Baby, it’s cold outside! How are your chemical feeds handling it?
Winter phosphorus removal from wastewater is simplified with Neo WaterFX.
Another polar vortex blasted into the US in January, driving temperatures below freezing even deep into Florida. Many parts of the US experienced record cold for prolonged periods of time. How did your chemical feeds fare?
Cold temperatures can be particularly brutal on chemical feeds for phosphorus removal.
Chemical feed lines are typically small diameter and low flow, making them particularly vulnerable to freezing in cold temperatures. To further complicate operations, many of the phosphorus removal chemicals like ferric chloride are extremely corrosive, making them incompatible with metal tanks and piping, and therefore difficult to heat trace.
But the worst is caustic.
The main operational challenge of using traditional coagulants to remove phosphorus in wastewater in cold weather is the caustic feed required to adjust the pH. Caustic has a high freezing point of +52oF at 50% by weight, the most economical concentration. But even the lowest freezing point of -13oF, for a 20% solution, can be a problem when the cold is unanticipated and unusual for your location. Many southern plants just weren’t designed for even brief periods of below zero temperatures. Sudden arctic blasts can cause serious operational issues with frozen caustic lines. Thawing those lines is difficult, and due to the characteristics of caustic, is extremely hazardous, requiring full protective gear.
Neo WaterFX’s -40oF freezing point requires no special handling and will probably eliminate the need to feed caustic.
WaterFX eliminates the need for heated tanks and pipe tracing due to its freezing point of MINUS 40oF. But even better, the lower dosage requirement and higher pH mean you can probably eliminate cold weather headache number one, your caustic feed! That is right, most clients who switched to Neo WaterFX eliminated their caustic feeds!
Simplify winter operation and enjoy effortless P compliance with WaterFX
Simplified cold weather operation is just one of many benefits of switching to WaterFX. Learn about other benefits.
