11-12: The Progression of Automation and Process Control for the Management of

Enhancement opportunities for cooling water systems can be placed into three major categories. The first is optimizing the dosing of specialty and adjunct commodity chemicals used for corrosion, scale/deposit, and microbiological control. Making sure the right dosage of the right chemistry at the right time avoids “overfeeding” for worst case situations. Once optimized, minimizing the variation greatly reduces the potential for failures that result in unscheduled shutdowns or impaired operations. Secondly, confidence from effective measurement and control enables the optimized use of increasingly scarce water supplies, and/or the ability to utilize lower quality, alternative water sources. Lastly, the productivity of personnel charged with operating cooling systems can be greatly enhanced. In recent years, much focus has been placed on online instrumentation and control while these advances are and will continue to be welcome contributions to users. This paper discusses the advent and merits of new and complimentary online and offline monitoring and control technologies, using case studies and practical scenarios as illustrations of their impact for users.