WATER TREATMENT IN

A POWER PLANT
External Treatment
Pre Treatment
Softening/Demineralization/De
gassing

Internal Treatment
Condensate polishing
Oxygen Treatment
De aeration/ Hydrazine Dozing
Phosphate Dozing

METHODOLOGIES FOR WATER

TREATMENT

PRE TREATMENT

Chlorination
Sedimentation
Filtration
Coagulation and Flocculation
Activated carbon filter

2. SOFTENING
2. Soda lime process
3. Lime-base exchange softener
4. Blend softener

METHODOLOGIES FOR
WATER TREATMENT
3.
4.
5.
6.

EVOPORATION
DEMINERALISATION
DEGASSING
MEMBRANE PROCESSES
3. REVERSE OSMOSIS
4. ULTRA FILTRATION
5. ELECTRO DIALYSIS

ORGANICS
- Derives from decomposing
vegetable matter
- Most important constituent is a
group of large weekly acidic
molecules called as humic acids
- Many of them are
polyelectrolytes
- Give water yellow to brown
colour

ORGANICS
1. Foul anion resin in three
kinds.
1. Surface coating interfering
with rate of reaction
2. Loss of capacity due to the
active sites in the resin are
either permanently occupied
by organics or the pores
leading to them have been
blocked
3. Arrests caustic soda during
regeneration.

COPING WITH
ORGANICS
1. Leave them and suffer the
consequences
2. Use porous resins either as
working resin or absorbers
3. Remove humic acids in a pretreatment plant.

COLLOIDS
- Usually clay particles upto 0.2
micron size.
- Biggest humic acids are also
within colloidal size.
- Build up an inert coating on ion
exchange resins by surface forces
- Removed by coagulation,
flocculation, using coagulation
aids

SUSPENDED MATTER
- Coarse undissolved particles
- Accumulates on ion exchange
resins
- Leads to high pressure loss,
reduced throughput mechanical
damage to resin
- Chemical performance of the
resin is also affected
- Making back wash more difficult
- Removed by sedimentation,
filtration

NON REACTIVE SILICA

- Also called as colloidal silica
- Chemically inert, not removed by
ion exchange
- Difficult to deduct by analysis
- In high pressure boilers this
breaks down to liberate normal
silica
- Source is from dead microorganisms, activated silica
treatment

COMBINED IRON
- Appears as ordinary suspended
oxide
- Some times it can be associated
with organic matter
- Passes through cation exchanger
but taken up on anion resin
- Caustic regenerant breaks the iron
complex and leaves a ferric
hydroxide sludge fouling the resin.

CHLORINATION
- For the removal of living micro
organisms to stop them
breeding in the treatment plant
Cl2 + H2 O
HCl + HOCl
HOCL
H + + OCL
(Hypochlorite
Ion)

SEDIMENTATION
- Removal of flock by
gravitational forces
TERMINAL VELOCITY

= gd2(s-1)
18u
g - Gravitational constant
d Particle diameter
(s-1)Particle Density Density of
water
U -Kinematic Viscosity

COAGULATION
A process in which small
particles in suspension join
together to form larger
agglomerates

WAYS TO PROMOTE
COAGULATION
To neutralise or reverse the
electrical repulsion effect by
1. Introducing fresh particles with
a positive charge
2. Adding traces of surface active
materials called coagulation
aids.

COAGLATION AIDS
- Long chain molecules,
carrying electrically active
groups all along the length
of the chain

POLYACRYLAMIDE
- Carry positive charges set
regularly along a long thread
like molecule
- Purpose made to have long
chains and are effective at
dozes below 1 ppm
- Toxic, expensive

SAFE NATURAL MATERIALS

- Potato starch
- Activated silica (polysilicic
acid)
- Dozed 10 times more than
polyacrylamide
- Possibility of leaving high
polymers of silica which act as
non reactive silica

ADVANTAGES OF USING
COAGULATING AIDS/
POLYELECTROLYTES
1. Reduce volume of sludges(50 to
90%)
2. Sludge contain less water and can
be easily dewatered
3. pH of the solution is not affected
4. Do not add to TDS
5. Carryover of soluble Iron &
Alumina are eliminated

DISADVANTAGES
1. Expensive
2. Residuals will foul the resin
like humic acids
3. Toxic
4. Formation of non reactive
silica (possibility)
5. Side effects of residuals or
more difficult to predict

FLOCCULATION
Al(SO4)3 + 6 H2 O

2Al(OH)3 + 3H2 SO4

FLUFFY FLOCK
WITH LARGE
SURF ACE AREA
CARRYING
POSITIVE
CHARGE

DUAL PURPOSE SERVED BY

FLOCCULATION
- More effective than coagulation
aids as it creates very large
Electro positive area in water
- Greatly increases the
concentration of particles in
water and therefore increases
the number of collisions taking
place

REQUIREMENTS
- Precipitation will take place only
within certain range of pH values
- Good mixing and time at low
concentrations
- Favoured by nuclei on which the
precipitate can form
- Iron precipitate at pH 5-6
- Aluminium precipitate at pH 6-7
- Sodium aluminate precipitate at pH
8

SAND FILTERS
Gravity Filters
High Initial Cost
Low Operating Cost
Low Flow Rate
Low Head Loss
Concrete Structure

SAND FILTERS
Pressure Filters
Low Initial Cost
High Operating Cost
High Flow Rate
Steel Tank

PRESSURE SAND
Vessel holdingFILTER
a bed
of fine granular
medium such as
sand
Forming many
channels between
granules
Contains
Graded Gravel 1.0mm
to25mm
Graded sand 0.5mm
to 1.0mm