What impact does the use of chemicals have on the condition of piping in power stations?
Water used for power plant cooling is chemically altered for purposes of extending the useful life of equipment and to ensure efficient operation. Demineralised regenerants and rinses are chemicals employed to purify waters used as makeup water for the plant’s cooling system. Cooling tower blow-down contains chemicals added to prevent biological growth in the towers and to prevent corrosion in condensers. Chemical corrosion happens only when a pipe transports corrosive chemicals or water which contains dissolved oxygen. In steel or cast iron pipes, the metal reacts chemically with water and oxygen to form. Galvanic corrosion is common in metal pipes due to the existence of many dissimilar metals in a pipe. For all the above mentioned applications, metal piping is used and for power plants at coastal sites even ductile iron piping. Engineers at power stations are therefore looking for the best solution to protect all piping from chemical, galvanic or salt water corrosion. What are the b
