HVAC Water Treatment for Cooling Towers

HVAC Water Treatment for Cooling Towers

Water-based HVAC systems often include a cooling tower and water-cooled chiller to remove excess heat from the system. With such pivotal cooling tasks, your tower deserves the highest-quality care and maintenance. That way, it can provide years of efficient operation without sending your bills through the roof.

If your HVAC company needs comprehensive cooling tower services, look no further than Chardon Laboratories. We offer customized chemical solutions, state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and almost 60 years of water system treatment experience.

What Is Water Treatment for Cooling Towers?

Cooling towers are fundamental devices, rejecting heat to cool down various processes and buildings. These heat exchangers need proper treatment to maintain cooling efficiency and keep operational costs to a minimum. Without sufficient upkeep, they can face contamination issues that decrease productivity, increase downtime and warrant expensive replacements.

Cooling tower water treatment involves a combination of chemicals and technologies to:

• Maintain optimal water quality.
• Balance the water's chemical properties.
• Reduce levels of scale, corrosion, bacteria and mineral deposits.

Because every cooling tower has unique challenges and needs, water treatment isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. However, it typically involves specialized chemicals, such as:

• Scale and corrosion inhibitors.
• pH adjusters.
• Water softeners.
• Anti-foaming agents.
• Biocides.

Like any water system, your cooling tower will also require robust cleaning, disinfection and filtration. Chemically treating and cleaning your tower minimizes the risk of microbiological growth, scale and corrosion. Rigorous water treatment is essential to prevent these issues from spiraling into larger ones, keeping your cooling tower reliable and contaminant-free.

Importance of Water Treatment in HVAC Systems

Buildings have stringent heating and cooling requirements that HVAC systems must abide by year-round. System malfunctions and breakdowns can set back operations significantly.

Cooling towers are common and critical elements of HVAC systems, providing effective temperature control. However, these towers are susceptible to numerous issues that affect performance and drive up costs.

1. Bacterial Growth

Fungi, algae and bacteria thrive in moist, humid environments, making cooling towers a hotbed for these contaminants. Legionella is prevalent in cooling towers. Unlike other bacteria species, it poses risks to human health.

Breathing in airborne droplets contaminated with Legionella can cause Legionnaire’s disease, a severe pneumonia. Certain people — such as those over the age of 50, smokers and immunocompromised individuals — are at an increased risk. Some factors supporting Legionella in cooling tower water include:

• Stagnation
• pH between 5 and 8.5
• Temperatures between 68 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit
• Microorganisms like algae, flavobacteria and Pseudomonas that supply nutrients for Legionella
• Sediment-promoting commensal microflora growth

One of our Chardon specialists can analyze your site for Legionella risk factors and help you develop a water management plan based on the results. After flushing and refilling your tower, we can help you maintain its purity with the proper treatment chemicals to manage bacterial development.

2. Corrosion

Corrosion occurs when cooling tower water comes into contact with metal. There are two types of corrosion:

• General: General corrosion spreads over the entire metal surface.
• Pitting: Pitting corrosion is more localized, causing heavier concentration in one area. Pitting tends to be more damaging than general corrosion, as it targets a smaller area and is usually more difficult to detect.

Regardless of the type, corrosion can eat away at inner mechanisms, leading to issues like pipe blockages, system leaks, equipment damage and costly downtime. Chardon can help you administer the right chemicals and regulate pH to inhibit corrosion in your cooling tower.

3. Scaling

Scale is a white, chalky residue that often accumulates on cooling tower surfaces. It consists of dissolved minerals like silica, calcium and magnesium. Scale deposits can come from the surrounding air, makeup water or materials in the cooling tower.

Scaling can cause multiple issues in your tower, including reduced efficiency, tube blockages and equipment damage. Chardon uses a variety of techniques to manage scaling in cooling towers, including chemical treatments, blowdown removal and conductivity monitoring.