88-12: Pilot Cooling System Evaluation of Treatment Program Effectiveness

A Pilot Cooling System was developed to simulate the operation of an open recirculating cooling system for the purpose of evaluating potential cooling water treatment programs on a pilot scale prior to their implementation in the refinery cooling system. Pilot scale evaluations of newer, more environmentally acceptable, treatment programs were desired to determine their effectiveness in a refinery, without the need to treat the entire refinery cooling system. This report outlines a side-by-side comparison of treatment program effectiveness observed for an alkaline chromate treatment program run on the main refinery cooling system and on the Pilot Cooling System. This test sequence was run with the objective of correlating results obtained on the Pilot System to those achieved on the main refinery cooling system. Results of laboratory screening tests are also compared to those achieved in the Pilot System and on the main refinery cooling system. A detailed description of the equipment, monitoring methods, and results is included.