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COOLINGTOWERANDCHILLERCLEANINGPROCEDURES

COOLINGTOWERANDCHILLERCLEANINGPROCEDURES
Weoffertwowaystocleanacoolingtower/chiller.Thefirstbeingamechanicalcleaningandthe
secondbeingachemicalcleaning.Attimes,youmayhavetoencompassbothmethodsinorder
toaccomplishthetaskathand.Consultyourwatertreatmentrep.andhavehimassistyouin
determiningthebestprocedure.
Chemicalcleaningsinvolvethreedistinctseparateprocedures.Onebeingtheuseofa
dispersanttoloosenbiomassesandgetintodifficultareas..Thesecondbeingtheuseofacidfor
severescaling.ThethirdisadisinfectionforbacteriaandLegionellapreventionandelimination.
Youhavetodeterminewhichmethodisbestsuitedforyoursituation.Youmayhavetousea
combinationofthethreeinsomecases.Consultyourwatertreatmentspecialistifyouhaveany
questions.
COOLINGTOWERPRECLEANINGPREPARATION
Whetheryouaremechanicallyorchemicallycleaningacoolingtower,thesestepsmusttake
placefirst.Itisimportantthateachstepbeadheredto.Theorderofthestepscanbefluctuated
buteachstepmustbedonetoinsureyoursafety.
1.Thetowermustbeisolatedfromthesystem.Turnoffandsecuretheelectricalserviceto
thetower.Besurethetowerfanisoff,themaincirculatingpumpsareoff,andthe
temperaturesensorsareofforputinanoneoperationalmode.Lockoutandtagoutthe
mainpowerswitch.
2.Closethevalvesthatsupplyandreturnwatertoandfromthetower.
3.Closethemakeupwatervalvetothetower.
4.Openbottomdrainofthetower.Removeoverflowpipe.
5.Removethegratecoveringthesuctionintakeforcleaningifpossible.
6.Haveaseparategardenhoseready,charged,andplaceintoweroncethetowerhasbeen
drainedout.Haveyoursqueegee,broom,andshovelreadyandplaceintower.
7.Suitupwithwaterproofboots,coveralls,gloves,hat,andfaceprotection.
8.Beginyourcleaning.Oncecleaned,reversetheprocedureforstartup.
MECHANICALCLEANING
Thistypeofcleaningwillinvolvetheuseofapowerwasher,agardenhosewithpowerspray
nozzle,shovel,broom,andsqueegee.Thistypeofcleaningindesignedtoremoveallalgae,
slightscale,dirt,mud,andcollecteddebris.Thepurposeisannualcleaningsandremovalofdirt
toregaincoolingperformance.Attimesitisstrictlycosmetic.
Startingatthehotdeck,usingthepressurewasher,washcoolingtowerblades,screen,insideof
exhaustcollar,andhotdeck.Removethecoversofthehotdeckandbesurealldrainholesare
freeofscaleanddebris.Washentireareawherewaterflowstothefill.Makenoteifanyspray
nozzlesaremissingorbroken.Informchiefengineeriftheyare.
Becarefulwhencleaningthefillwithapressurewasher.Thepressureandstreamwillcausethe
filltobreakeasilyandsnapoff.Useaspraystreamandnotastraightstream.Cleanthefillfrom
toptobottom,outsideandinside.Washthesumparea,alsooutsideandunderthefill.
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COOLINGTOWERANDCHILLERCLEANINGPROCEDURES

