3D TRASAR Boiler Technology provides

invaluable information to optimise steam

system operations

Introduction

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology

Steam boilers are dynamic systems with rapidlychanging water quality and operating conditions. In
the past, frequent manual testing was used to try
and manage this situation. In current times, few
organisations now have the manpower available to
devote to the frequent testing of boiler conditions.

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology is the innovative and

unique boiler treatment package, designed to deliver
superior sustainability performance, operational
efficiency, and asset protection. This ground-breaking modular technology continuously responds to
changes in boiler operation and feedwater quality,
minimising system corrosion, ensuring clean waterside surfaces, and minimising water and energy
resource use. The result is continuity of production,
conservation of resources, minimisation of emissions
including Greenhouse Gases (GHG), and improved
cost management.

Unscheduled boiler downtime may cause loss of

production, which is no longer acceptable as
factories run with minimal levels of stock. A delay in
one part of the supply chain has serious consequences for those further down the line. Additionally, increased operating efficiency has become
highly important as organisations seek to limit the
impact of increasing fuel costs and also to reduce
their carbon footprint.
Making improvements is challenging with limited
system operating information and so Nalco has
identified a strong need to not only provide better,
automated control of plant conditions to fill the gap
left by reduction in manpower, but also to provide
significantly improved insight into how the steam
boiler plant is operating. To do this Nalco has
developed 3D TRASAR Boiler Technology.

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology control

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology is used by leading
corporations around the world to secure improvements in their environmental and economic performance, optimise boiler efficiency, meet sustainability
goals, specifically in the areas of water and energy
use reduction, and to protect assets, a key driver in
boiler management and steam generation.
3D TRASAR Boiler Technology also meets the
requirements of the Best Available Techniques for
energy efficiency under the EU Integrated Pollution
Prevention & Control (IPPC) legislation in the
categories of increasing overall energy efficiency,
reducing water use, reducing emissions to air, and
reducing emissions to water.

Case Study CH-997E

Examples of the value delivered by

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology
Example 1: Identification of deaerator
operating problems
A plant operated its main production activities from
Monday to Friday. The NCSM identified corrosivity
upsets were occurring each Monday morning (high
readings and spikes) as shown in Figure 1. The
upsets were being caused by high steam demand on
production start-up that was overwhelming the
capacity of the deaerator with its current design.
If left in this condition the increased corrosion from
operating this way would cause premature corrosion
failure of the boiler system resulting in high repair
costs at the very least, and possibly plant shutdown
or early replacement of the economisers or boilers.

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology Control Module

3D TRASAR Boiler Technology consists of several

new and unique technologies. This includes the
Nalco Corrosion Stress Monitor (NCSM), which
measures the corrosivity of the feedwater by using
new probe technology that can operate at boiler feed
line temperatures and pressures. This is used to
provide on-demand control of the feed of reducing
agent, to provide continuous and effective control of
corrosion, and to provide information on when
corrosivity upsets start to take place. Nalco fluorescent tracer technology is used to monitor and control
the feed of antiscalant to control scale formation,
maintaining heat transfer efficiency and optimum
sustainability performance, and also providing useful
real-time diagnostic information.

Figure 1 Boiler feed water ORP spikes on Monday

mornings

Example 2: Detection of dosing system

accidentally switched-off
Dosing pumps may be accidentally turned off
leaving the boiler system vulnerable to scaling and
corrosion. For example if power has to be turned off
while electrical work is being done, or unauthorised
adjustments made to pump settings, the boiler
system can be at risk. Figure 2 shows that the
3D TRASAR Boiler Technology very quickly detected
an incident where the dosing of antiscalant was
interrupted.

Figure 2 Antiscalant accidentally turned-off

Example 3: Detection of carryover

Many boiler systems suffer from carryover giving rise
to poor steam quality and purity. Knowing exactly
when carryover events are happening is difficult to
detect without dedicated steam monitoring equipment, and this makes it hard to identify what the root
causes of the problem are, such as high boiler water
levels, sudden load swings, or foaming.
3D TRASAR Boiler Technology controls the level of
inert tracer in the feedwater and this then concentrates-up in the boiler itself to a concentration many
times higher. So, when the feedwater unit sees
sudden large peaks of inert tracer, it is a very strong
indicator that boiler water has entered the feed water
system. This can often be seen as a dramatic spike
in the reading as the contaminated steam enters the
deaerator and returns to the TRASAR unit as seen in
Figure 3. The 3D TRASAR controller can be set to
issue an alarm when this happens, and the data
logger used to determine when the problem
occurred, enabling the plant to narrow-down the
likely causes and to immediately correct them.

Figure 3 Carryover detected in the feedwater

Conclusion
The real-time detection of damaging plant upsets
and the improvement of plant operation require a
level and quality of data not traditionally available on
a routine basis.
For the very first time, Nalcos new 3D TRASAR
Boiler Technology provides a superior level of realtime insight into plant conditions. This allows upsets
to be detected before they cause damage, and
underlying poor operating conditions to be identified
and corrected so that the overall efficiency
and reliability of the plant can be maintained
and improved.
With the time pressures increasingly faced by
operators and managers, 3D TRASAR Boiler Technology enables reliable boiler operation to be
achieved in the least amount of time. Once system
conditions have been optimised, the use of
3D TRASAR Boiler Technology allows wet testing
by operators to be reduced to a minimum, freeing
up time for other important tasks.
Excellent control of boiler water chemistry is essential in maintaining the energy efficiency and integrity
of steam and heat generating systems. 3D TRASAR
Boiler Technology assures optimum management of
heat transfer surfaces and water use, delivering
major positive impacts upon system efficiency, asset
integrity, and sustainability performance.

NALCO COMPANY Locations

North America: Headquarters 1601 West Diehl Road Naperville, Illinois 60563-1198 USA
Energy Services Division P.O. Box 87 Sugar Land, Texas 77487-0087 USA
Europe: Ir.G.Tjalmaweg 1 2342 BV Oegstgeest The Netherlands
Asia Pacific: 2 International Business Park #02-20 The Strategy Tower 2 Singapore 609930
Latin America: Av. das Naes Unidas 17.891 6 Andar 04795-100 So Paulo SP Brazil
www.nalco.com
3D TRASAR, Nalco Corrosion Stress Monitor, NALCO and the logo are Trademarks of Nalco Company
All other trademarks are the property of Nalco Company
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