Chemical Descaling and Cleaning Services
Chemical Cleaning & Descaling
Chemical descaling and cleaning are two of the most efficient and effective ways to remove built-up scale on industrial water systems. Over the life time of water systems, scale, greases and oil build up within the system, especially in systems that have not been regularly maintained with adequate water treatment systems and flushes. Systems located within hard water areas are also more susceptible to excessive scale build up, resulting in low fuel efficiency and heat transfer.
This build-up of scale and other system deposits can greatly reduce the efficiency of system parts such as boilers and heat exchangers, and can be difficult to remove with general cleaning. A boiler with just 1mm of scale deposit can waste up to 9% of its fuel intake as it struggles to heat system water, heat exchanges with high levels of scale deposit can decrease the system pressure along with wasting fuel as heat transfer becomes less efficient.
Acid Descaling for Boilers & Heat Exchangers
System parts such as boilers, heat exchangers, cooling towers and calorifiers that have an excess build-up of scale and other system deposits such as microbiological fouling, should be treated with an acidic descaling chemical mix, these vary based on the type of deposits and the material of the system. Acids typically used for acid descaling include Hydrochloric, Citric, Phosphoric and many more, specific corrosion and scale inhibitors can also be used with these acid descalers to ensure a reduction in future build up and to ensure the deposits are removed from the system.
These chemical descalers will break down the system deposits, with specific specialised equipment used to circulate the descaler through the system, with deposits being drawn out from the system to ensure they’re not left to build up once again. Once the chemical descaler has cleared the system, clean water and a small amount of an alkaline solution is added to the system to neutralise any residual acid descaler left within the system.
Our vast experience in chemical descaling allows us to provide you with the best service and advice available in the industry. Not only will our engineer complete your chemical descaling service to the highest standard, but they can also dispense help and advice in how you can keep your system free from scale build up over its lifetime. We’re committed to ensuring our customers receive not only the best service available on the market, but also providing understandable help and guidance to ensure your system is running at its peak efficiency.
Caustic Alkaline Descaling for Steam Boilers
The manufacturing method for steam boilers leaves internal surfaces contaminated with a range of contaminants and deposits including: mill-scale, rust, oil, slag from welding and a range of other grease, dirt and debris. If these contaminants are not effectively removed from the steam boiler before system installation then corrosion, poor heat transfer and other operational problems can occur during the life of the system.
Unlike conventional water system parts, steam boilers must be treated with a caustic (alkaline) solution, this treatment is often referred to as a caustic boil-out and works in a similar fashion to chemical descaling. However, due to the nature of steam boilers this descaling can require more work to shut down and remove the steam boiler from the system, a longer descaling time and additional time and checks when the boil-out has been completed to ensure the system is safe and secure.
After treatment it’s also important to ensure that any contaminants within the pipework for the system are also removed to ensure the steam boiler is not re-contaminated. Condensate from the steam system after a boil-out should be wasted until system testing shows that these deposits and contaminants have been removed, if the steam boiler is contaminated with these contaminants again then another boil out may be necessary.
Scale Build Up Prevention
A build-up of scale and system deposits can be avoided, proper system installation pre-commissioning and regular water treatment via a water treatment program can drastically reduce scale and deposit build up. A clean, regularly monitored system will provide optimum system efficiency and will help to ensure that fuel is not being wasted as scaled system parts transfer heat less efficiently and require more fuel to heat to optimum system temperature.
Pre-commission System Flushing
Before a new system is commissioned and begins usage, a pre-commission flush should be completed, this initial flush will remove contaminants such as scale, microbiological fouling and deposits left from the manufacturing process. These flushes will also ensure where possible, that inhibitors are added to the system supply to reduce future build-up of scale and contaminants.
We provide a range of pre-commission system flushing services, please see our Pre-Commission System Flush page for more information, or contact us today to discuss your system flush needs.
Water Treatment Programs
Scale build-up is predominantly caused by the absence of a water treatment regime, or poor control if a treatment regime is in place. External water treatment equipment is often attached to system parts such as cooling towers or evaporative condensers, these treat a range of potential system contaminants such as water hardness, system ionisation and will help to stop calcium and magnesium salts from being able to form within the system, by removing them before they are able to enter the system.
This is the only long term method of ensuring systems are scale free, but this method is only successful if the equipment is maintained and monitored to the correct standard.
We have vast experience in both acidic descaling and caustic boil outs, and can perform inspections and descaling on a range of system parts, including Boilers, Heat Exchangers, Chillers, Calorifiers and Steam Boilers.
We are passionate about providing the highest standards demanded by our industry and perform all work efficiently and effectively. We also pride ourselves on the high level of customer service we provide and our engineers strive to provide you with help and advice to ensure you’re getting the most from your water systems.