Condensate Contamination Detection System

A Boiler is an enclosed vessel that provides a means for combustion heat to be transferred to water until it becomes heated water or steam. It requires pure, non-contaminated water.

The boiler comprises of 3 (three) systems:-

1) Feed water system

2) Steam system and

3) Fuel system.

The water supplied to the boiler that is converted into steam is called feedwater.

The 2 (two) sources of feed water are:-

1) Makeup water (treated water) which comes from water treatment plant.

2) Condensate or condensed steam returned from the processes

Both sources of water should meet the stipulated parameters. It is important to note that :-

• It is easy to check and maintain the quality of makeup water. Quality of makeup water is 100% under control of Boiler personnel

• Controlling the quality of hot condensate is difficult for the boiler personnel

Makeup water is pretreated by one of the following processes:-

1) Softening (Soft Water)

2) Demineralization (DM Water) 

3) Reverse Osmosis (RO Water)

Checking the quality of condensate on a continual basis has remained an intricate problem for Boiler operators. The quality of condensate returning from processes is getting affected in many ways, as described below :-

1) From mixing of leaking media like chemicals, vegetable Oils, and other process media in equipments (Coils, Heat exchangers, Reactors, etc)

2) Mixing of pipeline debris

3) Dirt particles and other foreign substances falling in condensate collection tank.

The water chemistry may change due to mixing and dissolving of these foreign substances in the condensate. 

For feedwater, below mentioned parameters are mandatory to be checked and filled in the Boiler logbook, at regular intervals :-

1) pH                     (3) TDS                             (5) m / p -alkalinity

2) Temperature     (4) Hardness                     (6) Silica

Other parameters to be checked are DO2 (dissolved oxygen), Hydrazine residual, Turbidity and electrical conductivity.

To help and assist boiler personnel for checking the quality of condensate on Real time basis, we recommend to install UKL make “Online 24 X 7 UCCDS''