24 www.aiche.

org/cep February 2013 CEP

Heat Transfer
C
ontinually rising costs for fresh water, and frequent
droughts and water shortages, have prompted
many industries to look for ways to conserve water.
Because their large cooling towers require signifcant
volumes of makeup water, petroleum refneries, chemi-
cal plants, general manufacturing plants, metal processing
facilities, and electric power generating stations can reap
substantial benefts from using recycled water.
Water reuse has been implemented successfully in many
types of plants in the U.S. and around the world. However,
there have also been some failures, usually due to a lack
of understanding of how to effectively use recycled water.
This article discusses some of the considerations involved
in reusing water for cooling tower makeup, and provides
guidelines for doing so effectively.
Water use for cooling
Evaporative cooling systems (see sidebar) in the chemi-
cal processing, petroleum refning, and power generating
industries consume large volumes of water via evaporation
and discharge, making them ideal candidates to realize the
benefts of replacing fresh water with recycled water.
For example, a medium-sized refnery or chemical plant
circulating 50,000 gpm of water with a 20F temperature
differential evaporates about 1,000 gpm of water. Since
these plants operate 24 h/d, 7 d/wk, this adds up to about
1.44 million gal/d, 43.2 million gal/mo, and more than half
a billion (518,400,000) gal/yr in evaporative losses. This
does not include the blowdown water, which depends on the
cycles of concentration (COC) at which the cooling tower
operates.
As water evaporates from the cooling tower, dissolved
minerals (e.g., chlorides) are left behind in the recirculat-
ing water, which eventually becomes more concentrated in
these substances than the makeup water. The term cycles of
concentration is a measure of this buildup, and is defned
as the concentration of minerals in the recirculating water
divided by the concentration of minerals in the makeup
water. For instance, if the mineral concentration in the recir-
culating water is fve times that of the fresh makeup water,
COC = 5. To keep the concentration below the saturation
point and prevent precipitation, a portion of the recirculat-
ing water, called blowdown (or drawoff), is removed and
replaced with fresh makeup water.
Blowdown and required makeup are calculated by:
E = R DT
F
/1,000 (1)
B
5COC
= E/(COC 1) (2)
M
5COC
= (E COC)/(COC 1) (3)
where E = evaporation rate (gpm), R = recirculation rate
(gpm), DT
F
= temperature difference (F), B
5COC
= blow-
down (gpm), COC = cycles of concentration, and M
5COC
=
makeup (gpm).
If the 50,000-gpm cooling tower mentioned earlier
operates at 5 COC, an additional 250 gpm, or 131.4 million
gal/yr, is lost to blowdown. The total makeup water require-
ment is 1,250 gpm, or 657,000,000 gal/yr.
Even at small facilities, the water loss can be signifcant.
A cooling tower at a small chemical plant operating at a
recirculation rate of 5,000 gpm with a 30F temperature dif-
ferential evaporates 150 gpm of water. Although this seems
Many types of used water may be appropriate
as cooling tower makeup. Heres how to determine
which waters are suitable and cost-effective
for the equipment in your cooling system.
Paul R. Puckorius
Puckorius & Associates, Inc.
Consider Recycled Water
for Your Cooling Tower
Makeup
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
CEP February 2013 www.aiche.org/cep 25
like a small volume, if the plant operates 24/7, it amounts to
78,840,000 gal/yr of evaporated water.
Thus, the potential to conserve fresh water by replac-
ing it with reused waters in industrial cooling towers is
signifcant.
What are reused waters?
There are numerous used waters that may be suitable
as cooling tower makeup, either as a total replacement or as
a replacement for a portion of the fresh water makeup. The
WateReuse Association classifes any water that was previ-
ously used for another purpose as recycled water.
Fresh waters typically have a conductivity of less than
3,000 microhms (m) or microsiemens (mS), or a total dis-
solved solids (TDS) content of about 1,800 mg/L. Recycled
waters can contain much more (sometimes much less) dis-
solved solids and other constituents (sometimes called con-
taminants) that are picked up during previous applications.
Used waters can be classifed as either internally or
externally generated (relative to the facility that reuses it).
Recycled waters can also be categorized by whether or not
they need to be treated before use as cooling tower makeup.
