Continuous on-stream monitoring of cooling tower water
AssigneeNalco Chemical Company
InventorsBarbara E. Moriarty, James J. Hickey, Wayne H. Hoy, John E. Hoots, Donald A. Johnson
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Abstract
The performance of a treating agent added to a body of water employed in a cooling tower is continuously monitored by real-time analysis of a spectral or chemical characteristic of an inert tracer proportioned to the treating agent, said characteristic being indicative of tracer concentration, and converted to a voltage analog. The voltage analog is compared to a monitor value representing par performance and if performance is nonstandard (nonpar) a signal is generated which alters the output of a pump which feeds the dosage of treating agent containing proportioned tracer.
Claims20
In a cooling water system where an on-stream body of water is employed in a heat exchange role, there being a source of makeup water addition to the system as well as a source of blowdown water removal from the system, wherein impurities in the body of water, likely to cause corrosion or scaling of equipment confining the body of water, are inhibited by introducing a treating agent which undergoes depletion in its inhibiting role within the system, the treating agent being introduced proportionally with a tracer which is inert to the system including equipment and chemistry:
- instrumentation including an analyzer having a flow cell for receiving a sample of the circulating on-stream body of water and for sensing a characteristic of the tracer indicative of its concentration, said analyzer having a transducer for converting said characteristic to a voltage analog thereof;
- a monitor for receiving said voltage analog and for continuously comparing it to a voltage standard representing a standard tracer concentration constituting par performance in consumption of the treating agent, said monitor generating an output signal when said comparison establishes nonstandard performance;
- and a pump unit for introducing the proportioned treating agent and tracer at a predetermined dosage;
- said output signal controlling said pump unit to alter the dosage.
In a cooling water system where a body of water is employed in a heat exchange role, there being a source of makeup water addition to the system as one system parameter as well as a source of blowdown water removal from the system as another system parameter, wherein impurities in the body of water likely to cause corrosion or scaling of equipment confining the body of water are inhibited by introducing a treating agent as a third parameter of the system, which undergoes depletion in its inhibiting role within the system, the system including a pump unit for feeding to the body of water, at a predetermined dosage, the treating agent proportionally with a tracer which is inert to the system including equipment and chemistry, a method of continuously monitoring performance of the treating agent comprising the steps of:
- passing continuously a sample of the on-stream body of water through a flow cell and therein continuously sensing a characteristic of the tracer indicative of its concentration;
- converting said characteristic to a voltage analog thereof;
- constantly comparing said voltage analog to a voltage standard representing a standard tracer concentration constituting par performance in consumption of the treating agent;
- and altering one of said parameters, to restore the system to par performance, when said comparison indicates nonstandard performance for the treating agent.
In a heat exchange system where a body of water is employed in a heat exchange role, there being sources of makeup water additions to the system as a system parameter as well as sources of blowdown water removal from the system as another system parameter, wherein impurities in the body of water, likely to cause corrosion or scaling of equipment confining the body of water, are inhibited by introducing a treating agent, as a third system parameter, which undergoes depletion in its inhibiting role within the system, the treating agent being introduced by a pump unit proportionally with a tracer which is inert to the system including equipment and chemistry:
- instrumentation for continuously monitoring performance of the treating agent including an analyzer for receiving a continuous sampling of the body of water and for continuously sensing a characteristic of the tracer indicative of its concentration, said analyzer having a transducer for continuously converting said characteristic to a voltage analog thereof;
- a monitor for receiving said voltage analog and for comparing it to a voltage standard representing a standard tracer concentration constituting par performance in consumption of the treating agent;
- and means responsive to said comparison for indicating nonpar performance of the treating agent whereby one of said parameters may be audited and corrected as responsible for nonpar performance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.