84-06: Chlorine Dioxide Solves Biofouling Problems in a Refinery Cooling Tower

A large refinery uses wastewater effluent for cooling tower make-up to use the tower as a phenol reduction system through biological oxidation. Severe Biofouling of critical overhead exchangers reduced plant throughput. This paper details application procedures that use chlorine dioxide to greatly reduce biofouling without affecting the phenol destruction capabilities.