What Does
Feedwater Treatment Mean?
Feedwater treatment is a pre-water treatment process to control deposition, eradicate impurities and prevent corrosion within a boiler system. In a boiler system, water is transformed into steam and expands by as much as 1000 times as it passes through steam pipes at rates of 100km/hr.
Steam is necessary to move heat and energy from central boilers to its desired location. Without proper feedwater treatment, a plant or facility that produces steam undergoes corrosion and scale formation.
Corrosionpedia Explains Feedwater Treatment
Corrosion is one of the most serious problems within steam systems that consume high volumes of water. Fresh water has high amounts of dissolved oxygen. When this oxygen is mixed with elevated temperatures, it becomes highly corrosive, particularly for the steel piping in boiler systems that are made of carbon.
In order to prevent corrosion, oxygen that is present in the pure water to be used in the production of saturated steam must be eliminated through the use of chemicals and de-aeration towers. This is what feedwater treatment does. The most common chemicals that act as scavengers during the process include sodium erythorbate, sodium sulfite and hydrazine.
When a boiler is not treated, it can turn into a potential bomb, and the steam can cause scalding and serious burns in addition to damining equipment and/or the facility. Corrosion damage and scale formation could also result in reduced efficiency, low steam quality, unreliable operations and shorter lifespan of the involved facility.