Boosting Cooling Tower Cycles (Manufacturing Plant, 5-Year Impact)
A large industrial cooling system was running at only ~3–4 cycles of concentration (COC), causing excessive blowdown and corroded exchanger coils. By introducing an advanced Nalco treatment program, we raised the COC to ~10 over five years without scale or corrosion issues. Higher COC means much less blowdown water; for example, the U.S. Dept. of Energy notes that raising COC from 3 to 6 can cut makeup water by ~20% and blowdown by ~50%. In our case, moving from 3–4 up to 10 COC translated to ≈70% reduction in blowdown volume, saving millions of liters of water annually (≈15,000 m³/yr saved yields ~AED 170k/yr at AED 11/m³).
- Actions: Implemented a robust water treatment (Nalco) program with tailored scale/corrosion inhibitors and real-time conductivity control. Optimized blowdown controls to hold 10× concentration factor.
- Results: Sustained ~10 COC with no scale or fouling. Coils and heat exchangers that were “ruined by corrosion” are now operating normally, effectively extending asset life by 6–7 years. In situ engineers report much lower chemical and water costs. Overall energy efficiency improved (less makeup heating and pumping), and predicted CAPEX for coil replacement was delayed, saving tens of thousands of AED. In fact, optimized COC yields “longer equipment life” along with lower water use.