Table 1 provides examples of waters in each category.
Evaporative Cooling The Basics
M
ost process cooling towers in the chemical manu-
facturing, petroleum rening, and power generation
industries are recirculating evaporative systems. An
open, evaporative cooling tower distributes hot return
water from the process downward through nozzles into
labyrinth-like packing, or ll. The ll may consist of mul-
tiple, mainly vertical, wetted surfaces upon which a thin
lm of water spreads (known as lm ll), or several levels
of at horizontal slats that create a cascade of many
small droplets with a large total surface area (splash ll).
Nozzles evenly distribute the water into the ll, which
disperses the water into small droplets, increasing the
surface area for heat transfer from the water droplet to
the surrounding air. A portion of the water evaporates,
removing additional heat from the water stream. The
cooled water accumulates in a basin below the ll and
exits the tower via pumps.
As the water evaporates, the concentration of dis-
solved contaminants in the cooling water increases. A
small stream of concentrated cooling water, known as
blowdown or drawoff, is discharged to the drain to bal-
ance the concentration of these dissolved solids. The
blowdown water is then replaced with relatively fresh
water that has lower concentrations of dissolved con-
taminants (makeup). This dilution prevents the formation
of high concentrations of dissolved contaminants that
would precipitate onto heat-transfer surfaces and reduce
thermal efciency. Bafes minimize uncontrolled water
loss known as windage or drift that occurs when the air
ow traps small droplets of cooling water. Water loss may
also occur through splashing, misting, or the escape of
water through the air inlet opening.
The gure illustrates the mass balance given by:
M = E + W + D + L
where M is makeup water, E is evaporated water, W is
windage or drift loss, D is drawoff or blowdown water,
and L is leakage.
Source: (1).
W
M
E
C
D
Pump
Basin
Process
Coolers
Air
Ambient Air
Ambient Air
Table 1. Recycled water is classied based on whether
it originates within or outside of the plant reusing it, and
whether it can be used as-is or requires further treatment.
Water Category Examples
Internally
Generated
Cooling Tower Blowdown
Boiler Blowdown
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Reject Water
Ion Exchange Rinse Water
Process Waters
Chemical Plant Wash Waters
Industrial Wastewater
Externally
Generated
Municipal Wastewater
Storm Drainage
Rain Water
Mine Drainage
Industrial Wastewater
Produced Waters from Oil or Gas Drilling
or Hydraulic Fracturing
Further Treatment
Usually
Not Needed
Ion Exchange Rinse Water
RO Reject Water
Boiler Blowdown
Steam Condensate
Various Process Wash Waters
Further Treatment
Usually Required
Industrial Wastewater
Cooling Tower Blowdown
Mine or Storm Drainage
Many Process Waters
Municipal Wastewater
Article continues on next page
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
26 www.aiche.org/cep February 2013 CEP
Heat Transfer
Recycled waters as cooling tower makeup
It is not always practical or economical to totally replace
fresh water with recycled water, because some used waters
are not suitable as 100% replacements. For example,
reverse osmosis (RO) reject water usually contains exces-
sive minerals that make it unsuitable for total replacement.
However, such waters can often replace a portion of
the fresh makeup water. For instance, replacing 5% of the
fresh water with RO reject water typically has only a minor
impact on the total makeup water quality (Table 2). If
the RO feedwater was softened prior to entering the RO
modules (a common practice to prevent fouling or scaling
of the RO membranes), the RO reject water has little or
no hardness, and thus less potential to cause scaling in the
cooling tower system.
When more than one type of used water is available, it
is common to blend different recycled waters. In such cases,
the quality, quantity, and consistency of quality and supply
of each recycled water needs to be evaluated.
Although in theory many recycled waters could serve as
cooling tower makeup, treated municipal wastewater is the
most commonly reused water because it is available in large
volumes.
Recycling municipal wastewater
as cooling tower makeup
Treated municipal wastewater is often of good quality,
depending on the process used to treat it (Ref. 2 discusses
wastewater treatment technologies) and the level of treat-
ment. Primary treatment is the frst, rough treatment step
that removes suspended solids and some organics, typically
by fltration and sedimentation.