Cleantheinsideofthetowerfill,toptobottom,thewalls,andunderthefanblades.Removeall
signsofalgae,dirtanddebrisfromfloatvalve.Usingtheshovelorsqueegee,besurethefloor
ofthesumpiscleanandfreeofallmudanddeposition.Useyourhosetocleanunderfilland
insideoffill.Afterwashoutisover,checktobesurenoloosescalehasbrokenoffandisnt
lodgedsomewhereinthebottomoffill.
Whenfinished,shutthedrain,resetoverflowpipe,andopenthemakeupvalvetorefilltower.
Addsufficientchemicalforstartup.Consultwithyourwatertreatmentrep.forthecorrectamount
ofchemicaltoaddtothetower.Oncethetowerisfilled,slowlyopensupplyandreturnvalves.
Towermayaddmorewateroncethesupplyandreturnvalvesareopenastodisplacetrapped
air.Removelockoutandtagoutmaterials.Havechiefengineerinspecttowerandhavehim
startelectricalservicetostarttower.Watchthewaterleveltobesureitremainsatsufficient
levelsforoperation.Oncetowerisinservice,havechiefengineersignoffonyourreportthat
towercleaningiscompleted.
CHEMICALCLEANING
Thisismuchmoreinvolvedthanamechanicalcleaning.Youneedtofirstestablishthepurpose
ofthechemicalcleaning.Thisisveryimportant.Consultwithyourwatertreatmentrep.There
areseveralsteps/teststhatneedtobeperformedpriortotheactualcleaning.Thisisvery
important.
TypesofChemicalCleaning
Theuseofabiodispersantalonewillhelpremovedirtandloosenbiomassesforeasyremoval.
Thisisthemostfavorablesafest,andeasiesttypeofchemicalcleaning.Theuseofa
biodispersantalongwitheitheranalgaecide(chlorine)orbiocidewillinsurethatallbiomasses,
silt,anddepositionarereducedandcanmoreeasilybemechanicallyremoved.
Ifatowerhasnotbeenused,isinastagnantstateorishighlyfouledandneedscleaning,a
bacteriatestmustbeperformedfirsttodeterminebacterialevels.Ifbacterialevelsexceedthe
CenterofDiseaseControlsregulationoftentothefifthlevels,thetowermustbedisinfected.
Highlevelsofchlorineandsodiumbromidearetousedalongwithabiocide,either
gluteraldehydeorisothiazalin,andabiodispersanttoinsurethatalltracesofbiologicalgrowth
arekilled.Thesechemicalsmustberecirculatedfor26hrs.beforetheactualmechanical
cleaningprocessbegins.Towermustberetestedforbacteriaconditionspriortodischargeof
chemicalsandthemechanicalprocesscanbegin.
SCALEDCOOLINGTOWERSANDCHILLERS
Ifatowerisheavilyscaled,andanacidcleaningisdeterminedtobethemosteffectivewayof
reducingorremovingthescale,yourwatertreatmentspecialistmustbecontacted.Hewill
determinethetypeandamountofacidthatisneededtodescalethetower.Oncethecorrect
acidisdetermined,theacidwillbeaddedviaaspecialchemicaltankandrecirculatingpump.
Thesolutionwillberecirculatedforseveralhours.Oncetheacidhasexhausteditself
(determinedbyapHtestandphysicalinspection),itisneutralizedandthendumped.Ifasecond
applicationisneeded,thewatertreatmentrep.willreapplythesolutionwithnewacidand
recirculateitforseveralmorehours.Oncethewatertreatmentrep.determinesthatthescale
hasbeendissolved,orloosenedoffwhereitcanbemechanicallyremoved,hewillneutralizethe
solution,retest,anddrainthetower.Thiswillinsurethattheinternalportionofthetowerissafe
tobeginthemechanicalcleaning.Safetyisprimaryatalltimes.Besuretheservicerep.is
completelydressedandcoveredbeforeenteringthetower.
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Yourwatertreatmentrep.willanalyzethescaleanddeterminethemosteffectiveacidtouseto
dissolvedthescale.Theneutralizationprocessinvolvesablendofcausticchemicalstoinsure
thatthetowersolutionhasapHof7.0to7.4.beforedischarge.Thisisatimeconsuming
processandrequiresagreatdealofworktoinsurethesafetyoftheservicereps.Timeand
materialspluslaborarechargedforthisprocess.
Themechanicalcleaningistheleastcostlyofthethreeprocesses.Thedisinfectionisnext
followedbythedescaling.Thewatertreatmentdivisionwillworkhandinhandwiththeservice
reps.whoareassignedtocleanatower.
Consultwithyourwatertreatmentrep.ifyouhaveatowercleaningscheduled.Thiswillgivehim
sufficienttimetoorderthenecessarychemicalsandmaterialsbaseduponhisreview.Wewant
tomakeyourjobeasierandinsureyoursafety.

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