The challenge
The hospital's boiler system includes three gas/oil installations and a waste heat boiler connected to an incinerator to provide steam intended in particular for site heating and sterile units. To protect the assets from corrosion, allow the oxygen scavenging and the conditioning of the sludge, the hospital teams applied a chemical treatment but this had the particularity of significantly increasing the alkalinity in the system. As a result, this was making the operations for controlling total dissolved solids (TDS) and for maintaining the boiler water quality compliant with standard more complicated and more expensive (in time and labor).This also makes it necessary to increase boiler blowdown levels,hence increasing the risk to their energy efficiency.
The solution
Following a technical study, the Hydrex teams of Veolia Water Technologies proposed to revise the treatment program in order to reduce the alkalinity levels. The solution also included the upgrade of boilers' individual feedlines from copper to resistant plastic so that the chemical dosing better match the new boilers’ operating conditions.
The Hydrex program also focused on the storage and on-site handling aspects of chemical products with the establishment of a system for delivering products directly to the site by container truck.
The results
Thanks to the Hydrex new chemical program , the teams technical expertise and on site service, the Hospital’s boiler systems efficiency has been improved overall. The boiler water is constantly maintained within required quality limits reducing the need for corrective maintenance.
The automatic blowdown system of each boiler has been improved reducing the level of blowdown by 20% hence allowing for water and energy savings.
Minimizing the storage and handling of chemicals on site not only improved H&S for the teams but also reduced packaging management costs. In total, the client recorded a reduction of 15% per year in the total budget dedicated to its boiler treatment.
A Manager at the Hospital comments upon the results : “With Veolia’s Hydrex new chemical program, their technical support and regular service visits, we have recorded substantial savings in blowdown, which has helped us to meet our sustainability targets. Last boiler audit showed a decreased in scaling which will improve heat transfer and energy efficiency even more”