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SidestreamFiltrationofCoolingSystems
Coolingtowersscrublargevolumesofairandeffectivelyremovesolidsconsistingofdust,
microbiologicalorganisms,andvariousairbornedebris.Makeuptothetoweraddssuspendedsolidsin
theformofcorrosionproducts,microbiologicalgrowthsandwoodfibersfromthetower,andprocess
leaks.Ifallowedtosettleout,thesesolidscananddogeneratemanyproblemswithinthesystem.With
heavysolidsloading,eventhebesttreatmentprogramcanbeseverelystrained.Underthese
circumstances,significantimprovementmightberealizedwiththeuseofasidestreamfilter.
Aprovenmethodtohelpmanagetheseandotherissuessurroundingcoolingtowersistoinstalla
properlydesignedsidestreamfilter.Thiscanbenefityoursystemthrough:
1. ReducedCorrosionRates
2. IncreasedEquipmentLife
3. BetterSystemEfficiency
4. ReducedMaintenanceCosts
5. BetterChemicalControl

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WhentoConsiderSidestreamFilters
Theinstallationofasidestreamfilterisacapitalexpense,whichmaybehardtojustifyinmostplants.
Considerthefollowingasindicationsthataplantshouldlookintothepossibilityofinstallingafilter.

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1. Theprimarymakeupisfromanunclarifiedwatersource(river,sewagetreatment,etc.)thatishigh
insuspendedsolidsand/oriron.
2. Thesystemishavingadifficultbiologicalproblemeventhoughagoodbiocideprogramisin
effect.
3. Heatexchangersareopeningdirtyeventhoughagoodantifoulantprogramisbeingused.
4. Excessivecorrosionratescanbetracedtofouling.
5. Lossofheattransferisattributedtodepositionratherthancorrosion.
6. Highlevelsofsolidsarebuildingupinthesump.
7. Heatexchangersrequirefrequentmechanicalcleanings.
Asstated,theseareindicativeonly.Byidentifyingpotentialthreatstoyoursystemsandsolutionstothose
threats,youcandeterminethepaybacksofinstallingasidestreamfiltrationsystem.Oftenthepaybackis
lesstimethanyouwouldthink.Thiswillvarywidelyfromsystemtosystemthefinaldecisionwillalways
restwithaplant,andwillalwaysbedecidedoneconomicgrounds.

SidestreamFilterBenefits
Onceaproblemhasbeenrecognized,severalbenefitscanresultfromtheuseofasidestreamfilter.
Obviously,notallofthoselistedbelowapplytoallsystems,andgoodjudgmentmustbeappliedbefore
makinganyclaims.However,bearingthatinmind,thefollowingbenefitscanberealized:
1. Sincesolidsareremovedfromthesystem,thecorrosioninhibitorwilllaydownitsprotectivefilm
oncleanratherthandirtysurfaces,therebyreducingcorrosionratesandincreasingequipment
life.
2. Whenusedwithgoodchemicaltreatment,thefilterwillkeepthesystemmuchcleaner,and,asa
result,theneedformechanicalcleaningofexchangersandsumpsisreduced.
3. Acleanersystemmeansbetterheattransferratesforlongerperiodsoftime.

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4. Insomecases,theremovalofsuspendedsolidsfromthecirculatingwaterallowshighercycle.
5. Largebiologicalgrowthsanddeadorganismsareremovedwithasidestreamfilter.Thisreduces
chlorinedemandandmakesnonoxidizingbiocidesmoreeffective.

FilterDesign
Itisstronglyrecommendedthataparticleanalysisbedoneontherepresentativestreamthatistobe
treated.Thiscanbereviewedwhileplanningyoursidestreamtreatment.Formostsidestreamfiltration,a
centrifugalstylefilterisoptimal.Itwillremovethemajorproblemsyoursystemfacesandrequireverylittle
maintenanceorrepair.However,eachfilterproductdoeshaveitslimits.

CentrifugalFilters
Theminimumparticlesizetypicallyremovedis80micron.Thishappensonlywhentheparticlesareall
1.2timesthedensityofwaterorhigher.Thesetypesoffiltersaremorelikelyfoundinamixedstream
where200microncanbeplannedupon.

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AutoBackwashableScreen
Thisscreensizeisrelativelyabsolutesothesystemcanbecustomizedtotheparticlesizedesired.
Screensareavailabledownto20microns(10micronslisted,butisnotrealdurableformosttower
applications).Thereisaproblemiftheparticlesizegoestoolow.Theamountofwaterneededto
backwashthescreencanbeexcessive.Also,thedebriscansticktothescreenrequiringmanualclean
up.

