Chemical dosing system effectiveness to protect water treatment system
Al-Qahtani, N.A.
Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia
(free)
The purpose of this best practice is to provide essential guidelines for automating and
monitoring chemical dosing systems and demonstrate the effectiveness of an automation
system for cooling water system as an example of water treatment system in the industry. This
system results in optimizing chemical consumption eliminating potential hazards.
The performance of costly chemicals changes with time due to operational condition changes.
The chemical optimization activity concentrates on injecting the correct amount of treatment
chemical into a system under the current process conditions, to achieve the result anticipated
from the application of the chemical.
Keywords
Chemical automation, Monitoring system, Cooling water unit, Scale inhibitor, Corrosion
inhibitor, Bio-dispersant.
Introduction:
Most treatment chemicals have toxic or other hazardous properties that represent a risk to
human health and the environment. Historically, phosphates, chromates, acids, chlorine and
other biocides have typically been used to treat several applications such as RO water plant,
steam production and cooling tower water. Due to their high toxicity and persistence in the
environment, some of these chemicals, such as chromates, are prohibited from use in cooling
towers.
Several alternative technologies have recently become commercially available to treat any
system used in the industry without the need for chemicals batch preparation. These chemical
treatment technologies claim to have the ability to maintain a product chemistry that prevents
scale and corrosion problems and inhibits adverse bacterial growth in the water treatment
application.[2]
This technology called online chemical automation system plays an important role in the
enhancement of oil and gas processing and production .The automation system consist of ready
mixed chemical with off-the-shelf pumps, sensors and controllers. [3]