Secondary treatment removes additional organic
contaminants. Secondary-treated municipal wastewater is
generally acceptable for cooling tower makeup. Although
it often contains phosphate and ammonia sometimes as
much as 20 ppm of phosphate (as PO
4
) and over 50 ppm of
ammonia (as NH
3
) some utility power plants in Mexico
have used secondary-treated reclaimed water for many
years. This has been possible because the cooling towers
operate at low cycles of concentration (typically about 23)
due to the rather poor quality of the recycled water as well
as external demand for the cooling tower blowdown (which
local farmers use for crop irrigation to take advantage of its
high levels of ammonia and phosphate, common fertilizer
ingredients).
Tertiary treatment removes ammonia and reduces
phosphate concentrations to a few parts per million or less.
Tertiary-treated municipal wastewater is the most common
recycled water used for cooling tower makeup in many
industries, because large volumes are available and the
water is of relatively high purity (Table 3).
Some tertiary-treated municipal wastewaters contain
problematic constituents. Ammonia causes stress corrosion
cracking (SCC) in copper alloys, and high levels of chlo-
rides cause pitting corrosion and SCC in stainless steel. High
Table 2. Blending a small amount of RO reject water
with fresh water does not have an adverse impact on the
quality of the total cooling tower makeup water.
Constituent
Fresh Water
(95%), mg/L
RO Reject
(5%), mg/L
Final
Makeup
(100%),
mg/L
Total Dissolved
Solids (TDS)
800 4,000 960
Total Hardness 300 10 285
Calcium Hardness 200 5 18
Total Alkalinity 250 1,000 388
Chlorides 80 320 92
Sulfates 30 120 95
Silica 5 20 6
Total Organics 20 80 24
Phosphate 0 40 2
Table 3. After undergoing tertiary treatment,
municipal wastewater quality is suitable
for recycling as cooling tower makeup.
Constituent Typical Value, mg/L
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 690
Total Hardness (CaCO
3
) 250
Calcium Hardness (CaCO
3
) 150
Total Alkalinity (CaCO
3
) 230
Silica (SiO
2
) 10
Total Phosphate (PO
4
) 4.0
Orthophosphate (PO
4
) 3.0
Ammonia (NH
3
) 1
Nitrates (NO
3
) 55
Iron (Fe) 0.05
Copper (Cu) 0.01
Chloride (Cl) 180
Fluoride (F) 1.5
Sulfate (SO
4
) 110
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 30
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) 12
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) <0.5
Barium (Ba) 3
Strontium (St) 1
pH 7.5
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
CEP February 2013 www.aiche.org/cep 27
concentrations of calcium (hardness) in the recycled water
can cause scale to form in high-temperature (140160F
cooling water) heat exchangers.
On the other hand, some constituents may be benefcial
to cooling systems. Nitrates protect against stainless steel
corrosion, and phosphate is a good corrosion inhibitor for
carbon steel. Tertiary-treated municipal wastewaters almost
always contain 12 ppm of free chlorine, which can reduce
the plants need for chemicals to control microbiological
fouling.
Compatibility considerations
Successful water reuse depends on correctly matching
the cooling system equipment and the required cooling
tower water quality with the quality of the recycled makeup
water that will contact the equipment. This matching can
vary, depending on whether an existing cooling system is
involved or a new system can be designed and fabricated to
handle the recycled water.
Most existing cooling water systems were designed to
utilize fresh makeup water. A few systems were designed
to employ recycled water as cooling tower makeup the
largest in the U.S. is the Palo Verde nuclear plant near Phoe-
nix, AZ but (to our knowledge) this has not been done at
any U.S. petroleum refneries or chemical plants. Therefore,
this discussion focuses on existing cooling towers (not
specifcally designed for recycled water).
The frst step in evaluating whether a cooling system
can replace some of its fresh water makeup with recycled
water is not to determine if treated municipal wastewater
can be used, but rather, to determine what water quality
is required to prevent the recycled water from damaging
the equipment it contacts. Thus, it is critical to know the
metallurgy of the equipment in the entire cooling system,
the operating parameters of that equipment (including the
maximum bulk water temperatures and minimum cooling
water velocities through the heat exchangers), the identity
of any potential contaminants in the process fuids that
could migrate into the cooling water, and whether stagnant
periods of operation are expected.
