Regarding the use of condensate water in the reactor jacket
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Hai Youhao: Most of the jacket systems in our company’s reaction vessels use steam, which results in a large amount of steam condensate. Until now, this condensate has been discharged directly. I think this represents a significant waste of energy. The company is about to install a waste liquid incinerator, and I would like to propose to the management the idea of using this condensed water to generate steam. However, after talking with the workshop staff, it was determined that this condensed water is quite dirty and not suitable for use directly in boilers. What are your thoughts on this? I welcome those with experience in similar projects to share their views; thank you all
It indeed cannot be used directly; generally, the jackets are made of carbon steel, and it is difficult for them to meet the standards required for boiler water, so the water needs to be prepared anew. However, it can be considered for preheating liquid raw materials, use as bath water, or for hot water heating in winter.
To recycle it back to the condensate tank in your desalinated water treatment system, it must first be produced through reverse osmosis
The utilization of low-grade thermal energy has always been a challenging task; it depends on the total amount of condensate as well as its pressure and temperature. Factors such as using it for power generation and for preheating soft water with heat exchangers, as well as the ionization treatment of soft water and the use of it for domestic purposes, also need to be taken into consideration.
If your factory has circulating cooling water, I recommend that you discharge the condensate water into the cooling tank to replenish the cooling water. No chemical treatment is needed, and this will prevent scaling in the cooling equipment.
I heard before that a certain factory used the condensed water after heat exchange as bath water. As a result, the jacket of the heat exchanger leaked, and benzene-based substances mixed into the hot bath water; apparently some people even suffered poisoning as a result. I think it’s better not to use such water for human use.
As mentioned above, recycled condensate can be used as make-up water for cooling towers. As make-up water for boilers, it must undergo at least the same treatment process as the raw water, so the return on investment is not particularly high. Similar to reclaimed water reuse. Industrial water and domestic water must not be mixed.