Wasted fuel
May 1st 2007 Plant operators could be wasting
thousands of pounds in fuel
because their water treatment
supplier is failing to monitor the
phosphate levels of raw water for
their steam systems. According to
the European Drinking Water
Directive, water supplies must not
exceed 25 microgrammes of lead
per litre of water, reducing to 10
microgrammes from 25 December
2013. To solve the problem,
steam system operators need to
ensure their water treatment
supplier is measuring phosphate in
the incoming water supply.
"Our experience shows there is
a significant drop of up to 10% in
energy efficiency with phosphatescaled
boiler systems," says
Richard Cumber, steam system
conditioning manager, Spirax
Sarco, "the problem has arisen
because most water treatment
suppliers only measure phosphate
levels in the boiler itself, not the
incoming water supply. What is
needed is a water treatment regime
that takes into account water
quality throughout the steam
system, not just inside the boiler." More articles from Spirax Sarco Ltd: | 
