System and method for treating water circulating in open-circuit cooling systems

A water treatment unit comprising:

• (a) a cooling tower;
• (b) a source of original cooling water;
• (c) a main flow pipe for receiving the cooling water;
• (d) a source of fresh cooling water;
• (e) a heat exchanger for heating the cooling water to form heated water;
• (f) a branched flow pipe for separating the cooling water into a main stream of heated water and a partial stream of heated water;
• (g) a backwashable filter capable of initially separating the partial stream of heated water into waste and a preliminary filtrate;
• (h) a non-backwashable filter connected to the backwashable filter, the non-backwashable filter being capable of separating the preliminary filtrate into a compact waste residue and a main filtrate;
• and
• (i) a return pipe for transporting the main filtrate back to the cooling tower, wherein the cooling water is introduced through the main flow pipe into the heat exchanger where it is heated, after which it is split into a main stream of heated water and a partial stream of heated water, the main stream of heated water being transported back to the cooling tower, and the partial stream of heated water being transported, by way of the branched flow pipe, into the backwashable filter where it is separated into waste and a preliminary filtrate, the preliminary filtrate then being transported into the non-backwashable filter where it is separated into the main filtrate and the compact waste residue, the main filtrate then being transported back to the cooling tower through the return pipe.

A process for treating circuit water of open circuit cooling systems comprising:

• (a) providing a cooling tower;
• (b) providing a source of original cooling water;
• (c) providing a main flow pipe for receiving the cooling water;
• (d) providing a source of fresh cooling water connected to the source of cooling water;
• (e) providing a heat exchanger for heating the cooling water to form heated water;
• (f) transporting the cooling water from the source of cooling water to the heat exchanger, by way of the main flow pipe;
• (g) providing a branched flow pipe for separating the heated water into a main stream of heated water and a partial stream of heated water;
• (h) transporting the main stream of heated water to the cooling tower;
• (i) providing a non-backwashable filter;
• (j) transporting the partial stream of heated water into the non-backwashable filter where it is separated into a compact waste residue and a main filtrate, in the absence of backwashing;
• (h) providing a return pipe;
• (k) transporting the main filtrate, through the return pipe, back to the cooling tower;
• and
• (l) periodically introducing fresh cooling water into the original source of cooling water.