Some general compatibility guidelines are:
If any equipment is made of copper or admiralty brass
(an alloy of 70% copper and 30% zinc), the cooling tower
water should be free of ammonia. Copper-nickel alloys can
tolerate minimal amounts of ammonia (Table 4).
In stainless steel systems, chloride levels should be
kept below the limits in Table 5.
Mild steel requires low copper levels less than 1.0
ppm (as Cu) in the cooling tower water to prevent copper
plating, which can cause galvanic corrosion of the mild steel.
High bulk water temperatures require limiting phos-
phate, calcium, and pH levels in the cooling tower water
as shown in Table 6 to prevent the formation of scale and
deposits.
Low water velocities should be avoided to prevent the
formation of deposits and under-deposit corrosion (Table 7).
Water fow through tubes should be maintained above 3 ft/s.
Table 4. Copper and copper alloys
should not be exposed to ammonia.
Alloy
Maximum Ammonia*
(as NH
3
), mg/L
Copper None
Copper/Zinc (Admirality 70/30) None
Copper/Nickel (90/10) 10
Copper/Nickel (70/30) 20
*At a maximum water temperature of 125F.
Table 5. The chloride content of water contacting stainless
steel should be kept below these limits.
Alloy
Maximum Chlorides (as Cl

), mg/L
80F 140F
Type 304 200 150
Type 304L 300 200
Type 316 600 400
Type 316L 1,000 800
Type 317 1,200 1,000
Type 317LMN 1,800 1,200
Type 904L 3,000 2,000
AL6X 7,000 5,000
AL6XN 20,000 15,000
Table 6. At high bulk water temperatures,
phosphate, calcium, and pH should meet these limits.
Temperature,
F
Phosphate
(PO
4
)
Calcium
(CaCO
3
) pH
>140 8 600 7.0
120140 10 400 7.2
100120 10 400 7.4
90100 15 400 7.6
< 90 15 400 7.8
Table 7. Increasing water velocity
reduces the potential for deposits.
Velocity, ft/s Deposit Potential
<1 Very High
13 Moderate
35 Slight
>5 Very Slight
Article continues on next page
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
28 www.aiche.org/cep February 2013 CEP
Heat Transfer
Concentrations of organics should be minimized, as
high levels (over about 50 mg/L) can promote the formation
of microbiological deposits and microbiologically infu-
enced corrosion (MIC).
Wooden cooling towers are common in petroleum
refneries and chemical plants, so the impact of recycled
water on the leaching of preservative from the wood and the
towers fll (mainly flm-type fll) needs to be evaluated for
possible plugging.
Guidelines for successful use of recycled water
1. Obtain analyses of all available recycled waters, as
well as the required quality specifcations of the cooling
tower water. These analyses should be detailed as shown
in Table 3, and should include the maximum and average
values for at least 24 months to account for variations.
2. Determine the design of the heat exchangers, i.e.,
whether the cooling water is on the tubeside or shellside
(if it is on the shellside, minimizing corrosion and deposits
is very diffcult), the materials of construction, and operat-
ing parameters of the cooling system, including all equip-
ment that comes into contact with the cooling water. Do
not forget the cooling tower, piping, and all heat-transfer
equipment.
3. Determine the limitations of the cooling-water-
contacted equipment and evaluate the potential of the recy-
cled water to cause or promote corrosion and deposition.
4. Determine whether the available recycled waters
require further treatment or can be utilized as-is, without
further treatment.
5. Identify the water-treatment program needed to
protect the equipment that contacts the cooling tower water
from corrosion, scale, fouling, and microbial corrosion and
fouling.
6. Establish testing, monitoring, and performance
criteria and procedures, and evaluate the performance of the
current cooling-water-treatment program. This provides a
baseline against which operation with recycled water can be
compared.
7. Rapid monitoring of corrosion and deposition is
needed particularly when recycled water is used so
any needed changes to the treatment program can be made
quickly, before adverse impacts result.
8. Determine whether monitoring for pathogenic micro-
organisms is needed, and if so, implement that.
