ODESSA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Odessa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, has added a HydroTech Solutions, LLC case study to its website. The case study details the success a Fortune 100 headquarters had in utilizing HydroFLOW electronic water conditioning for its cooling system to improve water conservation, energy savings and chemicals reduction.
The headquarters campus features two buildings; each with a 1,000-ton cooling tower situated on the rooftop. The cooling towers exhibited scale buildup on infrastructure, fill, and piping. The chiller units are opened for cleaning and inspection annually, with scale accumulation at entry sections.
Three cycles of concentration were allowed with conductivity set-point of 1,500 µS for blowdown. Despite a chemicals management program for the control of scale, bacteria and corrosion; the cooling towers continued to exhibit accumulated scale and numerous algae colonies.
The HydroFLOW Demonstration
HydroTech Solutions provided a 90-day demonstration of HydroFLOW electronic water conditioning for reducing scale and biofouling accumulation, optimizing the chemical program, and decreasing the amount of makeup water and blowdown disposal. IoT enabled sensors were installed to provide water quantities and quality in real-time on mobile devices and desktops.
A 12” HydroFLOW unit was installed on the return line from the chiller, without drilling or cutting pipes, or interrupting water circulation. As a part of the baseline data gathering process, HydroTech personnel removed scale to bare metal in several areas for future validation that HydroFLOW prevented new scale from forming, while removing existing scale.
Baseline data was collected for make-up water volume, sewer disposal volume, historic conductivity, total bacteria in the water, and water chemistry for reference when the demonstration was completed.
Testing Procedure
Chemicals were gradually reduced over a span of four weeks. Once it was confirmed scale and biofouling control was achieved with a combination of HydroFLOW and minimal chemical usage, cycles of concentration were increased gradually to 7.
Validated Cost Savings for the Company with IoT Sensors
The company’s goal of maintaining the cooling system within industry standards while reducing chemical and blowdown water usage was validated by internet-enabled (IoT) water meters and sensors that provide real-time operating data for analysis that validates performance and cost savings on mobile phones and desktops.
Results
The Total Water Management program continues to deliver water and energy cost savings monthly, and the substitution of environmentally friendly chemistry allows safe water discharge for landscaping when the storage system is installed.
Data is accessible by the customer 24/7 and they apply analytics for procurement, operations and the environmental and sustainability team have valuable water conservation data to share in the Sustainability Report, as over 2 million gallons of water per year is conserved.
The comparison of scale and biological accumulation on equipment before and after the installation of HydroFLOW and the Total Water Management program is conclusive. No Scale or Bio accumulation despite being at 7 Cycles of Concentration, with a conductivity setpoint at 4,500 µS for blowdown, which is less than 10,000 gallons per month.
The monthly fee for the equipment, sensors, solid chemistry, real-time data and monthly reports are more than paid for by water conservation cost savings.
Call Pete Baldwin, COO, HydroTech Solutions, LLC at (817) 894-5280, e-mail pete.baldwin@hydrotech.solutions, or go to www.hydrotech.solutions for more information.
