A Dubai factory boiler suffered severe foaming and erratic level control as its feedwater conductivity climbed from ~3000 to ~5000 µS/cm. At such high conductivity, steam bubbles “do not burst easily,” causing carryover and efficiency losses. We diagnosed that random, lengthy blowdowns and no lay-up routine were to blame. By switching to two brief bottom-blowdowns per day and implementing a wet lay-up (keeping the boiler full of treated water with raised pH and extra oxygen scavenger during shutdown) – as recommended best practice – the boiler chemistry stabilized rapidly. Internals stayed submerged and protected from oxygen, preventing pitting. In practice, the boiler reached safe conductivity levels in days instead of weeks, eliminating foaming. On-site engineers report no recurrence of carryover, and greatly reduced blowdown. This cut makeup water usage substantially: at ~AED 11/m³ for large users, even a few hundred m³ saved per month translates to tens of thousands of AED saved annually.
- Actions: Replaced random 5–10 min blowdowns with two 5 sec bottom-blowdowns; carried out full wet lay-up with pH 10.5–11.5 water and ~3× normal oxygen scavenger dosing.
- Results: Stable boiler water quality; foam eliminated (consistent with that foaming occurs around 4000 µS/cm). Make-up water and fuel use dropped significantly (recovering heat and reducing makeup by 20–30%). Start-up time shrank from ~4 weeks to days.