The following examples illustrate the use of recycled
water in two existing cooling tower systems.
Example 1. Petroleum renery catalytic cracker
A 30-yr-old wood cooling tower with polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) flm fll served a refnerys catalytic cracker, operat-
ing 24 h/d, 7 d/wk. The system contained mild-steel piping
and multiple mild-steel heat exchangers with admiralty
brass tubes (no stainless steel heat exchangers). It was
designed for a maximum bulk water temperature of 130F, a
30F DT, minimum tubeside water velocities of 1.5 ft/s, and
a recirculation rate of 50,000 gpm. The fresh water makeup
was to be replaced by recycled municipal wastewater con-
taining 10 mg/L ammonia (as NH
3
), 20 mg/L phosphate (as
PO
4
), and 70 ppm chlorides (as Cl

); this level of chlorides

was twice that of the fresh water.
To obtain acceptable recycled-water quality while
operating at a similar COC, the refnery implemented the
following changes:
initiated nitrifcation to remove the ammonia from the
municipal wastewater, to prevent cracking of the admiralty
brass tubes
reduced the phosphate level to 24 mg/L, to prevent
excess deposition
revised the current water-treatment program to take
advantage of the phosphate in the makeup water
increased deposit control by adjusting the levels of
deposit-control chemicals, because several heat exchangers
had cooling water with a high temperature (130F) and low
velocity (<1.5 ft/s)
reduced the dosage of phosphate being used in the
cooling tower water as a mild-steel corrosion inhibitor,
because the phosphate and nitrate (from ammonia nitrifca-
tion) in the makeup water help serve this purpose
increased the levels of copper inhibitor in the cooling
water, because the recycled water had a high chlorides con-
tent 70 mg/L, vs. 35 mg/L chlorides in the fresh water
increased microbiological treatment levels by 20%,
due to the presence of nitrates and organics in the recycled
water.
Results: The systems corrosion-, deposit-, and micro-
biological-control performance improved, and costs for
water and water treatment fell by 20%. This cost reduction
was due in part to the presence of phosphate and nitrates in
the recycled water, which reduced the phosphate treatment
requirements. The cost of the recycled water was about half
the cost of fresh water. Increased monitoring of the cooling
water was needed due to the varying recycled water quality.
Example 2: Chemical plant
A wood cooling tower with PVC flm fll, a concrete
basin, and mild-steel piping operated 24 h/d, 7 d/wk.
The cooling system contained several mild-steel tubular
heat exchangers and many stainless steel (Type 304 and
Type 316) exchangers; in some exchangers, water fowed
Recycled water is the future water source
for many cooling towers large and small, so
now is the time to start considering its use.
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
CEP February 2013 www.aiche.org/cep 29
inside the tubes with a minimum velocity of 4 ft/s, and
in others water fowed on the shellside with a minimum
velocity of 2 ft/s. The system was designed for a maximum
cooling water temperature of 150F from several heat
exchangers and a recirculation rate of 35,000 gpm. The
fresh makeup water was to be replaced with recycled water
of the following quality: ammonia at 5 mg/L (as NH
3
);
phosphate at 3 mg/L (as PO
4
); and chlorides at 100 mg/L
(as Cl

), which was twice the chlorides concentration of the

fresh water.
The switch to recycled water did not require further
treatment. Specifcally:
phosphate addition was not needed because the phos-
phate in the recycled water served as a corrosion inhibitor
ammonia removal was not needed because no copper
alloys were present.
Rather, the changes in cooling system operation
occurred due to:
improved cooling water deposit control, to prevent the
buildup of chlorides under deposits, particularly in several
heat exchangers with cooling water on the shellside
a reduction in COC, from 8 with fresh water to 4 with
recycled water, because of the high chlorides content and
the stainless steel tubular exchangers.
Results: The need for deposit control increased due
to the high level of chlorides in the recycled water. The
plant dealt with this by reducing the cycles of concentra-
tion. Alternatively, instead of total replacement, the plant
could have blended the recycled water with the fresh water.
Water treatment costs increased by 30%, but this was offset
by lower recycled water costs. Overall costs were about
the same as with fresh water, but the local municipality
had more fresh water for potable use. As in the previous
example, increased monitoring of cooling water was needed
due to the varying recycled water quality.
