Case Histories

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This section contains Case Histories of results from RTA Water Treatment experience.

Case History 1-Mild steel corrosion rates were very high at 7.0 in a cooling tower system.

Upon starting to treat a new account cooling tower, the  initial coupon corrosion results were high, about 7 mils/yr.  So we made adjustments in the chemical program.  We weekly visually observed the mild steel coupons rather than waiting for 3 months to do a lab evaluation. We adjusted various parameters until the corrosion rates appeared to have been materially reduced. After  successful successive observations, we again sent in the corrosion coupons for analysis. This procedure resulted in the development and use of the RTA 9580 corrosion product.  The corrosion rates on RTA 9580 typically are reported at 0.5 Mills per year or less. This is a significantly lower corrosion rate than normal expectations.


Comparison of water color in case histories
Left-dark chill water with corrosion products; Right-comparison tap water

Case Histories 2- Air not properly bled from closed system upon refilling.

When a closed system is newly re-piped or  re-filled, air may not be properly bled from the system.  Then corrosion products may form from the attack of the air on the system piping.  

This sizeable 20,000 gal plus system was properly treated before construction modifications.  Construction took about three months during which time the system was either empty or partially empty.

The left bottle shows a sample of water from the closed system after a few months of running. This condition occurred when there was not proper bleed-off of air. During this initial period we added product in excessive amounts. These were added in the attempt to get the treatment levels up to recommended levels. The chemical added was a nitrite based corrosion inhibition product. The water was tested as much as 13.5 ppm of total iron during this period. The system color did not clear up, nor did the system maintain the additions of the treatment until the air was bled from the system. 

The right bottle is clear tap water for reference.  

Case History 3- An 800 ton chiller was chemically cleaned on-line and began running with low approach temperatures around 0.40 after cleaning.

Before the light chemical cleaning took place, and after the condenser head was removed and tubes were brushed, the approach temperature had run about 1.5 to 1.9   The service company was surprised, thinking that 1.5 after brushing tubes was good.  

See picture of chiller control below.

Chiller readout in Case histories
Chiller control readings

Case Histories- 4- No treatment was added into a cooling tower for many months

When RTA Water Treatment started with the account, the top tower pans had calcium carbonate scale of 1/4″ or more, and was totally covered with the scale. The nozzles were partially plugged (see picture below of top tower pan) and there was restricted flow.

scaled  tower in case histories

Top tower pan before cleaning. 

Proper cleaning chemicals and ongoing treatment made significant improvement in less than one month.