Water Treatment & Cooling

In cooperation with our partner EWKS Wassertechnik GmbH, we are able to mediate corresponding water purification and treatment for your complete plant. The EWKS scope of performance also includes cooling systems and components in addition to cooling machines, cooling towers, system separations and temperature control units in addition to laboratory analyses, plant care, expertises and training courses.

Water softening:

Well water and surface water such as that which is provided by the waterworks, include hardness constituents which are dissolved out of the stones. The water hardness is expressed in mol/m³ (°dH). The responsible waterworks can provide information on this value or it can be determined on the basis of a water analysis. The pipelines and devices and plant which come into contact with the water both in trade and industry and in the households have to be protected from the hardness which is in the form of scale. This is carried out by so-called ion exchange resins which remove the untreated water and give off sodium ions as a (neutral) replacement in return (softening plant). However, softened water is more corrosive than untreated water so that it is blended for diverse applications. In order to avoid corrosion damage and to stabilize the residual hardness of blended water, the water is dosed with water treatment products which have been especially developed for this task.

Full deionisation of water:

The requirements of the water which is to be created, the quality of the water which is available and the operating and investment costs are all decisive factors when selecting the process engineering method. The reverse osmosis requires neither a stock of regenerating agents (hydrochloric acid and caustic soda) nor a neutralisation. The deionised water  (permeate) is even free from germs so that the reverse osmosis is even used when making fruit juices or for seawater deionisation for the generation of drinking water. The manufacturing of fully deionised water (deionised water) by means of  ion exchange resins is possible with optimized operating costs. It is also the case that pure or ultrapure water can also be created, this then being used in the semiconductor industry.

Decarbonisation of water:

Water is used in various operating and industrial and processing engineering methods. This is related to different quality requirements with regard to the water. The mineral products which are dissolved in the water mainly have a disturbing effect and impair an economical operation. Water purification measures are imperative in such cases. One of the water purification processes is the decarbonisation by means of an ion exchanger. This purification method is used when water qualities exist which have average and high hydrogen carbonate concentrations (carbonate hardness) and when mechanical and thermal loads exist during the process. This is the case in cooling water circulations and boiler plants, for example. The make-up water purification by means of decarbonisation for cooling water systems and in combination with a downstream softening plant for boiler plants enables an inexpensive operation to be carried out. The purification of make-up water for cooling water enables the water to remain in the circulation system for a longer duration. High degrees of thickening can be obtained by using corrosion inhibitors and residual hardness stabilizers. This results in extensive cost reductions due to less make-up water being required, less waste water being discharged and minimized energy consumption in boiler plants. A plant combination (H-Na) for the purification of feed water from boiler plants not only makes it possible to lower the operating costs; the condensate quality is also improved. A lowering of the PH value of the condensate due to carbon dioxide from the breakdown of soda is prevented. This therefore renders the taking of special corrosion protection measures for condensate lines unnecessary. The use of decarbonisation upstream from a full deionisation plant results in a reduction in the number of required regenerations. Less regeneration agents and water are required, the load to which the exchange resins are subjected reduced, therefore resulting in an extended serviceable life. As full deionisation is assigned to a neutralisation plant, this is also relieved. An operating costs calculation which is prepared by us serves the basis for the selection of the process engineering method.

Classic cooling circulations in the industrial sector:

Problems often occur in connection with the quality of the cooling water, regardless of the size of the plant. Soiling (e.g. algae) or the customary water substances (e.g. lime formers – referred to as hardeners), mainly occur in the form of deposits at the warmest spots: the tool, refrigerating machine or temperature control unit. This is often only discovered due to rejects being produced. These costs and downtimes can be avoided by optimizing the water quality! The occurrence of corrosion also causes problems for numerous operators. Corrosion frequently occurs on the diverse metal materials in the existing cooling ducts and tools – this can however be counteracted with little effort:

Water-side problem solution with separating module:

The obvious consequence of the above is the supplying of water which is as clean as possible to the temperature control units or tools. With its various power stages, the separating module comes into its own as the smallest system separation unit. A compact unit comprises all of the circulation separation components (with heat exchanger, basin as a buffer, pump and water backfeed). The "clean circulation" runs with the best (fully deionised) water quality and corrosion inhibitor – the calcification o the temperature control units and tools are just a thing of the past as are corrosion and pitting in the entire water circulation. The separating module is a unit which is ready for connection and it can be flexibly adapted to individual needs with various items of equipment. 

