High COD in the desalinated water – what impact does it have on the pH and solids content in the waste heat boiler?
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Dear sea friends, here’s the situation: recently, in my ammonia synthesis plant, the pH values of the conversion unit, medium-pressure converter, low-pressure converter, and synthesis waste boilers started to drop suddenly, reaching 5.1, while the solids content gradually increased to 3000. Increasing the concentration of caustic soda and increasing the amount of wastewater discharged continuously did not bring any improvement either. The desalinated water samples sent from the water intake station in these past two days had a conductivity of 0.1; yesterday the pH was 9.0 and the COD was 8.71 mg/L, while today the pH is 8.9 and the COD is 20 mg/L. My question is: for those of you working in this field, could a high COD level be caused by a decrease in boiler water quality and an increase in total solids?
High COD levels may exacerbate corrosion.
COD exacerbates corrosion; I’ve always thought of COD as an environmental indicator that has a significant impact on the water treatment requirements of subsequent systems. I wasn’t aware that it could also increase corrosion
A high COD level indicates the presence of many compounds; these compounds undergo various reactions at high temperatures, and the reaction products can be corrosive.
Decomposition of organic compounds – I never thought about this before
May it be the culprit behind the sharp drop in the boiler water’s pH and the significant increase in dissolved solids? After the boiler water dries, the dissolved solids are something similar to oily earwax. . . .