Commercial Water Treatment Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids Boiler Corrosion Prevention

Protecting your boiler is essential. Otherwise, your system can become damaged, making your boiler unusable or inefficient in the transfer of heat. Our boiler water treatment services for Grand Rapids, MI, businesses focus mainly on the two biggest threats to any commercial boiler system:

• Corrosion: There are several mechanisms that can cause corrosion within a boiler. It comes from chemicals in the air or water interacting with the metal of the boiler. It could also appear in the presence of acidic water or when scale traps corrosive salts against the boiler surface. No matter how it appears, corrosion is a significant threat to a boiler's operation. It can reduce efficiency by eating away at the inner mechanisms of the equipment, causing pitting or wear on the metal.
• Scale: Scale can show up when minerals like calcium, iron, and silica leave deposits on the surfaces of a boiler. They're usually present in the water itself, from which they precipitate out and concentrate on the surfaces. At this point, scale acts as an insulator, reducing the effectiveness of heat transfer and the boiler's overall efficiency. It can also slough off the boiler walls and block the flow of water. Two methods for handling scale include preventing it in the first place and ensuring it doesn't block the pipes.

Scale and corrosion are serious issues for commercial boilers. In addition to affecting the boiler's efficiency, they can also add to operating costs by increasing the fuel required to operate it. Scale can lead to warped tubes and uneven heat distribution, and corrosion can cause oxygen pitting, leaking condensate lines and failed steam traps.

To address these issues, we have several different strategies and resources at our disposal. Our typical approach is to use a blowdown procedure and implement a customized selection of chemicals and equipment. Of course, we always factor in your boiler's operating environment and make sure to find solutions that address your specific business needs.

The blowdown procedure helps reduce mineral concentration by minimizing the amount of dissolved solids in the water in the first place. During blowdown, we drain feedwater out of the boiler, replacing it with water that has a lower concentration of solids. Without these solids in the water, there are fewer minerals that can precipitate out and cause scale or corrosion.

In addition to blowdown processes, we utilize several different types of equipment to support the water treatment process. These can include:

• Water meters: A contact headwater meter provides detailed information on water usage, making it easier to adjust operations as needed and improve efficiency. Better efficiency means higher savings, too. If you use a water meter alongside a pulse-activated pump timer, you can also find more proportional control and consistent feeding.
• Conductivity controllers: With conductivity controllers, you can automate conductivity bleeds, feeds, and readouts for better system efficiency.
• Corrosion coupon racks: Corrosion coupon racks allow us to estimate the rate of corrosion and keep an eye on how well our strategies are working.
• Chemical pumps: We use chemical pumps to ensure a consistent and automatic application of chemicals into a boiler system. They're an integral part of many of our chemical water treatment services in Grand Rapids, MI, as they help us ensure regular, accurate dosing. Our selection of pumps includes many models and types, so we can find the right combination of equipment for your boiler environment.
• Boiler probes: To support ongoing analysis, we might also utilize boiler probes. These handy tools can monitor water levels within a system, as well as pH levels and general information on the system's health.

Although we use many types of equipment, we always make sure they fit your unique operation. Our boiler water treatment for the Grand Rapids area uses proven techniques and high-quality boiler treatment chemicals to suspend and remove scale and prevent corrosion. Scale treatment relies on blowdown, the addition of water softeners and a combination of chemicals, while our chemical water treatment plan can help prevent corrosion in the boiler treatment.

Boiler Chemicals in Grand Rapids

Boiler systems need regular maintenance to combat issues like corrosion and scale, and Chardon can help by providing boiler chemicals and services in Grand Rapids and other parts of Michigan.

Boiler systems are a part of your facility’s core functions and keeping your system up and running with regular maintenance is essential. This is where our corrosion and scale prevention treatments can help. We focus on several types of chemicals that address different water characteristics:

• Foam: When steam combines with dissolved solids on the surface of the water, it can foam up and cause problems for a boiler's efficiency. We can add anti-foaming agents that reduce the surface tension of the water to help reduce foam-forming behaviors.
• Oxygen: Excess oxygen can quickly spell trouble for a boiler system. It can contribute to scale buildup and corrosion, so we like to keep oxygen levels at a minimum with chemicals that break it down.
• pH: The metal surfaces of a boiler are susceptible to problems from highly acidic water. By adding a pH neutralizer, we reduce acidity and better protect your boiler from its effects. A pH neutralizer typically contains chemicals like sodium hydroxide and can come in liquid or solid forms.
• Scale: Scale forms from the presence of minerals and dissolved solids in the water. While blowdown helps reduce these levels, we can also reduce the chances of scale by using phosphonate chemicals that control calcium carbonate. These chemicals typically contain additional benefits like sludge conditioner, antifoaming agents, extra dispersing polymers and PTSA tracers.
• Pressure: A treated return line can help ensure consistent pressure and corrosion resistance. To help in this area, we can use blends of chemicals like morpholine, amines, ammonium hydroxide and cyclohexylamine. These blends are specific to the needs of your system, such as meeting food-safe requirements.

We'll work to find the best solution for your unique operational setup and implement chemicals that work alongside appropriate equipment for corrosion-free and scale-free results. One common approach is to use an all-in-one solution through our boiler inhibitor treatments. We have several solutions with sulfite, caustic, and phosphonates, as well as food-safe chemicals, to fit your setup.

Chardon can help your business by providing boiler chemicals and services in Grand Rapids and other parts of Michigan. Wherever your business is located, we’ll help you with our ISO-certified technicians, professional equipment and extensive experience in the field. With these and other resources, we've become a trusted source for boiler chemicals in Grand Rapids!