Closing thoughts
Virtually any recycled water, either alone or blended
with other recycled waters, can successfully replace all or
part of the fresh water in a cooling towers makeup water
supply. The large cooling towers, with their large water-
consumption rates, in petroleum refneries, chemical plants,
and utility power stations offer an excellent opportunity
to not only save fresh water, but also to reduce operating
costs through lower water costs, lower chemical costs,
and/or lower energy costs. The key to success is to match
the acceptable recycled-water quality with the equipment
that it will come into contact with based on the design and
operating conditions of the existing system.
Recycled water is the future water source for many
cooling towers big and small, so now is the time to start
considering its use.
Literature Cited
1. Huchler, L., Cooling Towers, Part 1: Siting, Selecting, and
Sizing, Chem. Eng. Progress, 105 (8), pp. 5154 (Aug. 2008).
2. Doble, M., and V. Geetha, Understand the Fundamentals
of Wastewater Treatment, Chem. Eng. Progress, 107 (10),
pp. 3642 (Oct. 2011).
Additional Reading
American Iron and Steel Institute, A Discussion of Stainless
Steel for Surface Condenser and Feedwater Heater Tubing,
Committee of Stainless Steel Producers, AISI, Washington,
DC (Mar. 1974).
Fisher, J. C., et al., Utility Power Plant Cooling Water Criteria with
Reuse Water in Denver, CO, Water Reuse Symposium (2005).
Hargrave, R. E., Behavior of 300 Series Stainless Steel Heat
Exchangers in Cooling Water Service, Paper No. 04080,
presented at Corrosion 2004, NACE International, New
Orleans, LA (2004).
Puckorius, P. R., and G. Loretitisch, Water Quality and Water
Treatment Requirements for Recycle/Reuse in Industrial and
Utility Plants, Paper No. IWC-05-52, presented at the 66th
Annual International Water Conference, Orlando, FL (2005).
Puckorius, P. R., Reuse Experiences with Boiler and Cooling Water
Systems in Petroleum Refneries, Paper No. 05542, presented at
Corrosion 2005, NACE International, Houston, TX (2005).
Puckorius, P. R., and J. Sims, A Practical Guide to Water Recycle-
Reuse, Paper No. 97484, presented at Corrosion 97, NACE
International, Houston, TX (1997).
Puckorius, P. R., Considerations for Water Reuse in Industrial
Plants, NACE 7N197, NACE International, Houston, TX (1997).
Puckorius, P. R., Monitoring Requirements with Reuse Waters for
Cooling Systems, Paper No. 96584, presented at Corrosion 96,
NACE International, Denver, CO (1996).
Puckorius, P. R., et al., Reclaimed Water as Cooling Tower Makeup
for Refneries/Petrochemical Plants Southern Californias
Activities and Time Table, Paper No. TP95-15, Cooling Tower
Institute (CTI), Houston, TX (1995).
Water Conservation Guide for Cooling Towers, Environmental
Services Dept., City of San Jose, CA (Dec. 1992).
PAUL R. PUCKORIUS is President and CEO of Puckorius & Associates, Inc.
(6621 W. 56th Ave., Suite 200, Arvada, CO 80002; Cell: (303) 638-0587;
Email: waterphd1@aol.com; Website: www.puckorius.com). With more
than 50 years of experience in all types of water systems, he specializes
in corrosion, scale, and microbiological problem-solving, treatment
selection, and system startup in cooling tower water systems in a wide
range of industries. He has extensive experience in the use of recycled
water in cooling tower water systems and in boilers. He also has exten-
sive knowledge and expertise relative to the investigation and control
of Legionella in cooling and potable water systems. He has worked
in many types of industrial plants throughout North America, Europe,
Asia, and the Middle East. He is past president of the Cooling Technol-
ogy Institute, has published over 150 articles in technical and trade
journals, and has been a speaker at numerous conferences throughout
the world. He has received the Merit Award from the International
Water Conference. He holds a bachelors degree in chemistry with a
minor in mathematics from North Central College (Naperville, IL).
CEP
Copyright 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)