As we slowly start to feel the coldest months of the year, like many things you may do unintentionally, improper operation of boilers can cause you a great deal of damage.
If your role is in an industrial or manufacturing facility, losing a boiler is never good for you. Unfortunately, sending the boiler feed water cold is a common problem in winter months, but it can also cause great damage. It is known that the person in charge supports the healthy operation of the boiler by controlling the temperature of the feed water in the boiler maintenance program.
Although many boiler systems offer different solutions to overcome this problem, in some cases, incorrect planning and operational errors cause the cold water issue to come to the fore. As the feed water temperature, which is normally not recommended to be below 93 C, drops, it can cause many damages from different angles.
There are three major hazards of cold feedwater during boiler operation:
1- Significantly increased fuel costs due to the boiler system not operating in ideal conditions
2- You will not be surprised by the significant increase in corrosion due to the increase in dissolved gases in the feed water. Oxygen abrasion is one of the main causes of premature system failures in boilers that continue to operate with low temperature feed water.
3- The colder the feed water, the more dissolved oxygen can be retained in the water. In this case you will need to use more and more boiler chemicals to eliminate oxygen from the water. So cold feed water equals more boiler chemicals.
This condition, also known as thermal shock, can cause a sudden pressure drop in the boilers and create a potential hazard, with consequences that can lead to loss of life. Therefore, the temperature of the feed water kept under regular control will be the best option for the employees and the business.
