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Non-Chemical Technologies for Scale and Hardness Control

Technology for improving energy efficiency through the removal or prevention of scale.

 Produced for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Columbus Operations January 1998

Abstract

The magnetic technology has been cited in the literature and investigated since the turn of the 19^th century, when lodestones and naturally occurring magnetic mineral formations were used to decrease the formation of scale in cooking and laundry applications. Today, advances in magnetic and electrostatic scale control technologies have led to their becoming reliable energy savers in certain applications.

For example, magnetic or electrostatic scale control technologies can be used as a replacement for most water-softening equipment. Specifically, chemical softening (lime or lime-soda softening), ion exchange, and reverse osmosis, when used for the control of hardness, could potentially be replaced by non-chemical water conditioning technology. This would include applications both to cooling water treatment and boiler water treatment in once-through and recirculating systems.

The primary energy savings from this technology result from decrease in energy consumption in heating or cooling applications. This savings is associated with the prevention or removal of scale build-up on a heat exchange surface, where even a thin film can increase energy consumption by nearly 10%. Secondary energy savings can be attributed to reducing the pump load, or system pressure, required to move the water through a scale-free, unrestricted piping system.

This Federal Technology Alert provides information and procedures that a Federal energy manager needs to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this technology. The process of magnetic or eletrostatic scale control and its energy savings and other benefits are explained. Guidelines are provided for appropriate application and installation. In addition, a hypothetical case study is presented to give the reader a sense of the actual costs and energy savings. A listing of current manufacturers and technology users is provided along with references for further reading.

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