Water Treatment
Cooling Tower Chemistry: Scale, Corrosion and Legionella Control
A cooling tower concentrates whatever is in your make-up water. Without a chemical program, you get scale (heat-transfer loss and energy waste), corrosion (equipment life) and biofilm (efficiency loss plus Legionella risk). The economics are stark: 1 mm of calcium scale can raise chiller energy consumption by 8–10%.
The three-front program
Scale control uses antiscalants — phosphonates and polymers — dosed to the recirculation rate and cycles of concentration. Corrosion control layers film-forming inhibitors matched to your metallurgy. Microbial control alternates oxidising biocide (chlorine/bromine) with periodic non-oxidising shots to prevent resistance, and biofilm is the real enemy: bulk-water kill counts mean little if surfaces stay slimy.
Monitor what matters
Weekly: conductivity, pH, hardness and a dip-slide count. Monthly: corrosion coupons. Blowdown discipline — controlling cycles of concentration — does more than any chemical to keep the program cheap.
We supply antiscalants, inhibitors and biocides with dosing guidance sized to your system volume. Send your make-up water report for a program recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Roughly, each millimetre of calcium scale on heat-exchange surfaces raises chiller energy consumption by 8–10% — usually far more than the annual chemical programme.
Need this chemistry for your process?
JSM Traders supplies the products discussed here with COA and MSDS, PAN India. Quotations within working hours.