Mixed bed cartridge:

If a separated circulation is run with full freshwater which has been deionised, occurring losses (e.g. resulting from the reconnecting of temperature control units) have to be replaced by fully deionised water being backfed. A mixed bed cartridge normally suffices for this. The capacity is between 1800...6000 litres of fully deionised water, depending on the quality of the untreated water. In a mixed bed cartridge, the backfeed water is fed through a bed of anions and cation resin. The resin absorbs the ions from the salts which are dissolved in water – the water is fully deionised. If the resin is exhausted (shown on a conductivity meter), the cartridge is sent for regeneration and can then be reused. However, closed or semi-closed water circulations are not hermetically (oxygen) tight, can be subjected to changes to the pH value and are always made of different metallic materials. For this reason, an especially effective corrosion inhibitor is added, which removes the remaining aggression from the water and at the same time, covers the circulation with a protective and temperature-conductive protective coating.

Reverse osmosis:

In the case of the water requirement being larger (more than approx. 75 litres per day), a reverse osmosis plant is used due to the operating costs being lower. The high pressure spiral module in which pure water is extracted from the feedback water by means of a high pressure pump. The concentration of the salts which are dissolved in the water increases so that approx. 50...90 % deionised water is obtained from the backfeed water. The concentrate, i.e. the collection of the undesirable substances is fed into the sewerage system in an environmentally compatible manner. (The concentrate is finally extracted from drinking water).

Conductivity-controlled automatic deioniser with biocide dosing:

The efficiency of the cooling tower is the result of the evaporating water which enables a maximum in heat to be given off. All of the substances accumulate in the remaining water as these obviously do not evaporate. If a certain limit should be exceeded, these salts are deposited on the heat exchanger surfaces as lime deposits (mineral scale). This is why a deionising device is required for each of the cooling tower circulations, this then controlling the thickening of the maximum permitted salt content of the water which circulates in the system in relation to the quality (conductivity). The addition of a hardness stabilizer prevents the formation of deposits on the one hand and on the other, is lowers the water costs as water only has to be replaced (deionising) at a later stage. We have invested our entire competence in the development of the conductivity- controlled automatic dosing, organic and deioniser (AbSalzController ASC – PILOT 3. In addition to the conductivity-controlled deionisation of the thickened water which circulates in the system, the dosing of a hardness stabilizer/corrosion inhibitor in a quantity which is proportional to the backfeed water also takes place. The shock dosing of a biocide into the water which circulates in the system is possible with all engineering processes which are required in accordance with the German Water Resources Act (WHG). The times (once or twice per day) when the possible shock dosing is to take place can be freely selected for a maximum of 7 weekdays. Any malfunctions which occur are stored with the type of malfunction, all of the parameters which existed at the time and the date and time the malfunction occurred/was solved. This replaces the keeping of an operational diary which is normally necessary. Unique intelligent functions in the ASC-PILOT 3 for water-conducting systems not only assist with the lowering of operating costs, but can also avoid or reduce production losses by providing an early indication of malfunctions occurring in the cooling system. The user can at all times easily enter and modify the process engineering parameters at the illuminated text display. The operation and reading out of the integrated history with an onsite PC by means of a modem does not need any effort whatsoever due to the use of the visualization software which is included in the scope of delivery. Should any questions occur, the Service can provide fast support via the modem or it can install updated software by remote access. 

Our product range comprises the following:

• Cooling systems
• Compact solutions
• Container solutions
• Stainless steel cooling towers
• Glass fibre reinforced plastic cooling towers
• Air-water-coolers
• Refrigerating machines