SOCOTEC Carries Out Remedial Work on Cooling Towers as Part of Major Recommissioning Project
SOCOTEC, the UK’s leading provider of testing, inspection and compliance services, recently carried out remedial work on a number of cooling towers in central London as part of a major refurbishment project.
Working on behalf of a multinational mechanical and electrical contractor, the organisation’s Water Treatment team was appointed to descale the cooling towers, having already been undertaking regular closed system analysis and domestic sampling on the site.
The cooling towers had been offline and drained down for over two years as a direct result of the refurbishment works taking place on the premises and were found heavily scaled, non-compliant and inoperable. To rectify this, SOCOTEC flushed the condenser water system prior to descaling in order to clean and remove debris, suspended solids, high levels of iron and poor turbidity following refill.
The team then used specialist equipment and hand tools to bring the towers back to a standard expected by local Environmental Health Officers. This process included the introduction of a mild (Phosphoric) acid, which solubilised the hardness salts without having any detrimental effect on system metallurgy. The essential dosing and control equipment was also recommissioned as part of the programme.
SOCOTEC’s remedial works have ensured that the cooling towers are now fully commissioned and compliant with L8 regulations and HSG274 guidelines. They have also improved heat transfer, removed the protective environment in which legionella bacteria could proliferate and ensured that comfort cooling throughout the building is supported.
Nick Harper, operations director, Water Services, said:
“Serving as the current water treatment contractor for the site, SOCOTEC’s excellent working relationship with the client meant that we were the clear choice when it came to carrying out the remedial works.
“We are proud of our involvement with the recommissioning project and are pleased to have played a pivotal role in getting the cooling towers compliant and fully functioning once again.”
