease in Efficiency of Boiler : The excessive scale formation may cause clogging of boiler tubes which decreases the efficiency of the boiler. 2. Wastage of Fuel : Scale is a poor conductor of heat. Thus scale formation also decreases the efficiency of the boiler and causes a wastage of fuel.
What is the difference between feed water and boiler water?
Cooling water is used in industrial processes to dissipate large amounts of heat. Boiler feed water, on the other hand, is used in the water/steam circuit for electricity generation in power stations. The water has to meet specific requirements for both applications, which is why it is analyzed on a regular basis.
What is the importance of feed water treatment?
Treating boiler feed water is essential for both high- and low-pressure boilers. Ensuring the correct treatment is implemented before problems such as fouling, scaling, and corrosion occur, will go a long way in avoiding costly replacements/upgrades down the line.
What will happen if acidic water enters into boiler?
When the boiler water pH drops below about 8.5, a corrosion called acid attack can occur. The effect exhibits rough pitted surfaces. Contamination can also occur from process leaks of acid or acid-forming materials into the return condensate system.
Why boiler feed water pH is high?
It comes into play with steam boilers because a pH between 7 and 9 (slightly alkaline) is just right. If the pH is lower than that, the water will start eating the pipes. If it’s higher than that, the water won’t corrode metal, but it may begin to foam, and that’s not good. Hold that thought for a moment.
What happens if you put natural water in a boiler?
Natural water might contain high levels of TDS (total dissolved solids) which will precipitate inside boiler due to high temperatures as water will evaporate, scaling the boiler tubes and ultimately leading to its catastrophic failure. This is the major cause of boiler incidents.
What happens if you put too many minerals in a boiler?
Also, too many minerals can clog water lines in boiler water level controls. This can cause a water level controller to become plugged and the controller may think the boiler is full of water when it is not. This will cause dry firing of the boiler and can damage both the tubes and the boiler drum.
Can you have a steam boiler without a water feeder?
Steam heating systems without an automatic water feeder are less safe and risk serious boiler damage should boiler water be lost and should there be no low water cutoff installed on the system. That’s why all modern steam heating boilers can be expected to include at least a low water cutoff valve.
What happens if the water level is too low in a boiler?
A steam boiler will be damaged or unsafe if its water level falls too low. The water feed valve on a steam boiler has to operate more often, and will be a more heavy-duty (and probably reliable) device than that used on hot water heating system boilers.