The main goal of this project is to enable a reduction in energy and water consumption by gaining more insight in conditioning and treatment of steam condensates and by establishing a clear understanding and well-founded view on the (corrosion) risk related to boiler feed water that is not reaching the required feed water quality specifications (mainly with regards to presence of organic pollutants).

Expected results of the proposed project comprise:

• Improved understanding of the distribution of conditioning chemicals and their breakdown products throughout the steam/condensate system. This will enable the optimum dosing of chemicals (maximum corrosion protection at minimum dosage);
• Improved treatment of various heavily polluted return condensate streams, which are currently off-spec, to improve water and energy use efficiency within plants.
• Improved insight in terms of behaviour and impact of amines and their breakdown products on the operation and optimum design of CPU’s;
• Improved insights on the impact of TOC compounds in BFW on long-term reliability of steam water cycle and corrosion risks, which will help define realistic and meaningful guidelines on TOC requirements of BFW (which will in turn help to optimize the required water treatment);
• Improved overall energy efficiency of steam-water cycles (with regards to water treatment, condensate polishing, heat transfer, corrosion rate and associated downtime for repair) and reduction in water consumption by better return and re-use of water.