Ask | Share | Grow™ - Question & Answer Community
Of the Members, By the Members, For the Members!
VacuumFurnaces.com is a Q&A community where vacuum furnace product and service suppliers connect with commercial and captive heat treaters to share their practical skills and know-how and to establish valuable relationships around niche topics of expertise with vacuum furnace end-users in operations, production, training, maintenance, marketing, sales, and engineering.
What type of water treatment do you recommend for an open-loop water cooling system?
Because evaporative towers scrub the air that passes through them, they are prone to collecting debris from the air. This debris can accumulate and cause flow restrictions as well as aggravate corrosion. After the water evaporates, dissolved minerals are left behind and accumulate rapidly until theRead more
Because evaporative towers scrub the air that passes through them, they are prone to collecting debris from the air. This debris can accumulate and cause flow restrictions as well as aggravate corrosion. After the water evaporates, dissolved minerals are left behind and accumulate rapidly until the mineral come out of solution (known as scale).
For these reasons, a properly engineered and administered water treatment program must be employed continuously with the cooling tower. In an open tower cooling system, the water quality must be regularly monitored and treated to control the following conditions:
• Limescale and other water mineral deposits
• Corrosion of all types
• Micro-biological growth, such as algae, bacteria, fungus, and molds
• Suspended solids accumulations, such as airborne dirt and debris that is washed into the cooling tower water
Dry Coolers recommends consulting a local water treatment supplier (Calgon, Nalco, Culligan, etc.) that is familiar with your local water quality to monitor your treatment program.
Source: Dry Coolers
See lessWhat pipe size do you recommend for my water cooling system?
Typically, the piping should be sized large enough so that frictional pressure drops within the piping system make up less than 10% of the operating pressure of the system. For example, a system operating at 100 psi should have less than 10 psi of frictional pressure losses in the piping system. PreRead more
Typically, the piping should be sized large enough so that frictional pressure drops within the piping system make up less than 10% of the operating pressure of the system. For example, a system operating at 100 psi should have less than 10 psi of frictional pressure losses in the piping system. Pressure losses in a piping system can be readily determined using the “equivalent length” method that is found in most piping handbooks. Since most piping systems are not complex, we have developed over the years a simple rule of thumb for sizing the piping. We generally recommend 5-10 feet per second in the supply pipe and 3-5 FPS in the return pipe.
Source: Dry Coolers
See lessWhy does my water cooling system pump growl?
If it sounds like there are marbles in your pump, it is more likely caused by cavitation. Cavitation is caused by a rapid change in water pressure that leads to the formation of vapor-filled cavities. These pockets can and will ruin your pump impeller and should be corrected immediately. Poor suctioRead more
If it sounds like there are marbles in your pump, it is more likely caused by cavitation. Cavitation is caused by a rapid change in water pressure that leads to the formation of vapor-filled cavities. These pockets can and will ruin your pump impeller and should be corrected immediately. Poor suction conditions are the most common cause.
Source: Dry Coolers
See lessWhat percentage of glycol/water do I need for my water cooling system?
For freeze protection, the required concentration of inhibited glycol fluid in a system depends on the operating conditions of the system and the lowest expected ambient temperature. Dry Coolers has ability to look up the winter extreme low condition for your geographic location. Contact us to helpRead more
For freeze protection, the required concentration of inhibited glycol fluid in a system depends on the operating conditions of the system and the lowest expected ambient temperature. Dry Coolers has ability to look up the winter extreme low condition for your geographic location. Contact us to help you determine the cold temperature design point. For corrosion protection, it’s also important to consider the materials of construction, the age of the system and other variables. Your local glycol supplier representative can help you analyze the specific requirements for your system.
We strongly recommend you purchase the glycol pre-mixed and avoid the chance of adding improper diluted glycol solution to your system.
DO NOT USE AUTOMOTIVE ANTI-FREEZE. Coolants for automobiles have inhibitors based on aluminum. Their inhibitor package is wrong for our industrial cooling systems.
The table below shows the protection from freeze damage provided by various concentrations of DOWFROST propylene glycol inhibited fluids. To determine the concentration required, select the lowest expected ambient temperature and decide whether the cooling system requires freeze protection to keep it pumpable, or burst protection to simply prevent damage from fluid expansion.
As a further measure of protection against dilution error, or unexpected cold temperatures, select a temperature that is at least 5°F colder than the lowest expected ambient temperature. If, for example, the lowest expected temperature is -15°F, select the line in the table below for -20°F. The table shows that at this temperature, a solution of 45% DOWFROST is required for freeze protection. A concentration of 30% is needed to provide burst protection at this temperature.
PERCENT VOLUME GLYCOL CONCENTRATION REQUIRED
Source: Dry Coolers
See lessHow do I purge the air from the overhead pipes in my water cooling system?
A properly designed system will have ports at the high points for venting air. While the system is running, vent the high points in the process discharge piping to remove air from the pipe. Most problems with the initial start-up are associated with filling the system and releasing air out of the prRead more
A properly designed system will have ports at the high points for venting air. While the system is running, vent the high points in the process discharge piping to remove air from the pipe. Most problems with the initial start-up are associated with filling the system and releasing air out of the process piping. Blocked air can resist or prevent proper water flow. We do NOT recommend automatic air release valves. They are too prone to leaks.
Source: Dry Coolers
See less