WATER

TREATMENT IN
POWER PLANTS
BY
S.VISWANATHAN

UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF WATER

- Only common substance available that
exists in three (ice, water, steam) at
normal temp.
- Absorbs more heat for a given temp rise
than any other inorganic substance
- Expands 1600 times as it evaporates at
atmospheric pressure to form steam
- Capable of carrying large quality of heat
- Ideal working fluid for power generation

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF
WATER
Pure water is simple combination
of Hydrogen and Oxygen (H2O)
Hybrid forms
1) Water with 300ppm of D2o
- used as moderator in nuclear
reactors
2) Tritium oxide
- TO is made radioactive by cosmic
rays
- Serves as a means of measuring
the age of water supply

SOURCES OF WATER
- Surface Water
- Running Water
- Stagnant Water

- Ground Water
- Shallow well
- Deep Bore Well

CLASSIFICATION OF IMPURITIES
IN WATER
- Suspended solids, turbidity,mud,silt
- Excessive colour due to decayed
vegetation
- Micro organism
- Bacteria, fungi, algae
- Iron and Manganese
- Organics, Colloids
- Hardness - Carbonates,
Sulfates,Chlorides of Ca, Mg, K, Na
- Dissolved gases, 02, c2o, NH4, H2S
- Silica

RIVER WATER
River water carrying High
Dissolved and suspended
solids plus organic matter.

LAKE WATER
Lake water fairly constant
composition and seasonal
change in turbidity. It may be
softer than well water but
contains more organic maters.

BORE WELL WATER

Fairly constant in composition
and quite hard. It is clearer, has
fewer organic colours, tastes and
odours than most surface water.

SEA WATER
It contains different salts and other
contaminants in larger quantity
(0.04 to 1.0 Kg per 1000 litres)

RAIN WATER
It contains dissolved
carbondioxide and soluble
gases present in the air.

EFFECTS OF
CONTAMINANTS IN
WATER
Foaming, Priming and Carry
Over
Scale Deposits
Corrosion
Silica Carry Over

FOAMING
- Caused by very high concentrations
of soluble or insoluble solids in boiler
waterline alkalies, oils, fats, greases,
certain organic matter and suspended
solids.
- Formation of soap due to
soponification of oil by water alkalies.
- Collection of suspended solids in
surface film surrounding a steam
bubble

FOAMING
- Bubbles form on the surface of
water and leaves with the steam
- Small droplets of water in the form
of mist or spray are thrown into
steam space by the bursting of
rapidly rising bubbles (aqua globe
ejection)

PRIMING
- Sudden surge of boiler water
caused by rapid change in load
- Caused by damaged steam
separators, operation above
boiler rating, fluctuations in
steam demand, high water
level

CARRY OVER
- Contamination of steam with boiler
water solids
- Results in deposits, corrosion and
contamination in S.H., Turbine and
other processes using steam

DEPOSITS
- Evaporation in boiler causes
impurities to concentrate
- Scales results from water impurities
precipitating out on heat transfer
surfaces or by suspended matter
settling out on the metal and
becoming hard and adherent
- High temp. break down some
minerals causing others to become
less soluble.

IMPURITIES FORMING
DEPOSITS
- Dissolved bicarbonates of Ca & Mg
break down under heat to give off
CO2 and form insoluble carbonates.
- Carbonates may precipitate directly
on Boiler metal or form sludge
which may deposit
- Calcium Sulphate becomes less
soluble at high temp. Sulphate and
Silica generally precipitate directly
on boiler metal and do not form
sludge. These deposits are harder

IMPURITIES FORMING DEPOSITS

- Suspended or dissolved iron
- Oil and other process contaminants; they
also promote deposition of other
impurities
- Most common deposits are CaCO3, CaSO4,
Calcium silicate, MgOH, Magnesium
silicate, iron and copper oxides, silica.
- Sodium compounds usually do not deposit
- Deposits are generally a mixture of
various types of minerals, corrosion
products and water contaminants.
- Deposits form many type of crystalline
structures

PHOSPHATE
- Normally found in boilers using
phosphate treatment
- Deposits are soft brown are Grey
- Easily removable by normal cleaning
methods
- Product of preferred reaction
- Non-adherent and can be
conditioned with organic sludge
conditioners
- Calcium phosphate predominant
compound

CARBONATE
- Granular and some times porous
- Crystals of caco3 are large, matted
together with finely divided
particles of the material
- Looks dense and uniform
- Can be identified by CO2 effervesce
when dropped in acid solution

SULPHATE
- Much harder and more dense than
carbonate
- Small crystal structure
- Brittle, will not pulverise easily
- Will not effervesce when dropped in
acid

SILICA
- Hard, resembling porcelain
- Crystals are extremely small
forming dense impervious scale
- Brittle, difficult to pulverise
- Not soluble in Hydro Chloric Acid

IRON
- From corrosion products or iron
contamination in water
- Very dark and magnetic
- Soluble in hot acid giving dark
brown solution

SCALE
Reduces heat transfer
Causes overheating of
tube metal

CORROSION
- Occur in Feed water system due to low pH
water, presence of dissolved O2 & CO2
- Occur in Boiler when pH is too low or too
high or when metal is exposed to O 2 bearing
water during operation or idle condition
- High temperature and stresses in the boiler
may accelerate the corrosive mechanism
- In Steam and Condensate system result of
contamination with O2 & CO2
- Ammonia or Sulphur bearing Gases may
increase attack on Copper alloys in the
system

CORROSION FATIQUE
- Cyclic stresses, such as created by
rapid heating and cooling are
concentrated at points where
corrosion has roughened or pitted
the metal surface.
- Also corrosion fatigue cracks
originate where the metal surfaces
are covered by a dense protective
film and cracking occurs from the
action of applied cyclic stresses.
- These cracks are usually thick,
blunt and across the metal grains

EFECT OF BICARBONATE
- Formed from dissolved CO2 in water
- In the cold and at pH above 4
CO2 +H2O
H+ + HCO3- Reaction lowers pH
- At pH 4 the reaction stops
- Any surplus CO2 just remains as dissolved
gas
- By dissolving sufficient CO2 pH can be
lowered to 4
- Below pH 4 or in hot
- HCO3- + H +
CO2 + H2 O
- Now pH will raise
- Results in formation of Ca or Mg scale