Nalco ACT Advanced Condensate

Treatment solves operational problems

at a European industrial laundry

Situation

The Nalco ACT

programme can
help reduce
condensate system
corrosion, reduce
iron loading in
the boiler and
help reduce
maintenance
costs in the
steam system.

Its hard to find an industry that

works on tighter margins than industrial laundries. Managing maintenance
and reducing overall operating
expenses is a key success factor in
this competitive business. A European industrial laundry was facing a
variety of technical and economic
needs and looked to Nalco for help
in addressing them.
The laundry operates three 11 bar
firetube boilers using soft makeup
water two of them working and
one on stand-by. The boilers produce
about 20,000 pounds of steam per
hour and return 50% to 60% of their
condensate to the feedwater system.
According to Nalcos on-site expert
at the facility Bruno Cavicchioli, The
steam system is very complex. The
laundry operates equipment for
industrial ironing, washing and drycleaning. They also do small batches
of wool and cashmere dyeing. The
system requires a number of pressure-reducing stations to meet all of
these operational needs.
The laundry uses an ironing machine,
called Mangano, made by a cylinder
internally heated by live steam. A
drying machine, called Tambler, has
a rotating drum in which linen, towels
or other clothes are dried with hot
air, previously heated by steam in a
heat exchanger. This heat exchanger

and the Mangano machine are the

most critical parts of the plant, due
to the corrosivity of the condensate.
If not treated, the Tambler heat
exchanger needs to be changed only
after 12 to 18 months. The cost of
that equipment is 17K Euro, while the
repair cost of a single tube is around
110/220 Euro. The Mangano
machine also needs regular expensive
maintenance and cleaning procedures.
In the past, like many similar facilities,
the laundry had used a blend of
neutralising amines to combat condensate system corrosion and, like
many similar facilities, it delivered lessthan-optimal results. They suffered
from corrosion in condensate lines
and high iron concentrations in the
boiler water due to overnight and
weekend shutdowns, reports Bruno
Cavicchioli.
Neutralising amines cannot inhibit
oxygen corrosion. When a boiler
system is shut down, it cools, drawing
in oxygen. The combination of
moisture and oxygen leads to serious
corrosion problems. Ordinarily, the
recommended solution for this
problem is a filming amine. But they
present challenges too. They have a
strong detergent ability, so they move
corrosion products that reside in the
condensate system. If overfed, they
can clog steam strainers, traps and
other equipment, making them
difficult to use. The laundry was
looking for another answer.

(Continued on Reverse Side)

Brochure E-197E

Programme
Nalco presented the laundry with
another option for addressing their
needs Nalco ACT Advanced
Condensate Treatment. This patented,
innovative program uses new
technology to address these technical needs. Formulated from emulsifiers commonly used in the food
industry, Nalco ACT forms a nonwettable barrier between the
corrosive condensate and the
condensate piping. The barrier is
impervious to oxygen and persists
during off-line periods. Nalco ACT is
not an amine. It will not move
corrosion products or form sticky
deposits. The Nalco ACT programme can help reduce condensate
system corrosion, reduce iron
loading in the boiler and help reduce
maintenance costs in the steam
system.

Performance
Bruno Cavicchioli picked a feedpoint
that would ensure proper distribution of the Nalco ACT product
throughout the complex steam
system. The product was fed through
a slotted, retractable injector
installed in the main steam header.

To monitor performance, he installed

a corrosion coupon in one of the
critical steam-using pieces of equipment in the plant, the Mangano
machine and the Tambler heat
exchanger. The evaluation of the
corrosion coupon, placed at the
Mangano ironing machine, showed
less than 1 mpy after 20 days of
exposure. This was a much lower
corrosion rate than the facility had
been able to obtain using the
neutralising amine treatment.

Results
By every measure, the Nalco ACT
programme has been a success at the
laundry. A visual observation of
another corrosion coupon made
after 27 days of exposure, showed no
apparent sign of corrosion, according to the Nalco sales engineer.
Shutdowns also seem to have little
impact on the performance of the
new treatment program. The
treatment was stopped on August 6
because the plant shut down for the
summer and was restarted on August

Maintenance/cleaning costs
Cost of treatment
Equipment renewal

23. On August 30, the Nalco ACT

test procedure was started again and
used to verify the concentration of
the product throughout the condensate system. Bruno Cavicchioli
continues to use condensate iron as
the criterion for success in the
facility. Iron levels in condensate are
still negligible or nil, applying both
wet chemistry iron tests and
the pad-membrane test. He believes
part of the reason for this is the
elimination of oxygen as a cause of
condensate system corrosion that
had previously been caused by nightly,
weekly and seasonal shutdowns.

Return on Investment
During the Nalco ACT test, the
customer was very satisfied to see a
dramatic decrease of iron corrosion
products in the condensate, the
presence of which can severely stain
the linen. A rough ROI can also
be evaluated from the reduced
maintenance expenses and renewal
costs.

33K Euro
11K Euro
11K Euro

ROI =

Incremental Savings - Incremental Investment

x 100
Incremental Investment

ROI =

44K Euro - 11K Euro

x 100
11K Euro

ROI = 300%

NALCO COMPANY OPERATIONS

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