Treatment of once‐through cooling systems effectively and economically

Introduction Generally speaking the treatment of once‐through cooling system can be very costly simply because it requires large amounts of chemicals which are used only once. Also, from the corrosion point of view there is not much incentive for treatment since the water does not concentrate in solids, unlike recirculating cooling water systems. There are cases, however, where the incentive exists for treatment of water against both corrosion and scale formation. If serious, the latter alone can justify the cost which arises from plant shutdowns. In this article we will discuss one such case in an industry with which the author was personally involved.