BagFilters
Thisfilterrequireslaborinchangingoutthebagswhenfull.However,bagfiltersoffertheflexibilityof
adjustingthemicronfiltrationprovidedwhenneeded(forinstanceincottonwoodseedtime).

CartridgeFilters
Theinitialexpenseofthesefiltersiscomparablewithotherfiltershowever,theongoingexpenseismuch
higher.Cartridgefiltersofferflexibilitylikebagfilters,butwithlittleornobypass.

SandFilters
Whilesandfiltersarethemostexpensiveofallthefilterslistedhere,theyareproveneffectiveand
reliable.Whensetuptobackwashonpressuredifferential,theycanhandleloadvariationswith
manpower.

FilterMedia
Sizeofthemediumisimportant,sinceitmust:
1. Stopsuspendedsolidsfrompassingthrough
2. Holdsolidslooselyforeasyremovalduringbackwashing.
3. Becapableofholdingagivenquantityofsolidswithoutclogging
Mediumsizeisdefinedbytwofigures:

Follow
+ 823

+1

1. EffectiveSize:Particlesizeabovewhich90%ofthemediumislarger
2. UniformityCoefficient:Effectivesizedividedintotheparticlesizeabovewhich90%ofthemedium
islarger.
Inmostcases,sandoranthraciteisthefiltermediumused,andsometimesthetwowillbeusedtogether
(mixedmedia).Thefilterbedscontaindifferentsizelayersofthemedia.Finesandoranthracitewillbe
ontop,withlargerandcoarsergradesunderneath.Thesewillbesupportedongradedgravelorheavy
anthracite.
Mostfiltersoperateatafiltrationrateof2to3gallonsperminutepersquarefootoffiltersurface.
Backwashrateisenoughtoexpandthefilterbedby50%,usually10to20gallonsperminutepersquare
footforsandand5to10gallonsperminutepersquarefootforanthracite.
Filtermediawillusuallybeselectedto:
1. Removethoseparticleswiththegreatesttendencytosettle.
2. Beleastexpensiveforagivenwaterthroughput.
3. Requireaminimalbackwashrate.

FilterSizing
Historically,filtersweredesignedtohandleapproximately2%ofthecirculatingrate.Thisruleofthumb
hasprovedinadequateforthedesignofsidestreamfiltersinmodernindustrialplants,andasounder
engineeringapproachisnowbeingused.
Ifthesuspendedsolidsenteringthesystemisconstant,andknown,andthesolidsdesiredisalsoknown,
andthesetwoconditionsareinequilibriumstates(littlevariationofeither),thefiltersizecanbe
determinedby:

Again,thisrequirestheexistenceofasteadystatecondition.Whenthecontaminationenteringasystem
iserraticbecauseofvaryingsolidsenteringthesystemwiththemakeup(forinstance,afteraheavyrain),
orwiththeair(forinstance,windshiftschangingthedustlevelintheair),thisequationcannotbeused.
Thefollowingformulaforthecalculationoffiltersizeassumesthatthevaryingsolidsloadingmustbe
removedfromthesysteminaperiodoftimethatispractical,yetshortenoughsothatseriousdeposits
willnotform.Inpractice,a95%reductionofasuddensolidsloadin1to3dayswillpreventexcessive
foulingandallowafiltersizethatisnotprohibitivelyexpensive.Theformulausedis:

Theinformationonfilterdesignandsizingisprovidedonlyasaguide.Thespecificsarebetterleftto
manufacturersofthefiltrationequipment.

Summary
Sidestreamfiltrationisaneffectivetoolforthecontrolofdepositionandfoulinginacoolingwatersystem.
Owingtothecapitalinvestmentrequired,itsuseshouldbecarefullyconsidered.Itshouldnotbe
recommendedorusedasasubstituteforgoodengineeringpractices,goodcontrol,orgoodprograms,
norshoulditbeusedtoovercomebasicdesignflawsinthesystem.

AbouttheAuthor:DanLingenisBusinessDevelopmentMangerforUSWaterServices.Hehas24years
ofexperienceinthewatertreatmentindustry.Hisareasofexpertiseincludesuseoffiltration,DAF,

reverseosmosisandpolymersinwaterreuseapplications,andboilerandcoolingwatersystems.

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